Research Project Officer - Soil Carbon

Join the Carbon Modelling & Mitigation Team within CSIRO Agriculture and Food’s Soils Group and Advanced Farm Productivity Program. You will work with state-of-the-art analytical instrumentation to characterise and measure soil organic matter content and composition. Your work will combine these measurements with next-generation modelling to generate soil carbon insights that inform on-farm decision-making and support science-based climate and soil policy at a national scale.
In this newly created role, you will strengthen CSIRO’s capability to measure and characterise soil organic matter, contributing to nationally significant research projects primarily supported by external funding. You will also help enhance laboratory workflows and operational efficiency by redesigning processes to meet growing project demands while maintaining high health, safety and environmental (HSE) standards.

Role particulars
Location: Adelaide, SA
Salary: AU$76k - AU$96k per annum + 15.4% superannuation
Tenure & work schedule: Specified term of 3 years, Full-time
Reference: 104215

Essential criteria
Qualifications: A relevant bachelor’s degree, or higher qualification, in soil science, agricultural science, environmental science, analytical chemistry, or a related discipline.
Soil science and laboratory experience: Demonstrated understanding of fundamental soil science principles and practical experience working in a soil or environmental laboratory.
Analytical instrumentation and quality assurance: Demonstrated experience operating and maintaining laboratory analytical instrumentation relevant to soil or environmental analysis.
Data management and analytical skills: Demonstrated experience in laboratory data management, data wrangling, and quality checking using advanced Microsoft Excel or similar tools. Experience with, or willingness to learn, scripting and data-analysis languages such as R or Python is desirable.
Demonstrated ability to work effectively with researchers, technical staff, and other project team members that are regionally dispersed.
Fieldwork, safety, and operational requirements: Demonstrated ability and willingness to undertake soil sampling and other fieldwork, including travel to regional and remote locations when required, and to work safely in laboratory and field environments in accordance with relevant health, safety and environmental (HSE) procedures.
A current driver’s licence is required.
Desirable criteria
Experience with, or demonstrated interest in developing capability in, soil organic matter and soil carbon characterisation techniques, including soil fractionation, infrared spectroscopy (MIR/NIR), elemental analysis, solid-state ¹³C NMR, or related analytical approaches, would be highly regarded.

Eligible applicants are Australian Citizens, New Zealand Citizens, Australian Permanent Residents, and Australian Temporary Residents with 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.