Vacant Post – Senior Telescope Maintenance Engineer

Contract type: Permanent
Job Level: Management
Work Location: Cape Town, Western Cape
Closing Date: 22 October 2023

The National Research Foundation (NRF) (www.nrf.ac.za) supports and promotes research and human capital development through funding, the provision of National Research Facilities and science outreach platforms and programmes 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) (www.sarao.ac.za) spearheads South Africa’s activities in the Square Kilometre Array Radio Telescope, commonly known as the SKA, in engineering, science and construction. SARAO is a National Facility managed by the National Research Foundation and incorporates radio astronomy instruments and programmes such as the MeerKAT in the Karoo, the Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory (HartRAO) in Gauteng, the African Very Long Baseline Interferometry (AVN) programme in nine African countries as well as the associated human capital development and commercialisation endeavours.

The Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO) (www.skao.int) is a next-generation global radio-astronomy facility that will revolutionise our understanding of the Universe and the laws of fundamental physics. It is one observatory with two telescopes – SKA-Mid in South Africa and SKA-Low in Western Australia. South Africa is a co-host member of the SKAO, an intergovernmental organisation headquartered at Jodrell Bank (near Manchester in the United Kingdom) responsible for SKAO construction and operations globally.

Purpose: The SKA Mid – Senior Telescope Maintenance Engineer is part of the Engineering Operations team and will be responsible for leading a team of engineers/technicians to develop solutions to fulfil requirements at subsystem and system levels. They will be responsible for ensuring the availability and reliability of electrical plant through effective planning, maintenance, and repairs in accordance with standards, procedures, policies, directives and work practices.

The SKA Mid – Senior Telescope Maintenance Engineer must have a strong understanding of developing maintenance strategies, maintenance planning, execution, coordination and asset life cycle management. They must also oversee the construction (from a client’s perspective), maintenance and repairs of electrical distribution equipment and assume professional responsibility for providing proven specialist/technical expertise and leading a diverse team, including external suppliers/stakeholders to achieve relevant objectives.

The SKA-Mid Senior Telescope Maintenance Engineer will also mentor team members and transfer specific technical knowledge in order to effectively manage their team and liaise with other departments. The position requires frequent travel to site in Carnarvon, Northern Cape.

The SKA-Mid Senior Telescope Maintenance Engineers will each specialize in the maintenance of the following radio telescope systems:
Antennas/receivers,
Cryogenic cooling systems,
Control and servo systems,
Mechanical systems

Key Responsibilities:

* Develop and manage the implementation of the asset care and asset lifecycle management strategy to ensure the telescope and infrastructure availability.
* Responsible for all off-site/D-level maintenance of telescope and infrastructure components and subsystems.
* Provide engineering support to the SKA-MID telescope construction project.
* Develop and monitor the implementation of the telescope and infrastructure long term maintenance plans.
* Develop, implement and optimize engineering policies, procedures and processes.
* Introduction of world class maintenance standards to ensure low cost asset availability and reliability.
* Develop and implement asset condition monitoring and condition-assessments systems and projects to ensure long term reliability.
* Drive continuous improvement programmes.
* Ensure Operational Readiness for new assets in terms of maintainability, spares availability, skilled maintenance and operational personnel and technical support and facilities.
* Benchmark, source, implement and monitor systems and tools to ensure effective asset lifecycle management and keeping abreast of latest market developments, training and ensuring correct deployment.
* Ensure compliance with all legal, environmental, quality, occupational health and safety and risk management legislation, standards and best practices.
* Responsible for the development and management of engineering projects, contracts and service level agreements.
* Line and performance management of engineering staff.
* Manage the departmental budget within prescribed parameters.
* Develop technical skills base by mentoring and training graduate engineers.

Key Requirements:
Qualification:

B-Tech (+8 years’ experience) in electronics/electrical/mechanical engineering or similar equivalent relevant
BSc. /B.Eng Degree (+7 years’ experience) in electronics/electrical/mechanical engineering or similar equivalent relevant
Masters’ Degree (+6 years’ experience) in electronics/electrical/mechanical engineering or similar equivalent relevant
AND
Must be registered or eligible for registration with ECSA as a professional engineer or technologist.
Government certificate of competency (GCC) is desirable

Experience:
B-Tech coupled with 8+ years’ experience in leading complex engineering high-technology projects with a proven record of delivery;
BSc./BEng Degree coupled with 7+ years􀂷􀀃experience in leading complex engineering high-technology projects with a proven record of delivery;
Masters Degree coupled with 6+ years􀂷􀀃experience in leading complex engineering high-technology projects with a proven record of delivery;
AND
Broad domain understanding of technologies and methodologies relevant to Radio Astronomy (Antennas/Receivers, Cryogenic cooling systems, control systems, mechanical systems, electrical systems)
Extensive domain knowledge of at least one of the technologies that is fundamental to Radio Astronomy (Mechanical Structures, Digital Electronics, Digital Signal Processing, Radio Frequency Electronics, High Performance Computing, and Electrical Power Systems).

Knowledge:

* Lead a team of engineers and technicians that will be able to deliver on projects assigned to the engineering division and engage strategically and technically with stakeholders.
* Set, communicate and implement long term strategies for the Engineering Division to ensure a transformed and internationally recognised Radio Astronomy Instrumentation capability is sustained within SKA-MID.
* Exercise a substantial degree of independent professional responsibility and discretion, working to broad parameters and policy guidance
* Manage and participate in multi-disciplinary projects
* Monitor and report on financial, schedule and technical status of their projects
* Manage budgeting process for the Engineering Division and monitor and control of expenditure against allocated budgets
* Set quality and professional standards and ensure quality assurance is maintained on their programs
* Facilitate effective communication and work flow both internally and externally
* Communicate effectively in English (both written and verbally)

Additional Notes:
Related Skills

Working on R&D or science related projects
Proven history of delivering on large projects
Working in a multi-national project environment
Systems Engineering/ Product development processes
Configuration Management and Maintenance of Product Configuration
Production processes relevant to their functional area
Development and implementation of operational plans
Project management (extensive)
Writing technical proposals/documents
Developing and implementation of revised or new work methods, designs, policies and processes
Participate and oversee in PDR/CDRs on programs/projects in the engineering division

Competency Requirements:
Extreme Importance (Essential):

Professional registration: must be registered or eligible for registration with ECSA as a professional engineer or technologist. Teamwork and Collaboration: Cooperates with others to achieve organisational objectives and may share team resources to do this.

Collaborates with other teams as well as industry colleagues.

Influence and Communication: Identifies critical stakeholders and influences them via an influential third party, for example through an established network, to gain support for sometimes contentious, proposals / ideas.

Resource Management/Leadership: Provides leadership that fosters an environment that encourages new ideas and provides support for the development of emerging skills. Creates trust by displaying consistency, understanding, integrity and patience. Plans, seeks, allocates and monitors resources to achieve outcomes.

Judgement and Problem Solving: Anticipates and manages problems in ambiguous situations. Develops and selects an appropriate course of action and provides for contingencies. Evaluates, interprets and integrates complex bodies of information and draws logical conclusions, synthesises proposals and defends options with reasoned arguments.

High Importance (Desirable):
Government certificate of competency – desirable
Proactiveness
Strong leadership qualities
Organised and systematic way of working
Documentation rigour, quality and maintaining configuration
Adherence to development processes and quality systems
Planning and time management
Display problem-solving skills
Display excellent interpersonal skills
Work independently as well as in a team environment
Strategic thinking
Organisational Values
The SKA-Mid Senior Telescope Engineer will be expected to demonstrate the SARAO and SKAO􀂷s values, and to work actively to instil
those behaviours in all SKA-Mid staff in South Africa.

SKAO’s values are:

Diversity and Inclusion
Excellence
Collaboration
Creativity and Innovation
Sustainability

SARAO’s values are:

Passion for Excellence
World-class service
People-centred
Respect
Integrity and Ethics
Accountability

Information:

The website www.nrf.ac.za provides more details on the NRF initiatives and activities.

Applications:

Applicants should submit a comprehensive CV by logging to https://ess.nrf.ac.za/Account/Recruitment and apply online. 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.

Closing Date: 22 October 2023

The NRF offers a challenging career and competitive remuneration package which is commensurate with qualifications and experience.

The NRF is committed to employment equity and redress and the appointment to the position will be made in line with the NRF Employment Equity Plan.

The NRF reserves the right not to make an appointment.

Correspondence will be sent to short-listed candidates only