Job Description

The DCES division is looking to appoint a suitably qualified professional to take on the responsibilities of a Research Director in the division. The Research Director position supports and assists the Developmental, Capable and Ethical State (DCES) Divisional Executive (DE) and Strategic Leads in implementing the five-year strategic plan of the HSRC. The Developmental, Capable and Ethical State (DCES) division conducts transdisciplinary, intersectional, policy and programme-relevant research. The two over-arching questions that guide the research interventions are:

• How to strengthen democracy through transparent governance, accountable leadership and reinvigorated public participation/civic engagement; and
• How to ensure sustainable development through peace, human and social security.

Minimum Requirements

• A doctorate (PhD) in Social Sciences or related disciplines
• Additional Management Qualifications (e.g. MBA or equivalent) will be an added advantage
• At least ten (10) years experience in managing and leading in senior research teams.
• At least 5 years experience at a strategic and senior management level in an academic environment or research institution
• An academic leader with an impressive and strong publishing record of at least 20 peer reviewed publications (books, books chapters, journal articles) of which several must be international and first or sole authored.

Duties & ResponsibilitiesThe Research Director role in DCES demands that the incumbent to drives and lead a team of senior researchers in large and strategic research projects, innovating methodologies and coordinating working groups, flagship projects and task teams in order realise the vision of the DCES division and that of the HSRC. The successful candidates responsibility will be to ensure that, the quality of research outputs, and enabling dissemination strategies, research partnerships and collaboration which drives the HSRCs quest for impact in policy-engaged research.
In delivering social science that makes a difference, the Research Programmes of the Human Sciences Research Council initiate and undertake policy-oriented research projects and programmes from its offices in Cape Town, Pietermaritzburg and Pretoria. Its public-purpose mandate is set out in the Human Sciences Research Council Act of 2008.
The following are the key responsibilities for the Research Director role in the division:

• Lead, manage and coordinate various research themes, senior researchers and teams in the areas of Democracy, Governance & Citizenship, Sustainable Security.
• Build visible national, continental and international research partnerships in the HSC area of specialisation that result in collaborative and multidisciplinary studies, high quality publications, evidence reviews and policy briefs.
• Coordinate and review strategic plans and opportunities for fund raising to meet agreed upon targets for the team.
• Together with the team and supported by the divisions business development team foster concrete plans and activities for meeting the divisional goals and targets.
• Ensure that grants obtained are strategic and focussed on public-oriented research in keeping with the HSRCs vision.
• Manage the outputs of researchers in the team to ensure maximum impact of the HSRC.
• Together with the Divisional Executive and Strategic Leads, spearhead formal government engagements through joint projects, partnerships, secondments, workshops and research dissemination.
• Drive and enable a relationship of trust and influence in appropriate ways amongst all levels of research staff.
• Actively forge research collaborations with Universities and Science Councils.
• Ensure that each team member aligned to the designated theme of leadership is capacitated, managed, supported, mentored (if they are trainees) and motivated to ensure a high-performance team that meets strategic targets.
• Actively promote and support talent management, succession planning, retention strategies and achieve equity targets.
• Ensure that fair conflict and consequence management takes place.
• Oversight for achieving delegated designated targets for the theme / sub-division.
• Contribution to the divisions risk profile and mitigation strategies.
• Ensure that research grants are well managed and that good relationships with collaborators and grant making organisations/institutions are maintained.

HSRC