SUMMARY:
A Project Manager (Fixed Term Contract) vacancy is available at our Client, Wits Health Consortium's National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) in Sandringham, Johannesburg - Gauteng.

POSITION INFO:

Background

Wits Health Consortium (Pty) Limited ("WHC") is a wholly-owned Company of the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (South Africa) under its Faculty of Health Sciences. WHC provides Faculty with a legal framework within which to operate the research and other activities necessary to support its academic objectives. In addition, WHC offers a range of products and services to the Academics conducting these activities in order to assist with the management thereof. 

The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) is a major global player in infectious disease intelligence. The NICD is a source of knowledge and expertise in regionally relevant communicable diseases to the South African Government, SADC countries, and the African continent. The NICD assists in the planning of policies and programmes and supports appropriate responses to communicable disease problems and issues.

Main purpose of the job

• The HIV/COVID Virology Section at the NICD is seeking a Scientific Project Manager to lead a new program entitled “Global Immunology and Immune Sequencing for Epidemic Response program in South Africa” (GIISER-SA)
• The GIISER-SA Project Manager would be a senior scientist with skills and experience spanning all aspects of this program
• He/she would provide day-to-day leadership for the entire program, support national, regional and international collaborations between GIISER-SA and partners, and would be responsible for the rapid implementation of new technologies
• Duties involve leading scientific project meetings, managing logistics, timelines, budget deliverables
• This is a research management position requiring a PhD degree and four years of post-doctoral experience as a minimum qualification, excellent interpersonal and writing skills, a high level of organization, diplomacy, focus, ability to work under tight deadlines and sound understanding of all scientific aspects of the program
• The successful applicant will have a strong publication record, with a record of grantsmanship and collaboration, nationally and internationally

Location

• NICD Sandringham

Scientific expertise and experience in:

• Viral immunology, preferably including SARS-CoV-2, including experience with serological assays and functional cellular assays
• Expression and purification of complex viral proteins
• Isolation and characterization of monoclonal antibodies
• Flow cytometry, including single-cell sorting
• Sequence analysis of viral and immune genes

The Successful applicant will:

• Develop research projects plans, goals and objectives at the direction of the Principal Investigator
• Actively contribute to research, perform data analysis and keep abreast of developing technologies for implementation in the lab
• Provide leadership in the execution of day-to-day project activities
• Plan and maintain a schedule of projects and timelines
• Meet GIISER-S budgetary requirements, and ensure adherence to milestones
• Participate in meetings as required with sponsoring agencies and/or collaborating scientists
• Facilitate training at international GIISER sites, in collaboration with the GIISER-SA Training Officer
• Draft, review, and edit scientific manuscripts
• Generate SOPs
• Generate reports for internal use and generate executive-level study summaries for leadership as needed
• Manage multiple projects at the same time
• Maintain tools, computer programs, and SOPs required for studies
• Ensure that regulations and SOPs are followed in all activities
• May supervise, train and/or mentor staff
• Provide leadership through effective goal setting, delegation, hands-on involvement and communication
• Participate in presentations at scientific conferences, steering committee meetings, or other scientific meetings as needed by the Principal Investigator and project
• Serve as key personnel or principal investigator on grants when appropriate
• May contribute to intellectual property development and patent prosecution 

Required minimum education and training

•  PhD degree and four years of experience

Required minimum work experience 

• More than ten years working or studying within a biomedical research environment, a strong publication record (>15 papers in international peer-reviewed journals), and evidence of the ability to successfully source grants

Desirable additional education, work experience and personal abilities

• Advanced level of computer literacy
• Ability to work extended and flexible hours
• Sound understanding of research environment
• Ability to mentor and coach others
• Sound understanding of leading and managing change, performance development, decision making
• Drive for continuous improvement, communication and teamwork
• Excellent communication skills, both written and oral
• Strong record of managing multiple projects and a desire to provide service excellence
• Strong analytical, critical-thinking and team facilitation skills to collaborate with key stakeholders
• Able to prioritize team activities and influence strategy
• Ability to monitor progress, proactively identify potential problems and work with teams to fill gaps in capacity
• Ability to work effectively on multiple projects simultaneously
• Experience within a public health institute would be an advantage

TO APPLY

• Only if you do meet the minimum job requirements and experience as mentioned above, you may submit a detailed updated CV - Please Apply Online
• Please take note that the applicants who do not adhere to the above criteria will not be considered for the respective position.
• The closing date for all applications is 25 August 2021.
• Wits Health Consortium will only respond to shortlisted candidates.
• Candidates who have not been contacted within two weeks of the closing date can consider their applications to be unsuccessful.
• In accordance with our Employment Equity goals and plan, preference will be given to suitable applicants from designated groups as defined in the Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998 and subsequent amendments thereto.

Please note that AJ PERSONNEL is only responsible for the advertising of the advertisement on behalf of their client Wits Health Consortium.

AJ Personnel does not have any salary or other information regarding the position. 

NB! This job is now closed. You can apply for other jobs by uploading your CV.