Openings at Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)

About the job:

• The CSIR has a vacancy for a Procurement Specialist in the Supply Chain Management portfolio. The incumbent will establish and maintain procurement activities on a day to day operational and transactional level. The position is in Pretoria.
• This position reports to Procurement Manager.

Key responsibilities:

• Source goods and services, review and manage existing supplier relationship;.
• Document and assess internal stakeholders’ business and sourcing objectives;
• Collect macro- and micro-level market intelligence and analyze spend data;
• Determine the total value of identified commodities and report accordingly to management;
• Source suppliers that meet the CSIR procurement criteria and ensure compliance to the CSIR’s B-BBEE policy and programme;
• Manage procurement transactional services ensuring reduction in purchase order cycle times and tracking supplier performance against targets;
• Assess and implement automation of processes to improve service delivery;
• Expedite orders to monitor quality, on time deliveries, preferential procurement and savings;
• Ensure effective and timely response to user calls related to orders and deliveries;
• Ensure the Procurement portfolio’s compliance with CSIR policies, procedures and IT standards focussing on standardisation of processes;
• Keep abreast with business systems and new developments;
• Manage procurement activities throughout the purchasing and supply chain;
• Ensure that purchasing activities are provided in a fair, equitable, transparent, cost effective, efficient, and effective manner.
• Build strategic, professional, and ethical relationships with internal clients and the CSIR suppliers.
• Ensure buying activities support the CSIR’s supplier contracts and that the organisation’s strategic interests are considered in such relationships.
• Create cost savings opportunities from bulk buying, proper contract management, pooling of efforts and economies of scale.
• Accurate and timeous reporting of relevant management information.

Qualifications, skills, and experience:

• A Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent three year qualification in supply chain management with at least five years’ experience in a supply chain / procurement management environment;
• Attention to detail and the ability to meet demanding deadlines;
• Good understanding of designated sector procurement;
• Working experience in managing laboratory equipment, consumables, chemicals, and other laboratory supplies tenders.
• Good understanding of public sector procurement.
• Good understanding and experience of Total Cost of Ownership (TCO);
• Problem solving, negotiation and communication skills;
• E-procurement knowledge, sourcing and buying skills;
• Thorough understanding of the business processes;
• Teamwork, flexibility, and adaptability skills;
• Self-management and assertiveness skills;
• Financial knowledge and numerical skills;
• Customer service and quality orientation.   

Closing date: 22 October 2025

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About the job:

• The CSIR Facilities Management & Security Services (FM & SS) portfolio has a vacancy of Technical Specialist: Mechanical Supervisor. This position will be responsible for the management of a diverse technical team pertaining to building and equipment maintenance and installation tasks. The position is based in Pretoria.

Key responsibilities:

• Supervise performance of all mechanical maintenance and installation tasks and requests.
• Ensure attainment of corrective and preventative maintenance targets on a monthly basis.
• Manage and direct the allocated maintenance team.
• Manage the work of external contractors.
• Plan, cost and execute new mechanical installations as per requests and approved budget.
• Design and build purpose built mechanical equipment.
• Ensure compliance with Environment, Health & Safety (EHS) in area of responsibility.
• Manage work performed in welding, fitting & turning and fabrications.
• Plan, execute and control manufacture of purpose-built equipment.
• Perform lifting equipment tests and inspections.
• Maintain firefighting equipment and water supply and irrigation pumps.
• Perform tests and inspections of pressure vessels and boilers in line with applicable OHS regulations.
• Ensure that equipment in area of responsibility complies with Machinery Regulations compliance with mechanical installations.
• Develop tender scope of work for projects and maintenance interventions.
• Establish maintenance contracts for reoccurring services (rephrase).
• Maintain registers of pressure vessels and lifting equipment across multiple sites.

Qualifications, skills and experience:

• N6 Certificate in Mechanical Engineering plus trade test with at least 6 years minimum post trade test experience; or National Diploma in Mechanical Engineering plus 6 years minimum post qualification experience.
• Have a code B or EB driver’s licence.
• Knowledge of all aspects of building maintenance.
• Knowledge of air conditioning and refrigeration will be beneficial.
• Strong knowledge of lifting equipment and pressure equipment, all aspects of building maintenance.
• Good understanding of welding practices.
• Knowledge of relevant mechanical codes, legislation, regulations, installation & maintenance procedures.
• Be computer literate.
• Good communication, interpersonal and customer relations skills.
• Team management skills.
• Familiarity with labour law practices.
• Analytical and problem-solving skills.

Closing date: 31 October 2025 

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About the job:

• The CSIR has a vacancy for a Senior Researcher/Engineer in the Energy Centre within the Smart Places cluster. The incumbent will be responsible for supporting the translation of CSIR energy-related research into direct and tangible recommendations for South African policymakers at Government, Provincial and Municipal levels on how to achieve an optimal energy supply mix and configuration to ensure stable and sustainable supply and the growth of South African industry. This position is based in Pretoria.
• This position reports to Research Group Leader.

Key responsibilities:

• Manage projects, research and conduct investigations on energy modelling and related topics.
• Provide leadership in formulating research questions and developing study assumptions.
• Provide research direction to the Energy Centre on energy planning and energy modelling
• Participate in local panels or working groups on power systems topics.
• Work with a team of researchers/engineers in your own field and across other disciplines
• Generate technical reports, articles, conference papers and presentations aimed at energy modelling locally and internationally.
• Provide training on energy planning related topics to CSIR employees and externally.
• Formulate research proposals to attract contract research income from public and private clients
• Develop relationships with potential, collaborators and stakeholders for R&D in power systems topics
• Compile technical reports for clients in the energy sector;
• Manage contract research and development and ensure adherence to schedule and budget.

Qualifications, skills and experience:

• A Masters degree in electrical/mechanical/industrial engineering, mathematics, science or equivalent with at least six years working experience in the energy sector, of which three years should be in the energy modelling
• Proficiency in suitable energy modelling software tools applied in the energy sector.  These could include inter alia energy systems modelling using PLEXOS, OSEMOSYS, TIMES or others;
• Experience in the energy sector modelling;
• Strong network in the public and private sector as links to sustainable energy supply, with a track record of working with clients and obtaining contract R&D in the field.
• Familiarity with modelling approaches for energy planning and modelling and project management experience.
• Experience in scenario definitions/planning.
• Familiarity with the South African and Southern African power system would be advantageous
• All international qualifications require an evaluation report / certificate issued by the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA).

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About the job:

• The CSIR has a vacancy for a Senior Electronics Engineer: Electro-Optics Systems Design and Development in the Optronic Sensor Systems Impact Area, within the Defence and Security cluster.
• The incumbent will be responsible for researching, design and developing electro optics systems and subsystems, providing input into the definition of fine mechanics and optics within the Optronic Systems Applications (OSA) Research Group, and contributing towards leading-edge technology and research. This is based in Pretoria and will report to the Research Group Leader.

Key responsibilities:

• Design and development of for electro-optical systems;
• Conduct research and development of new electro-optical technologies.
• Interact with customers and successfully capture user requirements in the form of a URS document, interface control document, etc.
• Design and build concept demonstrators in a short time by making use of basic electronic components and/or development boards such as Arduino, Raspberry Pi, Nvidia Jetson, STMicroelectronics, PIC, etc.;
• Research and perform trade-off studies for products or systems required by the management or client;
• Guide engineers in the field of electro-optics engineering to work as a team and deliver quality project outputs;
• Prepare PCB manufacturing data packs and source components;
• Assemble, integrate, and test the electro-optical systems and subsystems;
• Write acceptance test procedures;
• Conduct the system testing and field evaluations together with the customer and suppliers;
• Capture and process the test results and present the project outcome and recommendations to the client;
• Document research outcomes to the satisfaction of management and customers.

Qualifications, skills and experience:

• A Bachelor’s degree in electronic/mechatronics/electrical engineering, or related fields with at least five years’ experience in electronic circuit design and development, embedded software design and development, and control system design;
• A Honour’s degree in physics, mathematics or mechatronic engineering will be advantageous
• Excellent working knowledge and understanding of System Engineering process and design review process;
• Excellent working knowledge of electronic CAD design workflow, software development on Windows, and Linux operating systems and real-time operating system environments;
• The following training, knowledge, and experience will be advantageous:
• Computer programming (C, C++, Python, MATLAB, VHDL, etc.) experience;
• Experience with developing concept demonstrators using development boards (i.e., Arduino, Raspberry Pi, Beaglebone, PIC, STM32, Nvidia Jetson, etc);
• Design of optical systems (cameras, spectrometers, interferometers, etc);
• Laboratory and field characterization, testing, and evaluation of optical components and systems;
• An understanding of electro-optical and photonic sensors;
• Control systems design and implementation;
• PCB and schematic design skills, preferably using Altium CAD;
• Understanding and application of project and task scope, risk assessment, cost estimation, timelines and demonstrated ability to plan activities;
• Writing reports and documentation with Microsoft Office Tools;
• Able to conduct field testing and contribute towards physical involvement in projects;
• Ability to adapt easily to ever changing circumstances;
• Ability to work independently and across disciplines to integrate subsystems into complete solutions;
• Ability to work well under pressure and establish good working relationships with both internal and external clients;
• Demonstrated skills in analytical thinking and decision-making, flexibility and adaptability, investigative orientation, planning and organising, problem solving, verbal and written communication, diverse and dynamic team work, self-management (planning, prioritising and time management – includes the ability to work independently), systems level thinking, collaborating, multi-disciplinary knowledge; configuration management.

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About the job:

• The CSIR has a vacancy for a Hardware, Firmware and Embedded Software Electronic Engineer in the Technology for Special Operations Impact Area within the Defence and Security Cluster.
• The successful incumbent will be responsible for developing analogue and digital electronic hardware, and firmware and embedded software for digital hardware. The position is based in Stellenbosch and will report to the Research Group Leader.

Key responsibilities:

The successful candidate would be involved in the design, development, test, evaluation and qualification of electronic modules and sub-systems. This will include, amongst others, the following:

Interpretation of requirements and specifications

• Interpret user requirements and/or system level requirements.
• Generate detailed item development specifications.
• Develop test plans.

Digital and analogue design

• Participate in digital and analogue design.
• Develop code for microprocessor units (MCUs).
• Implement firmware designs on pure digital and mixed digital/analogue devices.
• Perform simulations to verify design functions both for electronic hardware and firmware designs.
• Capture schematic designs.
• Design printed circuit board (PCB) layouts.
• Develop code for programmable logic devices (field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and complex programmable logic devices (CPLDs)) using very high-speed integrated circuit hardware description language (VHDL).

Debugging and verification

• Debug designs.
• Perform sub-system and system integration.
• Develop test procedures.
• Perform functional verification testing, qualification testing and acceptance testing.
• Complete test reports.

Generation of data pack, design documentation and build history

• Generate design documentation and data packs.
• Generate production data packs and build history files.

Project management

• Plan project execution (budget forecasting, task determination, resource allocation, execution timelines).
• Manage and monitor internal resources.
• Monitor and report risks, timelines and budget.
• Liaise with suppliers, clients and third parties.

Qualifications, skills and experience:

• A Bachelor of Engineering in electronic engineering with at least three years’ experience in firmware, digital hardware and mixed signal design;
• A Master’s degree will be advantageous;

Must have experience in the following:

• Design and set to work of digital and mixed signal PC Boards;
• Debugging of hardware;
• PCB design;
• Embedded firmware development;.
• The following experience will be advantageous:
• FPGA and/or CPLD development using either Vivado or Quartus environments.
• VHDL development of complex circuits;
• STM platform;
• Altium.
• Proficient in the C programming language;
• Ability to understand or develop high speed digital/analogue hardware will be considered an advantage;
• Proven capability of document preparation;
• Must be comfortable working in Linux environments and navigating command-line interfaces.