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

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The Opportunity

• Develop and utilise digital technologies to support livestock research
• Address industry challenges in sustainable production, animal nutrition, animal health and welfare, and reproductive efficiency
• Join CSIRO! Australia’s national science and innovation agency

CSIRO Agriculture and Food (A&F) is Australia’s most significant science investment for its key primary production activities including cropping, meat and livestock, aquaculture, horticulture, food safety and processing, and value-adding.  

The Livestock and Aquaculture Program within A&F focuses on the breeding, health, monitoring, nutrition, production and sustainability of both the Livestock and Aquaculture sectors Nationally and Internationally. The Digital Livestock team develops tools and methodologies to assess and observe traits and events with relevance to the industry, including production and animal well-being. The team works closely with domain experts in algorithm development and software and hardware design and delivery.

As a Livestock Scientist you will be focussed on supporting innovative research to address specific industry problems. We use a range of digital technologies (motion sensing, geolocation, video data, computer vision) in conjunction with commercial technologies and environmental sensing infrastructure to support livestock research centred on the areas of sustainable production, animal nutrition, animal health and welfare, and reproductive efficiency. You will play a key role in widening our portfolio of digital livestock approaches, securing productive and responsible livestock farming in a changing environment.

The successful candidate will develop, manage and support existing and emerging digital technologies, implement new features and contribute new data sets. Expertise in computer vision and/or multi-modal data processing will be especially welcome.  The role will be suitable for animal scientists from a range of backgrounds with well-developed skills in coding or informatics/data sciences, or alternatively for data scientists with a well-established strong understanding and interest in animal production systems.

Your duties will include:

• Incorporate novel approaches to scientific investigations by adapting and/or developing original concepts and ideas for new, existing and further research.
• Work closely with animal scientists to develop impact-focussed digital technologies.
• Develop data flows to augment the annotation, integration and analysis of diverse data, in collaboration with Data61 data scientists.
• Apply advanced data science workflows for integration of multi-modal data streams. 
• Utilise data science strategies to analyse and evaluate data. Manage data curation, storage and data sharing in accordance with best practise guidelines.
• Produce high quality scientific papers suitable for publication in quality journals and for presentation at national and international conferences. Communicate research results to clients and the scientific community through oral and written reports and prepare documentation for patent applications (where relevant).
• Assist in leading research projects, including the negotiation of resource requirements, take responsibility for smaller research projects or elements of larger projects within and/or across Business Units.

Location:  Armidale, NSW

Salary:  AU$105k – AU$114k plus up to 15.4% superannuation

Tenure:  Specified term of 3 years

Reference:  95461

To be considered you will need:

• A PhD (or an equivalent combination of qualifications and research experience) in a relevant animal science or data science field.
• Demonstrated understanding of animal production and/or livestock farming systems.
• Broad understanding of agri-food systems and an interest in deepening knowledge of current global and national issues.
• Demonstrated experience in the development of digital workflows, including data annotation.
• Experience in data science and statistical analysis, coding and/or related analytical methods.
• Demonstrated ability to undertake original, creative and innovative research by generating and pursuing novel ideas and solutions to scientific research problems.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate scientific content clearly and effectively.
• The ability to work effectively as part of a multi-disciplinary, regionally dispersed research team, and carry out independent individual research, to achieve organisational goals.

For full details about this role please view 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.

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

6th March 2024, 11:00pm AEST/AEDT