CSIRO Postdoctoral Fellowship in Future Water Environmental AI

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

• Apply AI to transform water science
• Build practical tools for real-world impact
• Join CSIRO – Australia’s leading scientific research organisation!

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 

CSIRO Early Research Career (CERC) Postdoctoral Fellowships provide opportunities to scientists and engineers who have completed their doctorate and have less than three years of relevant postdoctoral work experience. These fellowships aim to develop the next generation of future leaders of the innovation system.

As a Postdoctoral Fellow, you will tackle climate and environmental challenges facing Australian communities by applying increasingly sophisticated AI technologies to develop practical, responsible and scientifically credible solutions. Building on recent innovations in Generative AI and large language models, you will streamline how experts and stakeholders process, interpret and access complex, high‑volume information, and unlock new capabilities in modelling, data integration and knowledge retrieval for current and future water science needs.

You will contribute to CSIRO’s nationally recognised Water Science capability and help catalyse digital transformation across the sector. Working with colleagues and partners, you will design, test and implement methods, tools and infrastructure that align CSIRO’s water science outputs—reports, models and data—with AI frameworks, making trusted insights available at scale to support informed decision‑making.

Your high-level duties will include: 

• Investigating and prototyping AI methods (incl. Generative AI and LLMs) to automate modelling, accelerate data integration and enable knowledge retrieval across diverse water datasets.
• Designing responsible AI solutions and workflow infrastructure that embed CSIRO’s science into user‑facing tools for authorities, practitioners and communities.
• Collaborating with CSIRO researchers and stakeholders to translate research into scalable decision‑support services for national water management.
• Contributing to publications, demonstrations and guidance that advance AI‑enabled water science and sector adoption.

Role particulars

Location and office arrangements:   Melbourne (Clayton) VIC preferred, or Canberra (Black Mountain), ACT

Salary: AU$103,390 - AU$113,251 pa (pro rata for part-time), plus 15.4% superannuation

Tenure & work schedule: Specified term of 3 years, Full-time

Reference: 101860

As the successful candidate, you will bring:

Essential criteria 

• A doctorate (or will shortly satisfy the requirements of a PhD). The doctorate must be in a relevant discipline area, such as Computer science or Data Science (Data analytics and Artificial Intelligence focus. Please note: To be eligible for this role you must have no more than 3 years (full-time equivalent) of relevant research experience.
• Demonstrated experience in data integration and data interoperability challenges in an applied environmental field, experience working with environmental/hydrological data 
• Demonstrated experience working with Generative AI and Large Language Models (LLMs) for data-driven applications

• High level written and oral communication skills with the ability to represent the research team effectively internally and externally, including the presentation of research outcomes at national and international conferences.

For full details about this role, and other criteria, please review 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 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, Australian Permanent Residents and Australian Temporary Residents who are currently residing in Australia and either hold, or are 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.

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 cover letter (maximum 2 pages) and CV that best demonstrates your motivation and ability to meet the essential requirements of this role.

Applications close 

30 January 2026, 11:00pm AEDT