Aquaculture Technician

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The opportunity

• Key role for a Research Projects Technician in the CSIRO Zootechnics team
• Contribute to a range of project activities in collaboration with research leads, external clients and industry
• Work with CSIRO – Australia’s National Science Agency – and make a difference!

We are currently seeking a motivated Aquaculture Technician to join our Bribie Island team!

The role of a CSIRO ‘Research Project Officer’ (RPO) is to provide technical support for scientific research in a diverse range of laboratory and field situations across a range of different research projects. This support consists of the application of accepted technical protocols and the development of new practices.

This role will entail, daily aquatic animal husbandry, infrastructure sanitation, experiment design and construction, recording experiment data, water quality measurements and animal sampling. The position requires some practical knowledge of water treatment and filtration systems. Prior experience in running research experiments and performing histology techniques would be beneficial.

As a member of the ‘Aquatic Zootechnics’ team, you will be partially responsible for the management of a variety of aquatic species (various fishes including Atlantic salmon and barramundi, tiger prawn, polychaetes) experiments within the Livestock & Aquaculture Research Program in research areas including nutrition, welfare, physiology, health, metabolism, and production systems. To be successful in this role, you will require sound knowledge of aquatic animal husbandry and welfare, and you will need to be independent with an ability to work under general guidance and take responsibility in organising resources and managing workloads to ensure project deadlines are met.

If you are an early-career research technician who enjoys working in aquatic settings, interested in building your career with a reputed R&D organisation, and have a positive attitude towards working in a multi-disciplinary team, we would love to hear from you!

Your duties will include:

• Providing daily animal husbandry to both animal stocks and animals under experimentation.
• Performing a range of laboratory tasks including water quality measurements, operation and maintenance of various pieces of equipment, co-ordination of purchases and general supplies, provision of technical advice, maintenance of accurate and complete records of tests and experiments, and animal sampling.
• Under supervision, operating and maintaining a feed extrusion machine and other related feed manufacture equipment.
• Under supervision, manufacturing experimental animal feeds for nutrition research trials using a wide variety of sustainable ingredients and additives.
• Performing feed quality control analysis.
• Data management including the collection, analysis and storage of data and provision of information for incorporation into technical reports for various clients and scientific publications.
• Assisting with project planning and preparation of animal experimental infrastructure, ensuring active support and compliance with CSIRO Animal Ethics, BIRC Biosecurity Committee, the code of conduct, WHS, and budget monitoring.
• Working as part of a multi-disciplinary, often regionally dispersed research team, to carry out tasks under limited direction in support of scientific research.

Location: Bribie Island, QLD
Salary: AU$70K – AU$90K pa + up to 15.4% superannuation
Tenure: Specified Term of 14 months; Full-time
Reference: 98255

To be considered you will need:

Essential

• A BSc or relevant tertiary qualifications, or equivalent industry/practical experience relevant to the position in terms of aquaculture.
• General experience in husbandry of aquatic animals for research or production, and demonstrated experience in design, construction, and operation of aquatic biological systems.
• Working knowledge and/or experience of biosecurity in relation to aquaculture operations.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and oral, including the ability to anticipate the interests and knowledge level of an audience and present information and feedback accordingly.
• Ability to effectively manage a number of competing priorities simultaneously and carry out non-routine tasks under limited direction.
• Ability to work outside regular hours, and off-site field work, as required.
• A valid Australian driver’s licence.

Desirable

• Knowledge or experience of aquaculture industries, different aquatic systems and settings.
• Experience in operating and maintaining feed manufacturing equipment.
• Familiarity in analysing and or interpreting chemical and physical assays on feeds.
• Experience in maintaining stock holdings of fish and prawn broodstock, operating water filtration and/or treatment systems, particularly relating to freshwater and saltwater RAS and pond management.
• Performing experiments investigating nutrition, welfare, physiology, and health themes using finfish and prawns.
• Experience using computer software for the collection and summary of data.

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

Eligibility

To be eligible to apply for this role, you must be either an Australian Citizen, a New Zealand Citizen, or an Australian Permanent Resident.

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.

Join us and start creating tomorrow today!

How to apply

Please apply online, and provide a detailed cover letter and CV that best demonstrate your motivation and ability to meet the requirements of this role. Please note that we strongly encourage you to respond to each of the selection criteria in detail, and attach it to your cover letter as one document.

Applications close

24 November 2024, 11:00pm AEDT

We encourage early applications as we will be reviewing applications as they come through. CSIRO reserves the right to withdraw this ad prior to the closing date, if we find our desired candidate and/or if required.