Senior Scientist at South African Medical Research Council

The Job 

The South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) strives to improve the nation’s health and quality of life by funding and conducting relevant and leading health research. It further aims to promote equity, career development and progression. The organisation prides itself on three core values: being pioneering, striving for excellence and working collaboratively.
The SAMRC retains the right not to make an appointment. Should no feedback be received within 30 days of the closing date, kindly consider your application as unsuccessful.

• Contract - 2 Years

The South African Medical Research Council’s Gender and Health Research Unit (GHRU) requires a suitably qualified and experienced Senior Scientist Entry Level. This position will support the GHRU team deliver on a funded mixed methods project working with young people in KwaZulu-Natal around violence and HIV. Applicants should have a keen interest in, and suitable qualifications and research experience related to social science or public health.

The successful candidate will support the management and scientific research on one project, including coordinating team meetings, training and supervising fieldwork and conducting fieldwork themselves. This will result in the successful delivery of the project, and the production of multiple, internationally recognised scientific outputs.

Responsibilities: Core Requirements:

• Research Outputs: Contribute to Publications which may be peer reviewed journal articles or book chapters, technical reports, research briefs, policy briefs and field research manual
• Conference and meeting presentations: Oral presentations at team meetings, and advisory group meetings of own research, and, where possible at national or international conferences.
• Proposal writing: Writing research proposals, including a PhD proposal, in line with unit strategic objectives.

Manage Projects

• Management of the main HIV/violence research project
• Organising team meetings
• Quality assurance and ensuring adherence to SOPs etc.,
• Management of ethics related processes,
• Management of data,
• Managing field staff,
• Data analysis and interpretation

Capacity development: Training of fieldwork staff in qualitative and quantitative data collection

• MSc/MA Development Studies, Public Health, Social Sciences or equivalent
• Minimum of 3 years’ experience of undertaking quantitative and qualitative data collection
• Proficient understanding of basic qualitative and/or quantitative research approaches and analysis
• Experience of managing fieldwork teams, including training and oversight of teams
• Experience of working with mixed NGO and academic teams
• Driver’s license

Advantageous

• Experience working on HIV and/or intimate partner violence and/or mental health
• Experience collecting data in complex/challenging contexts
• Fluent in either isiZulu and/or Xhosa, as well as English

A salary in the region of R516 624 per annum, cost to company, will be negotiated in line with qualifications and relevant work experience.
In accordance with the SAMRC’s Employment Equity Plan, preference will be given to suitably qualified candidates from the designated groups. For this reason, we require race, gender and disability status to be specified. Disabled persons are encouraged to apply

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