Senior Lecturer / Associate Professor / Professor and Director at Disaster Management Training and Education Center for Africa

Duties and responsibilities

• Lecture on Disaster Management related subjects for postgraduate and Master’s degree students.
• Facilitate Disaster Management related subjects for practitioners.
• Provide study supervision of Masters’ and PhD students.
• Conduct academic research.
• Provide academic leadership by creating and executing strategies to establish DiMTEC as a leader in the discipline vis-á-vis competing international entities.
• The Director would be directly responsible for:
  • Directing the academic debate in DiMTEC;
  • Influencing DiMTEC’s overall climate and culture;
  • Shaping the future of DiMTEC.
  • Sustaining the vision and future of DiMTEC through succession planning.
• Contribute to the overall leadership in the faculty.
• Responsible for frequent and continuous planning and execution of plans, general organising and coordinating of staff, students and activities, mentoring and motivating staff, structuring, and exercising overall control.
• Create an atmosphere of consensus among staff.
• Responsible for effective internal and external communication.
• The Director is pivotal in linking DiMTEC staff and students with the University’s management and administration through communication, negotiation and consultation.
• Active participation and involvement in faculty management structures, attending meetings, leading project teams, representing the department and faculty, and fulfilling the roles of liaison officer and marketer, when necessary.
• Active participation and involvement in applicable UFS management structures, e.g. Senate
• Initiate, formulate and implement a visionary academic strategy for DiMTEC that is aligned with and supportive to the guiding strategic documents of the UFS and faculty.
• Ensure – 
  • The provision of top-quality, research-informed facilitation of learning at all levels of teaching in the department;
  • relevance of content, material and presentation in all modules;
  • the enhancement of student experiences and their continuous engagement in academic debates;
  • adequate rules and regulations are in place to optimally deliver high-quality teaching and learning programmes on both undergraduate and postgraduate levels;
  • adherence to all the rules and regulations of the UFS, faculty and department;
  • quality and timely feedback on student work;
  • proper and quality-driven academic advice and support to all under-and-postgraduate students in the department;
  • and the revisiting and development of fresh learning programmes that will help to position the department as a leader in the fraternity.
• Create and maintain a – 
  • Visionary research strategy for DiMTEC;
  • and environment that encourages research, leading to strong and active research habits and a culture of inquiry.
• Ensure that – 
  • Every academic staff member is engaged in quality driven and discipline specific research;
  • postgraduate students are recruited to broaden the research base of the department;
  • and ethical requirements are met.
• Guide and support Senior Academics towards acquiring NRF ratings.
• Engage actively with the faculty research committee and the UFS Directorate of Research Development in order to ensure sustainable financial support for departmental research initiatives.
• Build and effective team of scholars through:
  • Planning and implementing a fair and reasonable dispensation regarding the workload of staff members in the Center;
  • planning and implementing a clear and reasonable career path for every staff member in the department, taking account of the strategic plans of the University, faculty and DiMTEC;
  • appropriate mentoring interventions where and whenever it is needed;
  • managing staff performance in accordance with existing university policies and procedures;
  • recruitment and selection of scholars in the case of vacancies and/or specific strategic needs, whenever strategic repositioning requires expansion of academic endeavours;
  • creating and maintaining a scholarship-friendly environment in DiMTEC;
  • and planning and overseeing effective and relevant staff development.  
• Responsible for the ultimate responsibility in terms of financial management which culminates:
  • Ensuring financial independence of DiMTEC through innovative income generated activities;
  • annual budgeting;
  • financial planning;
  • allocation of funds;
  • and financial control;
  • honesty to handle cash transactions;
  • adherence to the UFS’s financial policies and procedures.
• Encourage and actively support academic staff members to apply for external research and other grants.