Waipapa Taumata Rau | The University of Auckland

The University of Auckland is New Zealand’s leading university, with a turnover of $1.3bn, including research revenue of over $300m generated across eight diverse faculties and two research institutes. We employ more than 5400 academic and professional staff to support over 45,000 students, making us one of NZ’s largest employers.

Our mission and values place strong emphasis on both our student body and our scholarly community, and we work with both community and enterprise to advance the well-being of the peoples of Auckland and New Zealand, with a clear commitment to pursuing sustainability.

Te Whiwhinga mahi | The opportunity

The Department of Statistics invites applications for a new vacancy at the level of Associate Professor or upper-level Senior Lecturer.

The department is the largest in Australasia with research interests spanning a broad range of theoretical and applied fields, and has a strong PhD programme and thriving undergraduate and postgraduate teaching programmes. The Department of Statistics invites applicants with research experience in any area of statistics, but is especially interested in forming productive collaborations inside the department or with other departments at the university.

Research areas of particular interest include astrostatistics, genomics and biomedical (including forensics), statistical computing and visualization, data science and machine learning, statistical ecology and sustainability, statistical methodology (especially Bayesian methods, latent variable models, and semiparametric models) and statistical education.

Data science is a particular focus of new academic programmes, and successful applicants will be expected to teach undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Data Science and supervise research projects in Data Science.

You will be expected to teach undergraduate and graduate courses, supervise student research projects and PhD students, develop and run their own research programme, and contribute to the organization and running of the department.

You will focus on the below areas when not actively teaching:

• Supervise and assess student work and research projects.
• Research, as appropriate to the level you are appointed at.
• Participate in community service activities that further advance the particular field.
• Participate in University and/or Departmental committees.
• Ensure the observance of University policy and codes of practice in all teaching, research and administrative practices.
• Contribute to the development of a Departmental working environment of teamwork and cooperation.

For more detailed information, please refer to the Position Description.

Mō tō mātou rōpū | About the team

Te Kura Tatauranga | The Department of Statistics is ranked first in New Zealand for Statistics and Operations Research and our department is the birthplace of the R Project - a widely used software environment for statistical computing. The Department is the largest in Australasia with thriving undergraduate and postgraduate teaching programmes, and a strong PhD programme. Research interests span a broad range of theoretical and applied fields. The Department is the country's largest, most diverse, and most accomplished. The department was founded in 1994. It now has more than 28 academic staff and 30 PhD students, and an ever-growing cohort of undergraduates.

He kōrero mōu | About you

It's essential that you have a PhD in Statistics or equivalent and that you have the ability to undertake research-based teaching at the senior undergraduate and postgraduate levels. You will have the ability to use computers in a teaching environment and work to captivate and guide our students with your lectures and teaching programme. In general, we would expect applicants to be able to meet most of the University of Auckland Academic Standards for Senior Lecturer Level 6 or Associate Professor in the Natural Sciences.  

Teaching

• Be capable of teaching into a diverse range of courses—most of the undergraduate course catalogue should be within your capability
• Have some ideas about a course which you might like to personally like to develop and teach
• Bring novel teaching innovations to our department
• Demonstrate research ideas that will allow you to recruit Honours, Masters, and PhD students
• Have experience in course direction and course leadership

Research

• Have a strong research portfolio of peer reviewed journal articles, or peer reviewed conference proceedings, both high in quality and in impact
• Proven success in attracting grants from external and internal sources. This may also include commercially funded research
• A strong track record with graduate student (Honours and above) supervision
• An increasing profile at both the national and international level.

Service

• Have a demonstrated record in leadership and service to your institution. If your background is academic, then leadership at the Faculty level and above is preferred.
• A demonstrated record of service to the profession or wider-community.
• A record of outreach activities is most welcome

Ngā āhuatanga kei a mātou | What we offer

The University of Auckland is New Zealand’s leading university and maintains significant computational, laboratory and analytic facilities. Auckland itself is frequently rated as one of the world’s most liveable cities. 

• The University is committed to providing an excellent working environment through:
• Flexible employment practices (including working from home, flexible hours)
• Up to 6.75% company superannuation scheme
• A competitive salary with five weeks’ annual leave

In addition, we also offer career development programmes, discounted car parking, a generous parental leave allowance, childcare and a number of other discounts on internal and external services. 

For more information please visit Staff Benefits.

Me pēhea te tuku tono | How to apply

Applications must be submitted online by the closing date of January 17 2022 to be considered. Please include your cover letter and your CV highlighting how you can meet the skills and experiences detailed above.

Please reach out to Professor James Curran via [email protected] for a confidential conversation. Please note we are happy to answer your questions but we do not accept applications by email.

Covid-19 Vaccination

The University of Auckland is committed to protecting the health, safety and well-being of our staff and students.  All students, staff and visitors need to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19, or medically exempt, in order to come onto our campuses or to take part in face-to-face University-managed activities. Therefore, we are only able to consider applicants who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 or have a New Zealand Ministry of Health issued medical exemption and evidence of this will be requested as part of your employment. You can read more about the University’s vaccination policy here.

Overseas Applicants

In accordance with our commitment to equitable recruitment, the University welcomes applications from all suitably qualified and experienced candidates. In response to COVID-19 the New Zealand Government has imposed a travel ban and are currently only allowing New Zealand Residents, Citizens and visa holders meeting a strict exception policy to enter the country, all of whom must currently enter Government approved quarantine for seven days on arrival.  

It is uncertain when these border restrictions will change, and this may impact the degree to which an offshore candidate can engage in the interview process; or be available to commence in a new position. For more information and updates on the border restrictions visit the Immigration New Zealand website or the New Zealand Government’s official Covid-19 website.

Equity

The University is committed to meeting its obligations under the Treaty of Waitangi and achieving equity outcomes for staff and students in a safe, inclusive and equitable environment.  For further information on services for Māori, Pacific, women, LGBTQITakatāpui+, people with disabilities, parenting support, flexible work and other equity issues go to www.equity.auckland.ac.nz