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

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.

The opportunity

• ​​​​​​Join us in supporting and enabling world-class scientific blue-water research
• Leverage your ICT skills in a varied role and contribute to major international software projects
• Work in our Hobart office and at sea supporting Australia's Research Vessel Investigator's ICT Systems

At NCMI (National Collections and Marine Infrastructure business unit) we operate the Research Vessel Investigator (RV Investigator), an advanced ocean research vessel, supporting Australia’s atmospheric, oceanographic, biological and geoscience research.
The Investigator has a sophisticated ICT network used to support the operation of the vessel and to collect data from the vessel’s array of scientific instrumentation.

The role of Software Engineer/Data Analyst (seagoing), enables and supports scientific voyages on the RV Investigator, contributing to world-class scientific blue-water research.   
In this role, you will provide support in the areas of ICT systems and software engineering, network administration, data processing and data management.  

A requirement of the role is to provide up to 85 days per year of seagoing support on voyages that are typically 3 to 8 weeks in duration.

On-the-job training and mentoring will be provided in CSIRO-specific systems and for the seagoing aspect of the role.

Due to the diverse nature of the role, candidates with a range of ICT backgrounds will be considered. 
If you are interested in this role, but you are lacking some of the requirements, please get in touch with us or apply explaining your skills and experience to date.

Your duties will include:

• Developing, integrating, and maintaining software and hardware systems in support of the ship’s ICT services and the acquisition, processing, visualisation and management of marine data.
• Undertaking the role of computing support person on MNF research voyages providing general ICT support to voyage participants and network administration on board the vessel. 
• Diagnosing and rectifying hardware, firmware and software problems with scientific data acquisition and instrumentation systems, and with the ship’s ICT network infrastructure. 
• Maintaining and evolving shipboard network, communication and computing infrastructure, including routing and switch systems; satellite, VoIP and CCTV systems; printers; backup and other systems onboard the vessel. 
• Documenting existing and new systems to a high level, for both support staff and end users.
• Monitoring hardware performance and providing input into discussions on equipment upgrades/replacement. 
• Liaising with scientists and assisting with the processing, quality control and visualisation of data.
• Liaising with clients to determine their needs and take personal responsibility for their satisfaction, by correcting problems promptly and in a constructive manner.  
• Communicating openly, effectively and respectfully with all staff, clients and suppliers in the interests of good business practice.
• Proactively identifying opportunities for improvements in systems and procedures; analysing underlying issues of complex and ill-defined problems; developing solutions and managing them through to delivery of a positive outcome.  
• Other duties as directed.

Location: Hobart, TAS

Salary: AU$93,267 to AU$105,517 plus up to 15.4% superannuation plus duty at sea allowance

Tenure: Indefinite

Reference: 95957

To be considered you will need:

Essential

• A tertiary qualification in Information Technology and/or equivalent relevant experience.
• Windows/Linux system administration skills.
• An understanding of software engineering methodologies and version control systems. 
• Ability to develop software in modern languages (e.g. Python) and experience with frameworks, libraries and languages relevant to the development of data systems and web-based applications. 
• Excellent communications skills, including demonstrated ability to clearly document software, data flows and to produce manuals and reports. 
• Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively effectively, sometimes from remote locations, as part of a highly competent and committed team. 
• A strong customer-centric support ethic with the ability to provide a high level of technical support at sea for the duration of voyages.
• Demonstrated ability to develop and meet goals, working with clients under limited direction to mutually agreed outcomes and deadlines. 
• Demonstrated ability to proactively identify and take ownership of opportunities for improvements in systems and procedures.

Desirable

• An understanding of data flow from sensor to data product. 
• Experience with data science, particularly with oceanographic, atmospheric and/or marine science data sets.
• Experience specifying, procuring, and integrating complex software and/or ICT infrastructure systems and components.
• Experience programming in Python. 
• Portfolio of software programming examples that are the sole work of the candidate. 
• Database development, administration, and management experience, preferably PostgreSQL. 
• Experience with DevOps methodology and systems. 
• Demonstrated experience with administration of enterprise level network infrastructure including firewalls; switches; virtual servers; data backup and storage systems. 
• Experience providing customer facing support. 

For full details about this role please review the Position Description

Eligibility

Applications for this position are open to Australian/New Zealand Citizens or Australian Permanent Residents only. Appointment to this role is subject to provision of a national police check and may be subject to other security/medical/character requirements.

The successful candidate must be willing and able to work at sea and to travel extensively in order to provide operational support in domestic or foreign ports (up to 85 days per year of seagoing support on voyages that are typically 3 to 8 weeks in duration). 

Due to the seagoing aspect of the role, appointment will be conditional on passing a Remote Area Seagoing Medical check, and the ability to obtain a Maritime Security Identification Card.

Flexible working arrangements

We work flexibly at CSIRO, offering a range of options for how, when and where you work. 

Diversity and inclusion

We are working hard to recruit people representing the diversity across our society, and ensure that all our people feel supported to do their best work and feel empowered to let their ideas flourish. 

About CSIRO

At CSIRO Australia's national science agency, we solve the greatest challenges through innovative science and technology. We put the safety and wellbeing of our people above all else and earn trust everywhere because we only deal in facts. We collaborate widely and generously and deliver solutions with real impact. 

CSIRO is committed to values-based leadership to inspire performance and unlock the potential of our people.

Join us and start creating tomorrow today!

How to apply

Please apply on-line and provide a cover letter and CV that best demonstrate your motivation and ability to meet the requirements of this role.

Applications close

28th April 2024, 11:00pm AEST/AEDT