Engineering Lead, National Energy Analysis Centre

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

• Be part of a national scale project tackling one of the most pressing global challenges—the energy transition
• Lead and grow the engineering team as NEAC scales
• Deliver a highly visible, impactful and world-leading product

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.

About NEAC

The National Energy Analysis Centre (NEAC) is a CSIRO-led, next-generation digital research infrastructure that will drive and inform Australia's energy transition to net zero. NEAC offers a systems-science approach, combining technical data with human behaviour insights to support faster, smarter energy innovation. It connects real people, physical test facilities, and sophisticated modelling to support researchers, innovators, and policymakers in shaping the energy landscape of the future.

NEAC includes:

• The Living Lab – a real-world data network of homes, businesses and energy users
• The Systems Science Toolbox – a comprehensive model suite for Australia's entire energy system
• Physical Infrastructure Integration – connections to CSIRO facilities for testing and simulation

The opportunity 

As the Engineering Lead, you will shape the vision and drive the planning, design, and implementation of NEAC’s digital infrastructure. This hands-on leadership role places you at the centre of innovation; building prototypes, guiding scalable production systems, and steering the overall build of NEAC in collaboration with our internal team, external contractors, and development partners. You’ll be deeply involved in both strategy and execution, combining technical expertise with strong interpersonal skills to foster collaboration and deliver real impact. If you’re excited by the opportunity to apply and develop your skills to lead, innovate, and contribute to the energy transition, we’d love to hear from you.

Your high-level duties will include: 

• Lead the engineering architecture, design, and development of NEAC
• Collaborate with the founding team on science translation, product direction, market feedback, and platform evolution
• Coordinate and lead a high-performance development team, including internal resources, contractors, development agencies, and other external contributors
• Ensure platform scalability, security, and performance as we onboard users, expand features, and implement advanced analytical workflows
• Stay informed about energy data standards, emerging technologies, and research needs to guide innovation

Role particulars

• Location and office arrangements: Newcastle, Melbourne, Brisbane, or Canberra preferred. Other locations with a CSIRO presence may be considered.
• Salary: AU$157k – AU$174k per annum (pro rata for part-time), plus 15.4% superannuation
• Tenure & work schedule:  3 year specified term, full time. Options for part-time, job-share and flexible work arrangements can be discussed based on the needs of the role and individual circumstances.
• Reference: 101106

As the successful candidate, you will bring:

Essential

• A Degree in a relevant field such as computer science or software engineering or similar, or an equivalent combination of qualifications and research experience
• Meaningful leadership experience in software development, including engineering leadership or senior engineering roles delivering complex platform projects while communicating the vision and value to technical and non-technical stakeholders
• Coordination, planning and management of internal team members and contractors, alongside external development providers, to achieve a cohesive, collaborative program of delivery
• Full-stack development skills (e.g., Python, Node.js, TypeScript, React, or similar) and ability to be hands-on where required, especially in early prototyping and exploration of features
• Experience designing and implementing scalable data platforms, APIs, and cloud-based systems (e.g. AWS, GCP) to a level of commercial product quality and robustness
• The ability to work collaboratively within a purpose-driven, customer-focused agile team, supporting team priorities in a dynamic and innovative operational environment

Desirable

• Experience working in a research environment, including familiarity with data governance, access controls, and compliance in scientific or research contexts
• Experience with platform architecture, design and economics especially in building SaaS or data-heavy B2B platforms
• Experience of data capture, processing, analysis and/or visualisation from various sources that may be relevant to NEAC, e.g. social research, IoT devices, energy systems, spatial data
• Knowledge of systems engineering, optimisation, and associated computational workflows
• Leadership team experience from a new and evolving initiative

 
For full details about this role, and other criteria, 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 Vicki Ferrar (vicki.ferrar@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 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.   

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 demonstrate your motivation and ability to meet the essential requirements of this role.

Applications close 

15 September 2025, 11:59pm AEST