Key responsibilities:

• Contribute to strategic investment goal setting and development of RDI strategy for the Water Research Centre;
• Promote a culture of science, engineering and technology (SET) excellence and provide RDI leadership of multiple disciplines to support Water Resource Management;
• Promote a culture of industrialization of research outcomes;
• Interact with stakeholders (clients, peers, etc.) within fields of expertise to develop long-term relationships both within and outside the CSIR;
• Conduct project management through robust, integrated planning;
• Raise personal, team and institutional profiles through publishing original research and presenting work at national and international conferences and workshops;
• Write, and review research proposals; research reports, client reports and peer-reviewed publications;
• Conceptualise, structure, manage and implement research projects;
• Contribute to policy research in support of South Africa’s national priorities;
• Conceptualise, structure, management and implementation of multi-disciplinary research projects.
• Propose and/or contribute to the strategic investment plan and implement Parliamentary Grant, Contract Research and Development and other grant-funded projects;
• Fulfilling a leadership role in the water resources management projects and be responsible for securing research projects;
• Deeply understand the needs of the industry by integrating sector knowledge in multi-dimensional research and development programs in order to deliver industry aligned RDI;
• Provide technical support on business development and participate in strategic stakeholder engagements;
• Manage projects through planning of appropriate processes and policies to ensure Intellectual Property (IP) protection and technology transfer;
• Ensure timely delivery of technically complex outcomes related to water resources assessment, catchment management plans, integrated water resources planning and management, master planning, hydrological assessment, water resources modelling, systems analysis, flood risk assessment, water demand analysis, hydraulics and spatial analysis.
• Lead hydrological modelling project activities for a wide range of applications, including water resources planning, development and management, flood prediction and design, and coupled systems modelling including, for example, water quality, hydro-ecology and climate;
• Assessment of hydrological impact of future system response, for example to climate and land management change;Undertake surface water yield measurement techniques and extrapolation of information from the available measurements in space and time to generate stream flow estimates and trends over long periods;
• Application of hydrological models to generate historical, current or natural stream flow records in order establish future yields or scenario modelling;
• Forecasting future seasonal stream flow to inform planning and management decisions relating to available water resources and to ensure security of supply;
• Establishing current water allocation amounts and usage patterns;
• Developing the hydrological model node and link network;
• Calibrating and verifying the model;
• Contribute to policy research in support of South Africa’s national priorities.
• Write, and review research proposals; research reports, client reports and peer-reviewed publications.

In collaboration with the Business Development and Commercialization portfolio:

• Drive the transfer of water technology and solutions to industry/user environment;
• Package technologies for commercialisation or develop an “investment ready business” through financial modelling market assessment and business plan development.

Qualifications, skills and experience:

• A Masters degree or equivalent qualification in Environmental Science, Hydrology, Hydrogeology or related natural science discipline associated with the Water Resources Modelling or BSc Eng/BEng in a relevant civil engineering discipline complimented by a relevant postgraduate qualification;
• Registration as a Professional Engineer (Pr.Eng.) with the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) or SACNASP registration as a professional natural scientist or legible to register as a professional engineer/natural scientist immediately;
• At least five years’ experience in hydrological modelling space as it relates to surface water modelling and the understanding of hydrological impacts of land-use changes through measurements;
• At least five years’ experience in surface water (yield) measuring techniques.
• Applied knowledge and understanding of surface water resource modelling and systems optimisation;
• Ability to lead multidisciplinary team of professionals, mentor and manage people and have strong inter-personal and networking skills;
• Proven track record in leading surface water modelling research projects;
• Ability to provide thought leadership and high level conceptualisation;
• Ability to work independently as well as in teams;
• Business Development and financial acumen;
• Excellent communication and presentation skills;
• Conflict management skills;
• Decisiveness and action orientation;
• Project Management skills.
• Appropriate national and international RDI networks;
• An understanding of the research to market ‘innovation’ value chain.
• Communication and presentation skills.
• Problem solving, solution seeking orientation;