Research jobs in South Africa

Position Summary

Industry: Education & Training

Job category: University and Academy

Location: Potchefstroom

Contract: Permanent

Remuneration: The annual total remuneration package will be commensurate with the level of appointment as advertised and in line with the NWU policy guidelines.

About Our Company

NWU

Introduction

NORTH-WEST UNIVERSITY (VANDERBIJLPARK CAMPUS) DIVISION: DVC RESEARCH AND INNOVATION DEPARTMENT: NWU LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SERVICE POSITION NUMBER: N000299 POSITION: MANAGER – RESEARCH AND OPEN SCHOLARSHIP PEROMNES GRADE: P7 EMPLOYMENT TYPE: PERMANENT APPOINTMENT

Job Description

PURPOSE OF THE POSITION:

To lead, develop, and manage services that support research, scholarly communication, and open scholarship. To advance the institution’s research mission by promoting open, ethical, and innovative research practices, and ensuring compliance with open access, data sharing, and responsible research requirements. The incumbent will assist the Director: Open Scholarship as a member of the management team in the strategic planning and development of the Library Services to realise the mission and goals of the Library & Information Service.

Key Responsibilities

• Strategy development
• Identify and develop strategic initiatives to support the advancement of RDM, open scholarship, and e-research services at NWU
• Benchmark research services nationally and internationally and incorporate them into the departmental improvement or innovation plan
• Lead the development of long-term strategies for enhancing institutional research support, open access, and data management practices.
• Joint development and implementation of NWU’s Open (Science)/Access policy and guidelines and facilitate unitary implementation and optimization of open
• Manage research and open scholarship services
  
  
  
  

• Identify lead and develop knowledge and expertise in the area of research impact and analytics, scholarly communication, and publishing, RDM, and OA publishing.
• Provide management information on impact, bibliometrics, altmetrics and as well as citation analysis works which meets the research objectives of NWU.
• Advocacy for the expansion and use of the Institutional Research and Data Repositories and related Open Educational Resource platforms.
• Contribute to the stewardship of NWU’s intellectual assets.
• Ensure that researchers gain maximum benefit from the library’s resources and research services.
• Promote the use of bibliographic management software.
• Benchmark research services nationally and internationally and incorporate into the departmental improvement or innovation plan.
• Direct efficient and effective research services to graduate students, Academic and Research staff aligned with user needs.
• Participate and contribute to Open Access initiatives of the University.
• Manages the development of standardised research training materials (Advanced Data and Information Literacy) to increase library use and efficiency.
• Manage and promote the development of a data literacy programme and its integration into relevant academic programmes.
• Ensure compliance with Copyright laws.
• Plans and promotes initiatives and outreaches on topics related to scholarly communications, including copyright and fair use; open access and related University resolutions and policies; scholarly publishing and authors’ rights; digital platforms for research sharing and dissemination; and open educational resources.
• Advance e-research initiatives and promote the digital scholarship services to the researchers.
• Analyse user data and information training needs.
• Promote student success and retention through collaboration with researchers across campuses.
• Establish and enforce innovative and effective user feedback processes and techniques to adapt resources to suit user needs.
• Evaluates data instruction programmes.
• Initiate the development of a research-support marketing plan to be executed by Research, and Faculty Librarians
• Manages the uploading and digital preservation of theses and dissertations, faculty publications, research data, and other scholarly outputs into the data and institutional repository.
• Consult and advise on scholarly publishing agreements, and retention of the right to deposit materials in the institutional repositories.
• Develop and maintain the research and open scholarship services web presence through multiple platforms, such as webpages, Libguides, social media, internal communication, etc.
• Manage and coordinate the OA article processing charges (APCs) support initiative through transformative agreements and institutional OA agreements.
• Provide analytics reporting on repository usage and performance.
• Lead research and open scholarship events such as the Open Access week, research weeks in collaboration with relevant players.
• Develop and review policies related to research support, open scholarship, and data governance, aligned with national and global frameworks.
  
  
  
  

• Supervise and mentor staff involved in research and open scholarship services.
• Identify and mitigate legal, ethical, and data protection risks related to data sharing and publishing.
• Represent NWU in external networks, consortia, and working groups on open science and scholarly communication.
• Explore and implement innovative technologies in digital scholarship and scholarly communication.
• Compliance & Policy Implementation:
• Ensure compliance with institutional/funder mandates on open access and data sharing.
• Contribute to policy development on open scholarship and data governance.
• Provide copyright guidance and promote awareness of authors' rights and fair use.
• Support responsible data handling aligned with ethics and data protection laws.
• People Management:
• Management of research and open scholarship services.
• Hire, train and supervise staff members involved in providing services such as training, consultations, and technical support.
• Create an enabling leadership culture by developing a shared direction, shared values and alignment and commitment to transform the organisational culture.
• Foster a participative and developmental leadership style.
• Improve team cohesion, synergy and effectiveness.
• Develop a Strategic Workforce Plan that builds proportions of African and People with disabilities and implement the Plan.
• Arrange and implement culture improvement interventions, establish a baseline, receive a report and feedback and implement; actively remove engagement barriers.
  
  

Minimum Requirements

• A bachelor of Library & Information Science degree or a bachelor of Information Science (NQF level 7) OR a B degree plus a postgraduate qualification in Library and / or Information Science.
• Membership with the Library and Information Association of South Africa (LIASA). Please attach current membership certificate.
• A minimum of 5 years’ experience in research support services in an academic library.
  
  

Key Functional/ Technical Competencies

• Knowledge of the research environment and research lifecycle
• Understanding of open science principles
• Familiarity with research mandates and funder requirements
• Experience with institutional repositories
• Competency in bibliometrics, altmetrics, and research impact analysis
• Knowledge of copyright, intellectual property rights
• Experience providing RDM and Open Access support.
• Knowledge of academic information resources and research tools
• Strong computer literacy
• Understanding of academic structures and research activities
• Knowledge of the latest developments in information and digital technology
• Awareness of the client service needs of the academic and research community
• Ability to support and train researchers.
• Thorough knowledge of the broader academic teaching and research environment
• Strategic thinking and planning skills
  
  

Behavioural Competencies

• Good interpersonal, communication and presentation skills.
• Ability to work collaboratively with others.
• Ability to work under pressure and meet deadline.
  
  

Remuneration

The annual total remuneration package will be commensurate with the level of appointment as advertised and in line with the NWU policy guidelines.

ENQUIRIES REGARDING JOB CONTENT MAY BE DIRECTED TO[LE1] : Veli Tshetsha Tel: 018 389 2803 or Nomzingisi Madikoane Tel: 018 389 2198

ENQUIRIES REGARDING RECRUITMENT PROCESS MAY BE DIRECTED TO: Ms Moratuwa Motsemme Tel: 018 299 4958

CLOSING DATE: 20 June 2025

PLANNED COMMENCEMENT OF DUTIES: As soon as possible

Kindly take note: applications must be submitted online through the official NWU vacancy website.

Incomplete applications and those submitted through any other platform will not be considered.

The University subscribes to and applies the principles of Employment Equity (EE) Act and is committed to transformation. Preference will be given to candidates from the designated groups, in accordance with the principles of the EE Act and NWU Employment Equity Plan.

The University reserves the right not to make an appointment. Communication will be limited to shortlisted candidates only.

If you are not contacted within two months from the closing date of this advertisement, please accept that your application was unsuccessful.