Electrical Power Systems Engineer

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

• Great ongoing opportunity to apply your power systems modelling & simulation skills in real-world projects
• Key role within CSIRO’s Energy Systems program, contributing to shape Australia’s electricity future
• Join our collaborative team at CSIRO advancing net zero emissions research!

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 

As Australia transitions to a net zero emissions future, the energy sector is undergoing rapid transformation across electricity, industry, transport, and exports. CSIRO is playing a pivotal role in this shift, delivering reliable, evidence-based research to support the development of resilient and efficient energy systems. The Power Systems team contributes to this mission through applied research in modelling, control, and optimisation of energy networks.

As an Electrical Power Systems Engineer, you will contribute to applied research in power system planning, analysis, and operational support, ensuring continuity of this critical expertise within the research program. You’ll work with a range of partners to apply advanced optimisation, simulation, and analytical techniques to real-world challenges in energy network modelling and control. Playing a key role in directly supporting a pipeline of secured and developing projects and CSIRO’s strategic objectives, this role will help deliver reliable, flexible, and decarbonised electricity systems for Australia.

If you're passionate about using your technical skills to make a real impact on the future of energy, this ongoing position would be a great opportunity to become part of a collaborative, multi-disciplinary environment, and grow your modelling and power systems domain expertise!

Applications are invited across two capability levels and the successful candidate will be appointed at the level commensurate with their skills and experience.

Your high-level duties will include: 

• Conducting modelling and simulation studies of Australia’s current and next-generation electricity generation, transmission and distribution systems (in near real-time and longer-term timeframes).
• Developing approaches and techniques for solving grid challenges associated with renewable energy integration, managing battery systems or distributed energy resources. This will include benchmarking data models, and deploying and testing these techniques in real-world, large-scale deployments.
• Applying specialist expertise to solve complex problems within a discipline or across a diverse range of projects.
• Participating in project scoping and planning, making significant contributions to the research or technological direction, and may advise on the level and type of services that are provided.
• Acting as a trusted advisor, demonstrating creativity to determine and anticipate client or project needs, and ability to identify and adapt quickly to changes in client or project needs and changes in the external environment.
• Additional duties at the CSOF6 level would also include leading research projects, including the negotiation and management of resources; initiating or taking responsibility for projects; and providing supervision to technical staff and students to ensure tasks are established according to the research design and completed within agreed timeframes.

Role particulars

Location and office arrangements: Newcastle, NSW (preferred) or Melbourne VIC may be considered

Salary: AU$114K – AU$153K per annum plus up to 15.4% superannuation (across two capability levels)

Tenure & work schedule: Indefinite; Full-time – part-time and flexible work arrangements may be considered based on needs of the role and individual circumstances.

Reference: 100917

As the successful candidate, you will bring:

• Relevant tertiary degree, or equivalent relevant work experience, in Electrical Engineering, Mathematics or related fields, with a focus on power systems engineering.
• Demonstrated industry experience in electrical generation/distribution/transmission system modelling, planning, optimisation or control.
• Experience with power systems modelling tools and programming/analysis tools.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, and interpersonal skills with the ability to work constructively with colleagues, collaborators, and clients, and to build strong networks with internal teams and external stakeholders.
• An enthusiasm for applied research solving current problems for commercial partners.
• To be considered at CSOF6 level, you will also need significant industry experience, project leadership skills, and ability to provide supervision to technical staff and students to ensure tasks are established according to the research design, timeframes and budgets.
• Desirable: Prior experience in modelling & programming tools such as SINCAL, PowerFactory, OpenDSS, PSCAD, Python, Matlab, R, or Julia would be desirable.

For full details about this role, please review the Position Description. 

Not sure if you meet all the criteria?

While it is CSIRO policy that the successful candidate must meet all the essential criteria, there are many ways to demonstrate this. Don’t let the list discourage you. If you are unsure about applying, please reach out to the contact person in 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 the Talent Acquisition Partner via email (see details in the Position Description) and let us know how we can support you.

 

Eligibility 

Applications for this position are open to Australian Citizens, 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.

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.

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 provide a CV and a detailed cover letter, responding to each of the selection criteria in detail, that best demonstrate your motivation and ability to meet the requirements of this role. Please attach your selection criteria responses to your cover letter as one document.

Applications close 

21 September 2025, 11:00pm AEST

We encourage early applications as we will commence reviewing applications as they come through. CSIRO reserves the right to withdraw this ad prior to the closing date, if required.