Senior/Principal Scientific Officer

1. Role Summary

The Senior/Principal Scientific Officer will support the Visvesvaraya PhD Scheme in academic research evaluation, beneficiary management, and strategic execution activities related to PhD Candidates, PDFs and YFRF Awardees. The role will also provide leadership in strengthening the academic ecosystem through structured research collaboration and advanced analytics-based reporting.

Additionally, the position will lead the enhancement of the Scheme’s online portal through functional direction and architectural oversight (without requiring hands-on coding), ensuring a robust technology platform supporting monitoring and evaluation workflows.

B.Key Responsibilities

1. Academic Evaluation, Beneficiary Management & Research Ecosystem Development

• Support academic evaluation processes and review of research progress, outputs, publications, patents and deliverables of PhD candidates, PDFs and YFRF Awardees.
• Maintain and manage comprehensive academic profiles and performance analytics for beneficiaries; identify risk indicators and highlight key achievements.
• Coordinate Academic Committee meetings, expert evaluations, thematic reviews and follow-up actions.
• Support creation and functioning of research collaboration groups led by YFRF awardees, enabling joint publications, prototypes, innovation outcomes and partnerships with academia/industry/R&D institutions.
• Prepare academic reports, impact assessments, quarterly/annual progress summaries and documentation for internal review, audits and policy decisions.
• Conduct knowledge sessions, workshops and academic engagement activities to strengthen scheme participation.

2. Leadership of Portal Development (Functional & Architectural)

• Provide strategic direction, functional specifications and workflow mapping for enhancements to the Visvesvaraya PhD Scheme portal.
• Guide the development team in requirements alignment, UI/UX improvement, module upgrades and user experience enhancement.
• Oversee development progress, testing (UAT), deployment, security compliance and data integrity.
• Lead integration of academic functionalities such as research submission review modules, publication/patent tracking, milestone dashboards and reporting features.
• Ensuing compliance with Government guidelines, polices such as DPDP act for maintaining the data of beneficiaries in secure way.
• Manage portal enhancements in alignment with beneficiary workflow, monitoring and evaluation needs.

C.Qualifications & Experience

• PhD

  with minimum 1 year of experience.

• Or M.Tech/M. S

  in Computer Science or related domain from a recognized institution with minimum 3 years of experience.

Added Advantage:

• Demonstrated research experience evidenced through peer-reviewed publications and/or patents.
• Experience in leading, coordinating or managing development of a software platform / portal / MIS system.

D.Skills & Competencies

• Strong understanding of research methodologies, scholarly publishing and research evaluation systems.
• Ability to lead portal development teams and translate academic workflows into technology design.
• Excellent analytical, documentation, reporting and presentation skills.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management abilities.
• Knowledge of cybersecurity, database governance, and UI/UX principles is desirable.

E.Key Attributes

• High integrity and confidentiality in managing academic and research data.
• Ability to manage multidisciplinary academic, administrative and technology leadership responsibilities.
• Proactive, collaborative and ecosystem-building mindset.

F.Appointment & Tenure

• Full-time contractual position under the Visvesvaraya PhD Scheme.
• Tenure may be extended based on performance and program requirements.