Location: Narrabri, NSW, AU
Company: CSIRO
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
- Work at the Paul Wild Observatory, a world-class science and technology research facility
- Contribute your electronics skills to the intriguing world of radio astronomy
- Join CSIRO - Australia's National Science and Innovation Agency!
CSIRO's Space and Astronomy (S&A) manages CSIRO’s world-class facilities for radio astronomy and spacecraft tracking. Our space and astronomy research enables humanity to better understand the Earth and Universe. It contributes to solving the greatest challenges and building future industry.
Our radio astronomy observatories are collectively known as the Australia Telescope National Facility (ATNF) and comprise radio telescopes in NSW and WA.
The Paul Wild Observatory near Narrabri is the location of the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA), an array comprising six 22-metre high-performance dish antennas with receiver systems spanning 1.1GHz to 105GHz. We have commenced a major upgrade of the telescope’s entire data processing system, in a multi-million-dollar project called BIGCAT.
We are seeking an Electronics/RF Technician to be part of the support team for the ATCA Observatory Operations and, together with ATNF staff at other sites to support delivery of major new instrumentation projects, including BIGCAT.
Are you ready to take on a role that combines technical expertise with cutting-edge scientific research? As an Electronics Technician, you’ll play a vital role in supporting complex digital, analogue, and radio frequency systems. Your work will involve hands-on technical support for cryogenically cooled low-noise receivers, local oscillator and conversion systems, and precision timing systems.
In this position, you will:
- Participate in planning and executing critical systems maintenance and fault-finding activities.
- Engage in the deployment of new state-of-the-art instrumentation.
- Collaborate closely with a small, multi-disciplinary engineering team based at our Narrabri site, while also contributing to the broader ATNF technical team, including projects at our Marsfield Headquarters.
This role offers the perfect blend of rural living with the opportunity to work at a world-class science and technology research facility. If you’re looking to advance your career in a challenging and dynamic environment, we’d love to hear from you.
Your duties will include:
- Monitoring system performance and maintaining the Observatory‘s RF and associated electronic systems, to ensure the highest levels of availability required for the National Facility.
- Undertaking fault diagnosis and corrective maintenance on a diverse range of specialised analogue and digital RF electronic equipment down to component level.
- Proactively identifying potential spares issues or failure modes and working with external suppliers or staff at other sites to determine suitable replacement parts or alternative solutions.
- Actively participating in planning and design of new instrumentation projects for the Observatory.
- Traveling occasionally to other ATNF sites to assist with installation and maintenance of electronics systems and to participate in project planning.
- Participating in the Observatory on-call roster to attend to after-hours breakdowns, and work flexible hours as required.
- Actively contributing to written and online documentation associated with equipment repair and maintenance, including management of system drawings and schematics, and configuration management.
- Other duties as required.
Location: Narrabri, NSW
Salary: AU$93,267 - AU$105,517 plus up to 15.4% superannuation
Tenure: Indefinite
Reference: 96178
To be considered you will need:
Essential
- A relevant Electronics Certificate, Associate Diploma or equivalent in Electronics/RF Engineering with relevant experience.
- Demonstrated experience in diagnosing and maintaining complex electronics systems and aptitude for advancing system knowledge.
- Experience with RF test equipment such as spectrum and vector network analysers, signal generators and associated test equipment.
- 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 aptitude.
- 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
- Practical skills demonstrating a mechanical aptitude.
- Experience with computer aided drafting (CAD).
- Experience with data cabling including working with optic fibre installation and splicing.
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 will be required to participate in the Observatory on-call roster to attend to after-hours breakdowns, and to work flexible hours, as required.
As part of this role, the successful candidate must be able and willing to work and access heights up to 30m above the ground.
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
3rd of November 2024, 11:00pm AEST/AEDT