We are Hiring!

Vacancy: Chief Operating Officer

The African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (South Africa) is a residential graduate mathematics institute in Muizenberg. We teach around 90 structured Master’s students each year, as well as research-based Master’s and PhD students in the exciting areas of Artificial Intelligence and the broader mathematical sciences. Our research centre hosts postdoctoral fellows and other research staff. Our students are drawn from across Africa. AIMS is unique in that the courses are taught by international lecturers, who are leaders in their field, and who stay on site with our students in an immersive teaching experience for 3-4 weeks at a time.

We are searching for a right-hand person for our Executive Director (who is an international expert in Artificial Intelligence). We are searching for a versatile chief operating officer (COO) with strong leadership skills and experience in change management. Ideally, the COO should have experience in the growth phase of early-stage startups and be comfortable with laying foundational organisational infrastructure.

The COO will provide leadership for the financial and administrative operations of AIMS, supporting infrastructure, services, people and culture, and special initiatives that support AIMS’s research growth. A primary focus will be on optimising internal processes, improving efficiency and ensuring the organisation’s operations align with AIMS strategic goals. The COO will play a key role in helping to implement AIMS’s vision, strategic goals, objectives and values, and will play a critical role in translating the Executive Director’s vision into actionable plans and ensuring the smooth execution of those plans across the departments of AIMS.

The ideal candidate should be passionate about driving operational excellence, and have a strong financial and project management background.

Objectives of this role

• Work with AIMS’s Executive Director in the leadership, management and effective operation of AIMS to facilitate the achievement of AIMS strategic short and long-term goals.
• Ensure that effective operational controls, streamlined workflows, reporting procedures, systems, and resources are in place to improve the operational efficiencies, effectiveness and strategic position of AIMS.
• Drive transformational change and build productive partnerships, both internally and externally.
• Lead AIMS’s day-to-day operations, especially across the departments of financial operations,
  people and culture (human resources), facility management and other key corporate functions.
• Be responsible for managing resources effectively, including budget allocation and financial planning, staffing and performance management, and resource allocation, to ensure that AIMS
  operates efficiently and cost-effectively

Application process

Prospective candidates must submit the following documents as PDF files to vacancies@aims.ac.za:

• a detailed CV;
• a cover letter motivating the application.

The closing date for applications is 31 May 2024.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for interviews.

DISCLAIMER: AIMS South Africa reserves the right to disqualify ineligible, incomplete and/or inappropriate applications. AIMS also reserves the right not to make an appointment to the position as advertised. Only successful applicants will be contacted.

Resident Researcher in Machine Learning

The African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) South Africa is looking to hire a skilled and motivated Machine Learning Researcher to join our team in Cape Town. The successful candidate will play a key role in developing innovative machine learning algorithms and models to analyze satellite imagery, Earth observation and remote sensing data (e.g. acoustic monitoring and camera traps). Use cases could include  disease modelling and prediction, and wildlife monitoring tasks. Recent trends in deep learning open up large potential for impactful research by harnessing the vast data volumes related to Earth observation and remote sensing. The researcher will have a flexi-role: work closely with CLIMADE (https://climade.health/africa/) on projects related to climate change and the spread of vector borne disease, and contribute to research in machine learning for ecological tasks.

What we are looking for:

• Ph.D. in machine learning, computer science or related field.
• Experience in collecting and processing satellite data, e.g. Sentinel-2 or Landsat-8.
• A track record of research and scientific discovery, including publications related to deep learning.
• An ability to communicate research to scientific and public audiences.
• Experience in developing, debugging and publishing research code.
  

What you will do:

• You will lead and pursue a long-term ambitious research agenda related to machine learning using Earth observation data (focusing on arboviral diseases in Africa) or with remote sensing data (audio, camera traps).
• You will share research findings clearly and efficiently both internally at AIMS and externally to the research community and public, verbally and in writing.
• You will enjoy working in a multi-cultural pan-African environment, 50 metres away from Cape Town’s #1 surf spot.

If you love making connections between people and ideas, if you love starting new things, enjoy scientific freedom, and you are excited about the idea of advancing machine learning in Africa, then this job is for you. AIMS has a social mission. There are opportunities to participate in activities related to AIMS and the research centre.

Application process:

To apply, please e-mail the below documents in three pdf files to our recruitment team at: ml-positions@aims.ac.za:

• Curriculum Vitae (CV)
• Cover letter detailing your relevant experience and planned research agenda
• Proof of Ph.D. completion

There is no application deadline, and the position will be filled when a suitable candidate is found.

Questions about the position may be addressed to ml-positions@aims.ac.za.

DISCLAIMER: AIMS South Africa reserves the right to disqualify ineligible, incomplete and/or inappropriate applications. AIMS also reserves the right not to make an appointment to the position as advertised. Only successful applicants will be contacted.