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

A great opportunity to combine the advantages of a relaxed, ocean-side lifestyle with a leading-edge technology job at a world-class science and technology research facility. 

Space and Astronomy (S&A) manages CSIRO’s world-class facilities for radio astronomy and spacecraft tracking. We are internationally renowned for our radio astronomy research and engineering expertise, and closely engaged with construction of the SKA, a €2 billion international project in radio astronomy sited jointly in Western Australia and South Africa.  

The next-generation Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP) is operated at Inyarrimanha Ilgari Bundara, CSIRO’s Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory, in Western Australia.

ASKAP is a new, world-class radio telescope comprising 36 fully-steerable antennas equipped with novel Phased Array Feed receivers (PAFs) designed and built by CSIRO. ASKAP is already producing high impact science results and has recently commenced its initial 5-year survey program for which it was designed, which will map the cm-radio sky to unprecedented depths of sensitivity, discovering tens of millions of new galaxies.   

An upgrade to the telescope called CRACO is underway, designed to detect Fast Radio Bursts and other transient sources with increased sensitivity.

We are seeking an Electronics Technician to be part of the support team for the ASKAP Operations and, together with ATNF staff at other sites, to support delivery of instrumentation upgrades including CRACO.  

Your role will support complex digital, analogue and radio frequency systems including the PAF receivers, digital signal processing, control and monitoring, and timing systems.

The role includes participating in planning for critical systems maintenance activities, fault finding and testing, and participating in the planning of deployment of new state-of-the-art instrumentation.

You will be part of a multi-disciplinary engineering team located on our Geraldton site, but working at times within the broader ATNF technical team including at our Marsfield Headquarters to maintain operations and support new projects such as CRACO.

Please note: Frequent travel to the Inyarrimanha Ilgari Bundara, CSIRO’s Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory (approx. 350km northeast of Geraldton) will be required. Visits will be typically five days in duration and require overnight stays at the Boolardy accommodation facility.

Your duties will include:

• Working within a small multi-disciplinary team to monitor system performance and maintain the Observatory electronics systems, to ensure the highest levels of availability required for the National Facility. 
• Applying your knowledge and experience, working under limited direction, to undertake fault diagnosis and corrective maintenance on a diverse range of specialised analogue and digital electronic equipment, sharing your knowledge and skills with other staff.  
• Undertaking repairs to electronic equipment and modules down to component level. 
• Proactively identifying potential spares issues or failure modes and working with external suppliers or staff at other ATNF sites to determine suitable replacement parts or alternative solutions.  
• Actively participate in planning and design of instrumentation upgrades for the Observatory, working closely with colleagues at other ATNF sites and within CSIRO.   
• Traveling occasionally to other ATNF sites, as required, to assist with installation and maintenance of electronics systems.   
• Actively contributing to written and online documentation associated with equipment repair and maintenance, including management of system drawings and schematics, and configuration management. 
• Traveling frequently to the site of the ASKAP radio telescope, some 350km northeast of Geraldton. 

Location: Geraldton, WA
Salary: AU$87,068 to AU$98,504 plus up to 15.4% superannuation
Tenure: Indefinite
Reference: 93354

To be considered you will need:

Essential 

• A relevant Electronics Certificate, Associate Diploma or equivalent in Electrical/Electronic/RF Engineering with at least 5 years relevant experience.  
• Demonstrated experience in diagnosing complex electronics systems and aptitude for advancing system knowledge. 
• Proven ability to work effectively as part of a multi-disciplinary, regionally dispersed team, and to carry out tasks autonomously. 
• Demonstrated experience with soldering, rework of PCBs and electronic modules as well as mechanical assembly.
• Extensive experience with data cabling including working with optic fibre installation, splicing and optical measurement equipment.  
• Willingness to travel to other CSIRO sites for training and professional development or to assist with the repairs, installation or maintenance of equipment.  
• The ability and willingness to operate elevated work platforms to access heights up to 25m above the ground.  
• Demonstrated commitment to safe work practices, environmental sustainability and the principles of equity and diversity. 
• A current Class ‘C’ Australian driver’s licence (or equivalent).   

Desirable 

• An understanding of RF systems and a mechanical aptitude. 
• Experience with single-mode optic fibre installation and splicing.  
• Experience with computer aided drafting (CAD).  
• Familiarity with modern project management platforms and/or collaboration tools such as Jira and Confluence. 

For full details about this role please review the Position Description.

Eligibility

Applications for this position are open to Australian/New Zealand Citizens, Australian Permanent Residents or you must either hold, or be able to obtain, a valid working visa for the duration of the specified term. Appointment to this role is subject to provision of a national police check and may be subject to other security/medical/character requirements.

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.

CSIRO is committed to the safety and wellbeing of all children and young people involved in our activities and programs, whether we are undertaking research, engaging with the public or nurturing future scientists in person or online. Source – CSIRO Child Safe policy 2023

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

27th of August 2023, 11:00pm AEST/AEDT

Shortlisting for this role may take place as applications are received. We therefore reserve the right to close this vacancy once a suitable candidate has been appointed. Please consider applying as soon as possible.