Scientific Officer
Join us at the Australian Museum and help us achieve our Mission to ignite wonder, inspire debate and drive change
About the Project
The Australian Museum has recently received grant funding for scientific work supporting the Curator of Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Biology and the FrogID team in advancing machine learning techniques in species identification from bioacoustic data. We are looking for a fixed term scientific officer to join the project team.
About the Role
The Scientific Officer (Frog Bioacoustics and Machine Learning) is a crucial role that sits within the Herpetology and the FrogID team.
The role will support scientific research using machine learning to identify frog species, analyse ecological patterns and generate scientific insights from audio of calling frogs from the FrogID project,, building on the Australian Museum Science Strategy. The role will involve scientific analyses of audio recordings from the FrogID project using machine learning methodologies, research design, scientific analysis, data preparation and annotation workflows, machine learning model development and evaluation, model monitoring, reporting, and scientific publication.
Employment Status:
* Scientific Officer 1/2
* Fixed term 12 months
* Full time 35 hours per week
Click on the following links to begin the journey to find your new career at the AM
* Role Description
* AM Candidate Pack
You will be paid a competitive annual salary $75,728 - $116,969 plus employer's contribution to superannuation (currently 12%) and annual leave loading.
Knowledge & Experience
* Demonstrated ability to analyse and interpret bioacoustic data.
* Proven ability to prepare scientific publications and to present research to wide audiences.
* Competence in programming languages such as Python, MATLAB or R, with experience applying modern machine learning and signal processing frameworks (e.g. PyTorch, TensorFlow, scikit-learn).
* Strong and up-to-date understanding of machine learning concepts relevant to bioacoustics.
* Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
* Experience collaborating within multidisciplinary research environments and adapting technical solutions to science-driven research questions.
Essential requirements
* Postgraduate degree in Biological or Mathematical Sciences or Engineering or equivalent experience and strong background relevant to the Museum's research priorities
About The Australian Museum
The Australian Museum is truly a great place to work. We aim to be a leading voice for the richness of life, the Earth and culture in Australia and the Pacific. We commit to transform the conversation around climate change, the environment and wildlife conservation; be a strong advocate for First Nations' culture; and continue to develop world-leading science, collections, exhibitions and education programs.
Recent staff survey results confirm that our staff feel valued, accepted and supported and that they believe the AM is an inclusive workplace. AM staff also report a high level of job satisfaction.
The AM is located on the homelands of the Gadigal people and acknowledges and pays respect to the Gadigal people as the custodians of the land, sky and waterways, paying respect to Elders past and present.
Check out our current exhibitions and events here.
Benefits
Besides working together with other like-minded people, you will have access to professional development and dedicated Wellbeing programs.
How to apply
Applicants must submit (if submitted as attachment, please upload as PDF):
* A one to two page covering letter which addresses the role description's essential requirements, key knowledge and experience.
* Resume
As part of the online application process, you will be prompted to answer two targeted questions.
* Please outline your experience in applying machine learning techniques, including programming languages used (300 words maximum)
* Please detail the primary challenges of leveraging machine learning to identify the species of animal calling from audio files (300 words maximum)
Contact person: Dr Jodi Rowley, Curator, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation Biology, at Jodi..Museum.
Inclusive and welcoming
The Australian Museum is an NSW Public Service organisation and aims to attract and retain the right people for the right jobs. The AM is a diverse and inclusive workplace where genuine participation and contribution is enabled, and everyone, regardless of their background, identity or circumstances is valued, accepted and supported to thrive at work.
This means that we are embedding diversity and inclusion in everything we do on a daily basis, whether it be our recruitment processes, workplace culture, career development programs, customer service or policies and procedures. If we can make some adjustments to our recruitment process to better enable you to shine, please reach out to the contact person or note this in your application.
Job closing date: Monday 2 February 2026