Technical Lead: SRC Research at NRF National Research Foundation

About the position

Postion Summary:
SARAO has an exciting opportunity for a role of a Technical Lead: SKA Regional Centre (SRC) Research responsible to provide leadership regarding implementation of SARAO’s end-user facing high performance computing (HPC) resources, which are aggregated under the SKA Regional Centre (SRC). The role will formulate roadmaps for the necessary technological systems, use cases and applications of the end-user facing HPC resources. Furthermore, the role will coordinate the contributions of SARAO towards development of technology and systems operations in the global SRC Network Project.

Key Responsibilities:

• Formulation of Roadmap for SARAO’s End-User Facing High Performance Computing Resources
• Planning the capacity of HPC resources according to evolving science requirements and emerging socio-economic impact opportunities
• Participation of SARAO personnel in the technology development, systems operations and end-user support initiatives of the global SRC Network Project
• Implementation of projects to foster advancement, usage and socio-economic impact of SARAO’s end-user facing HPC resources, through collaborations with national and international stakeholders
• Overseeing personnel and technology systems that comprise SARAO’s end-user facing HPC resources and facilitating optimal performance regarding delivery on outputs, outcomes and impact
• Reporting on performance of projects for enabling organisational performance monitoring and compliance to policies and regulations

Minimum Qualification:

• Masters Degree / NQF 9

Minimum Experience:

• 7-7 years

• Master’s degree (NQF9) in engineering, computer science, data science, astronomy or physics
• PhD/D
• Eng or related field with 7+ years

Experience:

• 10 years of involvement in deployment and operation of HPC systems in environments for enabling science projects (e
• g
• , in data-intensive fields such astronomy, physics, climate modelling, etc
• )5 years of direct involvement in international scientific research collaborations where the candidate has led teams that are involved in the collaborations and has produced documentation related to technical, scientific and best-practice aspects of projects

Knowledge:

• Strong understanding of strengths and weaknesses of various business models of deploying and hosting HPC infrastructure (e
• g
• , self-hosted, third-party provided)
• Knowledge of data movement challenges and applicable solutions for handling SKA-scale data in globally distributed research environments
• Knowledge of data storage, compute and memory challenges and applicable solutions for handling diverse scientific workflows
• Sound understanding of technologies and services for enabling usage of HPC resources for analysing, visualising and extracting insights from science data products
• Ability to lead teams in delivery of innovative solutions through their lifecycle from experimentation to production environments
• Decision Making
• Risk Management
• Research Governance
• Good Presentation skills

Additional Notes:
Communication skills to facilitate coordination among scientists, engineers, equipment vendors and society in general. Stakeholder management [URL Removed] and [URL Removed] to work under [URL Removed] appreciation of scientific workflows and research [URL Removed] NRF website provides more details on the initiatives and activities Applicants should submit a comprehensive CV by registering and apply online through the NRF Recruitment and Selection Portal. Applications should be accompanied by a letter of motivation indicating the applicant·s suitability for the position. The names and contact details of at least three referees should be provided.

Desired Skills:

• Skilled in applied field of position
• Knowledge to be relevant
• Responsible in performing duties

About The Employer:

The National Research Foundation (NRF) supports and promotes research and human capital development through funding, the provision of National Research Facilities and science outreach platforms and programs to the broader community in all fields of science and technology, including natural sciences, engineering, social sciences and humanities. The South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO) implements South Africa's strategic investments in radio astronomy, including the international Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project, which covers a broad range of engineering and scientific activities. SARAO is a National Facility of the National Research Foundation, and incorporates radio astronomy and space geodesy instruments and programmes such as the MeerKAT telescope in the Karoo, the Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory (HartRAO) in Gauteng, the Africa Radio Astronomy Programme across nine African countries, as well as associated human capital development and commercialisation endeavours.