Executive Manager - Innovation System & Foresighting

Acknowledgement of Country

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The opportunity

• ​​​​​​Guide CSIRO’s long-term vision with high-level advice to executives
• Monitor trends and shape strategy for future success
• Partner with senior leadership to influence strategic priorities across CSIRO
   

The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is Australia’s National Science Agency and is one of the world’s largest and most multidisciplinary mission-driven research organisations, delivering transformative, positive impacts through science and technology to create a better future for Australia and the world. 
 

We are seeking an Executive Manager - Innovation System & Foresighting to take on a leadership role in our Strategy team. The role of General Management staff in CSIRO is to provide high-level advice to senior managers, usually members of the Executive team and Research or Enterprise Unit leaders.
 

As the Executive Manager – Innovation System & Foresighting, your primary focus will be shaping and guiding CSIRO's long-term strategic direction and ensuring that the organisation remains impactful, competitive, innovative, and efficient. You will play a key role in influencing, shaping and aligning CSIRO's strategy and institutional design, ensuring the agency is proactive, adaptable, and positioned to respond to changes in the broader research and innovation landscape. 

You will be responsible for monitoring changes in the innovation landscape, staying informed about trends, new technologies, research developments, funding shifts, and policy changes; and driving appropriate organisational visibility and use of the information.

Your duties will include:

• Monitoring trends and shifts across the national and global innovation landscape (such as new technologies, research advancements, funding trends, and policy changes) for organisation-wide use through appropriate synthesis and reporting mechanisms.
• Proactively engaging and building networks and relationships with global peers and key stakeholders across innovation systems to identify emerging opportunities for CSIRO to engage with or respond to, ensuring it remains competitive and relevant, and that advances and adapts its role as the national science agency.
• Collaborating with senior leadership and the Board, contributing to and shaping enterprise strategy (e.g. via Board Strategy Day) by offering insights and recommendations based on the latest trends in research and innovation to guide how CSIRO's strategy can adapt to external changes.
• Understanding implications on organisational strategy and change programs; guide integration across CSIRO's strategy.
• Managing, mentoring and developing a team of strategic insights and analytics professionals, to deliver high-quality system and sector intelligence/analysis for strategy development and delivery (including science quality and portfolio analysis).
• Partnering with organisational senior leadership to shape and influence strategic priorities across the organisation, ensuring that unit activities are effectively integrated into organisational strategy.
   

Location: All Australian CSIRO Sites considered

Salary: AU$157k - AU$174k per annum plus 15.4% superannuation

Tenure: Specified term of 3 years, Full-time

Reference: 99209

To be considered you will need:

• Relevant degree in conjunction with demonstrated achievement in senior advisory and managerial roles in a relevant domain area, ideally with postgraduate managerial qualifications.   
• Demonstrated experience working at a high-level with industry and research, government and/or business sectors, with an ability to engage and influence stakeholders at all levels - including senior levels.
• Exceptional communication and stakeholder management skills with strong ability to build valuable networks, connecting and coordinating multi-stakeholder engagements and providing leadership in meetings and workshops to deliver clearly articulated outcomes.
• A history of establishing and leading cooperative teams, and a record of leadership which encourages new ideas, builds trust and supports the development of emerging skills.
• Superior ability to foster effective organisational relationships, using complex influencing strategies to ensure alignment between stakeholder needs and CSIRO’s objectives.
• Superior interpersonal, coaching, systems thinking, communication, negotiation and consultative skills at all levels but particularly in relation to advising and guiding senior business leaders.
• A track record of innovation and creativity, including demonstrated ability to incorporate and/or promote the inclusion of novel ideas and approaches into strategic projects.
• Demonstrated history of anticipating and successfully managing complex problems in ambiguous situations.
• Demonstrated experience in successful project management, including planning, engagement, monitoring and reporting to meet or exceed specified outcomes and timeframes.

For full details about this role please review the Position Description

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.

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

Sunday 30th March 2025, 11:00pm AEDT