Team Leader Organic and Isotope Laboratory

About this role

Geoscience Australia acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respects to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Cultures and to elders past and present. About 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 offer 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 The Geoscience Australia Laboratory is a multi-disciplinary facility analysing a range of geological and environmental samples to support research in minerals, energy, groundwater and marine sciences. The data and quality assurance acquired by the Laboratory for government priority projects underpin an enduring legacy of publicly-available data supporting decision-making across government, communities and industry. We strongly believe that today’s quality is tomorrow’s reputation. The facility at Geoscience Australia’s Symonston building operates with a skilled and innovative team using a range of advanced sample preparation and analytical tools focused on four major workflows: • Organic and isotopic geochemistry of hydrocarbon source rocks, natural oil and gas, hydrogen and other organic Earth materials. • Sample preparation including crushing, milling and batching for external whole-rock geochemistry analysis. • Mineral separation and mount preparation for isotopic microanalysis and geochronology using an in-house ion microprobe (SHRIMP) facility. • Physical property measurements including grain-size analysis of marine sediments and acid digestion for palynology. The Geoscience Australia Laboratory works with science project teams across Geoscience Australia covering a wide variety of minerals, energy, groundwater and marine science disciplines. The Laboratory also has good links with other geoscience and related laboratory facilities across Canberra and Australia. The role The Organic and Isotope Geochemistry team uses a range of sample preparation techniques and analytical instruments to provide data about the organic components of rock, oil and gas samples including: total organic carbon with RockEval instruments, whole and separated oil and gas composition with GC, GC/MS and QQQ instruments; and fluid inclusion analysis from crushed specimens. Stable isotope analytical instruments provide information about the isotopic composition of selected samples to provide key insights into the origins of and relationships between organic samples The Geoscience Australia and the Organic and Isotope Geochemistry team in the Laboratory is in exciting transition to the broader application of organic geochemistry to the deeper understanding of natural hydrogen, carbon capture and storage, and mineral resources in Australia. The Laboratory is also building world-class quality management systems enhancing our reputation as a trusted source of data. This is a valuable opportunity to contribute to the development of ground-breaking applications and operational capabilities. We want you to join us and take a lead in that journey. In this role you will: • Provide specialist knowledge and expert leadership to deliver organic and isotope analytical services, ensuring outputs meet organisational requirements for quality, timeliness, and relevance. This includes negotiating and documenting priorities with laboratory and science project staff, coordinating sample preparation and analysis, maintaining continuity of service delivery, and resolving operational issues that affect laboratory throughput or reliability (~50% of worktime). • Supervise and develop a professional technical team, providing direction, mentoring and expert advice while fostering a respectful, inclusive and high‐performing laboratory culture. This includes workload planning, capability development, performance support, and effective communication across the team. (~30% of worktime) • Be accountable for maintaining and uplifting safety management and quality management systems for the organic and isotope team. This includes: leading and supporting a culture focussed on high standards of Work, Health and Safety including identifying and mitigating potential psychosocial hazards; maintaining procedures and technical documentation, ensuring compliance with laboratory standards, quality control approvals, and proactively managing operational and technical risks. (~20% of worktime) • Contribute to overall management of the whole Laboratory section including business improvement initiatives, method development and strategic planning. (~10% of worktime) You will report to the Director of the Geoscience Australia Laboratory. Timing of these tasks will be determined in agreement with the Director and are expected to be within core hours. Because of the need for handling physical samples and close interaction required to effectively implement analytical processes, the tasks need to be largely undertaken on location at the Geoscience Australia Symonston facility. Other options can be negotiated if required. To be successful in the role you will: • Lead with purpose, accountability and professionalism. You will set clear directions, take responsibility for outcomes and model professional standards in a complex laboratory environment. • Be an active leader building and sustaining a respectful, inclusive, high-performing team culture. You will demonstrate high standards of leadership, inclusion, resilience, adaptability and integrity. • Communicate with influence and work collaboratively across wide range of technical and scientific teams. You will communicate complex technical matters clearly, constructively negotiate priorities, and maintain productive relationships. • Lead innovation and business improvement processes. You will be curious about new opportunities for improvement and demonstrate adaption to evolving scientific and organisational needs to improve existing processes while exploring emerging methods for potential application. Required skills, knowledge, experience and/or qualifications • Significant experience and/or qualifications in Organic and Isotope Geochemistry is highly desirable • Substantial experience undertaking sample preparation, analysis, data processing and quality control for organic geochemistry or similar is required. • Significant experience in leadership and management roles in a laboratory work environment is required. • Substantial experience working with quality control processes in analytical chemistry aligned to ISO17025 standards. • Relevant tertiary qualification in chemistry or geochemistry is desirable, but not mandatory if significant and relevant work experience over five years can be demonstrated. • Relevant qualification in quality management or quality systems, project or team management, risk management, education or learning and development would be well regarded, but not mandatory. 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 700 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 Keith Sircombe on (02) 6249 9543 or email keith.sircombe@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 ’. Use of AI in Recruitment Geoscience Australia may use Microsoft Copilot to support limited administrative and preparatory aspects of the recruitment process. Artificial Intelligence is not used to assess or select candidates, and all decisions are human-led and based on merit. Candidates must ensure their application reflects their own skills, experience and capabilities. Any use of AI must be responsible, transparent where required, and must not misrepresent their suitability for the role. Candidates will be asked to disclose their use of AI when submitting an application and may also be asked to do so at various stages throughout the recruitment process. Applicants are encouraged to familiarise themselves with the Principles for candidate use of AI in recruitment , as well as the Principles for agency use of AI in recruitment which outline expectations for the responsible, ethical and transparent use of AI when applying for APS roles.