The South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO) is recruiting a telescope operations team lead manager to its facility in Cape Town, Western Cape. The successful candidate will plan, advise, oversee and support the telescope operations’ day-to-day processing and monitoring.
Key Responsibilities
- Developing operating procedures and user manuals for operating complex systems;
- Performing root cause analysis;
- Leading a team of telescope operators;
- Advising and reporting on the performance and availability of the Telescope;
- Overseeing the reporting of faults on the Jira tickets system;
- Ensuring that Jira tickets are assigned to the correct person and resolved;
- Monitoring the functional behaviour of all telescope systems;
- Training and mentoring of telescope operators; and
- Coordinating testing and integration with other subsystems when necessary.
Key Requirements
Qualification
- Bachelor’s degree (Science or Engineering); and
- Valid driver’s licence.
Experience
- Six (6) years of working experience in a technical, scientific or astronomy observatory environment or similar operational facility;
- Significant experience as a telescope operator and in radio astronomy;
- Software development in Python (advantageous); and
- Radio frequency interference (advantageous).
Knowledge
- Linux operating system;
- Basic understanding of system engineering processes;
- Process control and optimisation thinking;
- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills;
- Understand the telescope system and stay abreast of the current operating procedure;
- Fault-finding, root cause analysis and creating procedure; and
- Data analysis, report writing and presentation.
Additional Notes
- High-level planning and strong organisational skills;
- Time management skills;
- Ability to communicate clearly on technical issues to non-specialist and senior-level audiences;
- Demonstrated ability to work and cope under pressure in time-critical situations with multiple priorities;
- Ability to persuade, mentor, motivate and lead a team;
- Well-developed analytical and problem-solving capability; and
- Willing to travel and work in remote telescope sites.
How to Apply
Applicants should submit a comprehensive CV here before 01 February 2023. Furthermore, applicants should include a letter of motivation indicating their suitability for the position in their applications. In addition, the applicants must provide at least three referees’ names and contact details.
South Africa’s National Research Foundation (NRF) offers a challenging career and competitive remuneration package commensurate with qualifications and experience. Also, the NRF is committed to employment equity and redress, and appointments to the position will align with the NRF Employment Equity Plan. In addition, the NRF reserves the right not to make an appointment and will send correspondence to short-listed candidates only.
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