Job Description

Acknowledgement of Country

CSIRO acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land, sea and waters, of the area that we live and work on across Australia. We acknowledge their continuing connection to their culture and pay our respects to their Elders past and present. View our vision towards reconciliation.

Role highlights

• Coordinate scientific operations systems and contractor activities that enable world-class biosecurity research
• Grow your systems administration and operational coordination expertise within a highly regulated environment
• Geelong-based indefinite opportunity to be part of a collaborative team delivering Australia's national preparedness for exotic and emerging diseases.

About CSIRO

As Australia's national science agency, CSIRO is solving the greatest challenges through innovative science and technology. Many of our iconic innovations were once considered impossible until someone, just like you, joined us and took on the challenge.

Visit CSIRO.au and the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness - CSIRO for more information.

The opportunity

Join CSIRO's Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness (ACDP) is Australia's premier high-containment animal health and biosecurity facility. Located in Geelong, Victoria, ACDP plays a critical role in protecting Australia's livestock industries, environment and community from exotic and emerging infectious diseases.

We are seeking a Scientific Operations Officer to join the Scientific Operations team and provide systems administration, contractor coordination and operational support across the facility. In this varied role, you will be responsible for supporting business-critical systems, maintaining data integrity and governance standards, coordinating contractor activities and providing operational support that enables our scientists and technical teams to deliver world-leading research and preparedness capabilities.

Working within a highly regulated scientific environment, you will collaborate with a wide range of stakeholders while ensuring compliance with security, quality, safety and operational requirements. This is an excellent opportunity for an organised and proactive professional who enjoys working with systems, coordinating operational activities and contributing to meaningful scientific outcomes.

Please note that, due to the nature of the role, you will be required to meet ACDP’s microbiological security and any other additional security assessment requirements, as well as be appropriately vaccinated.

Your high-level duties will include:

• Administering and supporting scientific and operational systems, including asset management and monitoring systems.
• Managing user access, permissions and governance requirements across multiple systems.
• Maintaining system data quality, documentation, procedures and training materials.
• Providing first-line user support, troubleshooting and system improvement recommendations.
• Coordinating contractors undertaking maintenance, calibration, verification and quality-related activities.
• Managing contractor onboarding, site access requirements and laboratory escorting activities.
• Supporting scientific operations through effective stakeholder engagement, administration and coordination activities.

Role particulars

Location and office arrangements: Geelong, VIC - Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness (ACDP)

Salary: AU$76k – AU$96k per annum (pro rata for part-time), plus 15.4% superannuation

Tenure & work schedule: Indefinite, full-time.

Reference: 104010

As the successful candidate, you will bring:

Essential

• A relevant degree and/or equivalent experience in systems administration, operations, contractor management or a related field
• Experience administering electronic business, scientific, asset, quality or operational systems, or demonstrated capability to configure, maintain and support comparable systems.
• Demonstrated ability to manage accurate records, system data, user access and documentation in accordance with governance and compliance requirements.
• Experience coordinating contractors, service providers or technical work activities, including scheduling, stakeholder liaison, documentation and issue follow-up.
• Demonstrated ability to work safely and effectively in a highly regulated environment and to follow security, HSE, quality and access-control requirements.
• Well-developed communication, organisation and stakeholder-management skills, with the ability to manage competing priorities and provide responsive support.

Desirable

• Experience with contractor management in a highly regulated environment
• Experience supporting multiple systems in a scientific, laboratory, engineering, asset-management or regulated operational environment.
• Experience coordinating calibration, verification, maintenance or repair services for scientific equipment or operational assets.

For full details about this role and other criteria, please review the Position Description.

Not sure if you meet all the criteria?

While it is CSIRO policy that the successful candidate must meet all the essential criteria, there are many ways to demonstrate this. Don’t let the list discourage you. If you are unsure about applying, please reach out to the contact person in the Position Description

Setting you up for success

We are committed to providing a recruitment process that is fair, equitable and accessible to everyone. We recognise that it may be helpful for us to adjust our process to make it equitable for your individual situation. Please let us know how we can support you.

Life at CSIRO and flexible work arrangements

We work flexibly at CSIRO, offering a range of options for how, when and where you work. We can discuss flexible work arrangements with you during the recruitment process. CSIRO also offers a range of leave entitlements, benefits and career development opportunities. To find out more, visit Careers at CSIRO.

Inclusion and belonging

Solving Australia's greatest challenges takes a diversity of minds and lived experiences. We know diverse teams are more effective and deliver more innovative outcomes. As an equal employment opportunity organisation, we are committed to creating diverse and inclusive teams where people feel they belong. We recognise true diversity encompasses all ages, abilities, cultures, faiths, levels of education, genders, sexualities, diversity of thought and much more. We focus on hiring people who share our values of People First, Further Together, Making it Real and Trusted.

CSIRO holds Gold Status for the Australian Workplace Equality Index for LGBTQIA+ inclusion, and a Science in Australia Gender Equity Bronze Award.

Eligibility

Applications for this position are open to Australian Citizens only.

Appointment to this role is subject to provision of a national police check and may be subject to other security/medical/character clearance requirements.

Child safety

CSIRO is committed to the safety and wellbeing of all children and young people involved in our activities and programs. View our Child Safe Policy.

How to apply

Please apply online and submit a cover letter (maximum 2 pages) and CV that demonstrate your motivation and ability to meet the essential requirements of this role.

Applications close

5th October 2026, 11:00 pm AEST