Research Technician - Adaptive Traits
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
- Contribute to improving the productivity and resilience of Australia’s grain crops
- Join a skilled team in the Agriculture & Food Research Unit
- Join CSIRO – Australia’s National Science Agency!
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 for more information.
The opportunity
The Adaptive Traits team in CSIRO's Agriculture and Food Research Unit focuses on improving the productivity and resilience of Australia’s grain crops. Major themes include improving canola field establishment, introducing chilling tolerance to chickpea and harnessing useful diversity from crop wild relatives. We use genomic, proteomic, metabolomic and phenomic tools to characterise and transfer useful traits from diverse experimental populations into breeder-ready lines for rapid deployment into commercial breeding programs. As part of the Adaptive Traits team in CSIRO, the successful candidate will contribute to a diverse range of projects seeking to improve grain crops with a focus on canola and chickpea.
Your high-level duties will include:
- Contribute to the development and delivery of scientific research in the areas of plant population characterisation and pre-breeding while demonstrating excellence in research practices, teamwork and inclusion, originality, creativity, and innovation to advance germplasm improvement capability.
- Plant population characterisation and pre-breeding will include maintaining and phenotyping plant populations in glasshouse and field experiments, sample preparation for DNA, RNA, protein and metabolomic profiling, data analysis, and seed multiplication.
- Under limited supervision, design and perform experiments and data analyses, design new processes by adapting existing techniques to meet special circumstances or undertake modifications to methods requiring some innovation.
- Conduct literature reviews, investigations and inspections in the laboratory, glasshouse or field including associated analysis possibly involving statistical or data analytical software.
- Work across teams and projects, often on a number of parallel and competing tasks.
- Work with discretion to decide on the timing of operations within the work team’s agreed plan and plan ahead to meet experimental and/or project demands.
- Independently test possible solutions to resolve identified problems.
- Maintain accurate records of all experimental procedures and results obtained which underpin future research decisions, publication, and IP protection using an electronic notebook system.
- General laboratory/glasshouse/field maintenance including solution/media preparation, maintenance of glass house and field plants, maintenance of laboratory supplies.
Role particulars
Location: Floreat (Perth), WA
Salary: AU$73k - AU$93k per annum (pro-rata for part-time) + 15.4% superannuation
Tenure & work schedule:Specified term of 3 years, Full-time
Reference: 100676
As the successful candidate, you will bring:
Essential criteria
- Bachelor’s degree or equivalent relevant work experience in Plant Genetics and Breeding, Plant Physiology or related field.
- Experience in plant phenotyping and developing experimental breeding populations.
- Demonstrated excellence in laboratory record keeping and data storage.
- Demonstrated ability to work with a range of stakeholders in a dynamic team.
- Focus on continuous improvement in Health and Safety in the workplace.
Desirable criteria
- Experience with cross-pollination of crop plants.
- Experience with genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic and/or metabolomic data analytics.
- Previous experience with R language and/or computer coding.
- Previous experience with use of Health and Safety management and incident recording software such as DoneSafe.
- Proficient in Microsoft programs, Word, PowerPoint, Excel and collaboration tools, Teams and Sharepoint.
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 contact Laura Mason via Careers.Online@csiro.au and 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/New Zealand Citizens and Australian Permanent Residents. Appointment to this role is subject to provision of a national police check and may be subject to other security/medical/character 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 CV and cover letter (maximum 2 pages) that demonstrate your motivation and ability to meet the selection criteria of this role.
Applications close
14 August 2025, 11:00pm AEST
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
- Contribute to improving the productivity and resilience of Australia’s grain crops
- Join a skilled team in the Agriculture & Food Research Unit
- Join CSIRO – Australia’s National Science Agency!
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 for more information.
The opportunity
The Adaptive Traits team in CSIRO's Agriculture and Food Research Unit focuses on improving the productivity and resilience of Australia’s grain crops. Major themes include improving canola field establishment, introducing chilling tolerance to chickpea and harnessing useful diversity from crop wild relatives. We use genomic, proteomic, metabolomic and phenomic tools to characterise and transfer useful traits from diverse experimental populations into breeder-ready lines for rapid deployment into commercial breeding programs. As part of the Adaptive Traits team in CSIRO, the successful candidate will contribute to a diverse range of projects seeking to improve grain crops with a focus on canola and chickpea.
Your high-level duties will include:
- Contribute to the development and delivery of scientific research in the areas of plant population characterisation and pre-breeding while demonstrating excellence in research practices, teamwork and inclusion, originality, creativity, and innovation to advance germplasm improvement capability.
- Plant population characterisation and pre-breeding will include maintaining and phenotyping plant populations in glasshouse and field experiments, sample preparation for DNA, RNA, protein and metabolomic profiling, data analysis, and seed multiplication.
- Under limited supervision, design and perform experiments and data analyses, design new processes by adapting existing techniques to meet special circumstances or undertake modifications to methods requiring some innovation.
- Conduct literature reviews, investigations and inspections in the laboratory, glasshouse or field including associated analysis possibly involving statistical or data analytical software.
- Work across teams and projects, often on a number of parallel and competing tasks.
- Work with discretion to decide on the timing of operations within the work team’s agreed plan and plan ahead to meet experimental and/or project demands.
- Independently test possible solutions to resolve identified problems.
- Maintain accurate records of all experimental procedures and results obtained which underpin future research decisions, publication, and IP protection using an electronic notebook system.
- General laboratory/glasshouse/field maintenance including solution/media preparation, maintenance of glass house and field plants, maintenance of laboratory supplies.
Role particulars
Location: Floreat (Perth), WA
Salary: AU$73k - AU$93k per annum (pro-rata for part-time) + 15.4% superannuation
Tenure & work schedule:Specified term of 3 years, Full-time
Reference: 100676
As the successful candidate, you will bring:
Essential criteria
- Bachelor’s degree or equivalent relevant work experience in Plant Genetics and Breeding, Plant Physiology or related field.
- Experience in plant phenotyping and developing experimental breeding populations.
- Demonstrated excellence in laboratory record keeping and data storage.
- Demonstrated ability to work with a range of stakeholders in a dynamic team.
- Focus on continuous improvement in Health and Safety in the workplace.
Desirable criteria
- Experience with cross-pollination of crop plants.
- Experience with genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic and/or metabolomic data analytics.
- Previous experience with R language and/or computer coding.
- Previous experience with use of Health and Safety management and incident recording software such as DoneSafe.
- Proficient in Microsoft programs, Word, PowerPoint, Excel and collaboration tools, Teams and Sharepoint.
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 contact Laura Mason via Careers.Online@csiro.au and 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/New Zealand Citizens and Australian Permanent Residents. Appointment to this role is subject to provision of a national police check and may be subject to other security/medical/character 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 CV and cover letter (maximum 2 pages) that demonstrate your motivation and ability to meet the selection criteria of this role.
Applications close
14 August 2025, 11:00pm AEST
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