AddressAbout us
Geoscience Australia is Australia's pre-eminent public sector geoscience organisation. We are the nation's trusted advisor on the geology and geography of Australia. We apply science and technology to describe and understand the Earth for the benefit of Australia. We apply our diverse professional expertise, our deep and trusted knowledge, our national-scale Earth observation infrastructure and our strong partnerships, to the opportunities and challenges that face our nation.
Our culture
Our strength lies in our people, including our diversity in backgrounds, skills and experiences, and the way we work together to respond to the emerging needs of our work. We value diversity in gender, backgrounds, culture, and experiences of our employees and are committed to providing an inclusive workplace culture that ensures everyone has equal opportunity to contribute, participate and progress. Applications from people who reflect this diversity are encouraged.
Our workplace is committed to the health, safety and wellbeing of our employees and offers a variety of flexible working arrangements to enhance flexibility, including remote working arrangements.
What we can offer you
When you work at Geoscience Australia you will have access to a range of benefits and the opportunity to experience a workplace culture that truly values and promotes diversity, inclusion, equity and belonging. To learn more about our competitive salary, free onsite parking, generous flexible working arrangements and the role you can play in growing our culture click here .
Our team
This role is based within the Geophysical Acquisition and Processing Section, part of the Mineral Systems Branch in the Minerals, Energy and Groundwater Division. The Geophysical Acquisition and Processing Section provides precompetitive geophysical data in support of the responsible development of a diverse resources sector in Australia. Our data supports exploration for groundwater, minerals and energy and is integral to work within the Mineral Systems Branch such as precompetitive mineral potential assessments, critical minerals studies, and regional drilling programs.
This role will support the delivery of the Accelerating Development of Australia's Rare Earth Resources project as part of the Australian Critical Minerals Research and Development Hub (the Hub). The Hub brings together expertise from Australia's leading Federal science agencies: Geoscience Australia, the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) and CSIRO and policy expertise from the Critical Minerals Office. The Hub will work with industry and research partners on technical challenges, coordinate and align critical minerals research and development activities, and drive collaborative research across the critical minerals value chain needed to support clean energy and Australia's net zero policy agenda.
Geoscience Australia supports the Hub through our expert knowledge in mineral systems understanding and national and regional scale resource potential assessments. Our work supports Australian Government initiatives with the aim of stimulating mineral exploration investment, including critical minerals, to open new producing provinces with mineral endowments.
More information on the Hub can be found here .
The key duties of the position include
The Airborne Electromagnetics (AEM) Geophysicist will play a leading, hands-on role in the processing, inversion, and delivery of AEM data. These activities will support Geoscience Australia's contribution to the Accelerating Development of Australia's Rare Earth Resources project, as part of the Australian Critical Minerals Research and Development Hub. The outcomes of the project will support an improved knowledge of Australia's Rare Earth Element mineral systems and expand the understanding of Australia's geological potential for new discoveries.
In this role you will:
- Provide strategic technical leadership in the use of AEM geophysics in predictive mineral system studies and deliver fit-for-purpose data and interpretive products to support mineral potential mapping, exploration and discovery of new Rare Earth Element resources, with a focus on clay-hosted deposits.
- Work with existing Geoscience Australia-developed codes to process, invert and visualise AEM data, while contributing to the open source development of these codes.
- Liase with vendors for the acquisition of AEM geophysical data, undertake quality control, and deliver these pre-competitive datasets.
- Work collaboratively with a multi-disciplinary team to integrate AEM data with other geoscientific information to deliver project outcomes.
To be successful in the role you will:
- Provide high-level scientific leadership, supporting the strategic direction of Geoscience Australia and the Australian Government's critical minerals research and development priorities.
- Have a passion for the role of geoscience in supporting the transition to net zero emissions, with a focus on Australian critical minerals and their importance to the wider community and whole of Government agenda.
- Solve complex technical problems through innovation, identifying possible solutions, and exercising sound judgement and decision-making.
- Have a strong background in geophysics/physics/statistics with an understanding of petrophysics and geology.
- Excellent stakeholder engagement and collaboration skills, a proven record of building and sustaining relationships with national and international universities, the private sector and/or Government.
- Highly developed written and oral communication skills, including experience preparing technical reports, papers and other written communication to meet peer-review standards, and presenting at domestic and international conferences.
- Be a team player who collaborates, actively shares knowledge to build organisational capability, proactively engages with others to tap into technical expertise, and takes personal responsibility for their work.
- Demonstrate a commitment to building a positive and inclusive culture in the team and Mineral Systems Branch.
- Adhere to the APS Values and Code of Conduct and consistently behave in an honest, ethical and professional way
Required skills, knowledge, experience and/or qualifications
- Programming experience in MATLAB or Julia, or the willingness to learn and familiarity with optimisation or machine learning workflows will be highly regarded.
- Expertise in geophysics, petrophysics, physics, statistics or related fields, and ideally, experience in airborne electromagnetic methods - covering data acquisition, data processing, through to inversion.
- Expertise in the applications of AEM data and derived datasets for the interpretation of geological features. Any experience applying AEM data in mineral systems studies will be highly regarded.
- Demonstrated history of innovation and impact.
Are you unsure about applying?
Did you know that a Hewlett Packard internal report found that men apply for jobs when they meet an average of 60 per cent of the job requirements? Women and other people from diverse backgrounds tend to only apply when they check every box. If you think you have what it takes, but don't necessarily meet every single point on what we are looking for, please still apply or get in touch with the contact officer to learn more about the role.
To Apply
Please visit the careers page of our website to submit your application via our e-Recruit system. Your application should include:
- Your resume (no more than 3 pages)
- A brief statement (no more than 750 words) outlining your transferable skills, experience and capabilities related to the role and the value you would bring to Geoscience Australia.
If you have any questions regarding the role, please contact Anthony Schofield on (02) 6249 9833 or email anthony.schofield@ga.gov.au
To learn more about applying for roles within the Australian Public Services please review, ' Applying for an APS job: cracking the code '.
