CORE PURPOSE OF JOB

The objective of the Department of Statistics at Nelson Mandela University is to produce graduates who, by facilitating the advancement of statistical knowledge and using their statistical training, will contribute positively to the development of South Africa and society. The core purpose of this post is to facilitate and coordinate the learning process of undergraduate and postgraduate students in the statistics department, to engage in research activities and to contribute to the advancement of the initiatives of the department.

KEY PERFORMANCE AREAS

• To facilitate and coordinate undergraduate (and potentially postgraduate) teaching and learning processes in the department.
• Update and develop teaching/learning materials to ensure that relevance and quality are maintained.
• To perform departmental and academic administration.
• To prepare, submit and source external grant funding for research projects.
• To engage in inter-departmental and/or inter-faculty collaborative research in order to generate cross-disciplinary engagement and research outputs.
• To contribute to knowledge creation by conducting and publishing accredited research outputs relevant to the statistics community.
• To supervise honours and/or higher-level (M&D) projects.

CORE COMPETENCIES

• Possess sound knowledge of the theory and application of Statistics.
• Have experience at facilitating learning at undergraduate level, must be willing and able to teach large classes (100 - 400 students), and be able to coordinate the teaching of large classes.
• Possess the academic ability and personality to teach at all levels of the undergraduate programme.
• Possess excellent communication skills to engage internal and external stakeholders in departmental endeavours.
• Extensive experience and competence with one or more statistical software package (R, SAS, SPSS, Python etc).
• Excellent communication skills for both teaching and report writing.
• Sound research skills demonstrated through:

• Participation at local and international conferences.
• Publication in (international and DHET) accredited journals.
• Involvement in postgraduate supervision.

REQUIREMENTS

• A Masters degree in Mathematical Statistics or Statistics

• Proven lecturing and teaching experience at an institute of higher education, with demonstrated experience of at least two (2) years teaching in the field of Statistics or Mathematical Statistics at this level.
• At least one recent publication in statistics or applied statistics in a DHET accredited peer-viewed journal or conference proceedings.
• At least one paper presented at a statistics focused national conference.
• Proven expertise in using statistical packages (R, SAS and/or Python) to implement complex statistical and data science techniques.

• Current enrolment for a PhD in Statistics or Mathematical Statistics, with proof of significant progress.

Note: Candidates invited to an interview will be expected to demonstrate their ability to lecture by presenting a 10-minute lecture on a topic which will be communicated to them prior to the interview. Candidates may be expected to demonstrate their statistical software skills to support their application.

Each application must include:

• a letter of motivation indicating the candidates suitability for the post;
• a current curriculum vitae (only include DHET accredited research outputs) with the names and full contact details of at least three referees;
• certified copies of qualifications;
• a complete teaching portfolio.