APS 6 - $88,408 - $100,378 per annum plus superannuation
- Biosecurity Plant and Science Services Division
- Mickleham, VIC
**Who we are**
The Operational Science and Surveillance (OSS) team provides diagnostics for pests, pathogens and plants/seeds to manage detections in imported goods and associated with conveyances and travellers, as well as National Border Surveillance (NBS) activities within the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) jurisdictions. The OSS team at the Commonwealth's Post Entry Quarantine (PEQ) facility, in Mickleham, Victoria, conduct plant disease diagnostics on imported, high-risk nursery stock. We use a range of diagnostic tools including traditional plant pathology techniques, molecular assays and high throughput sequencing to detect regulated plant pathogens which could harm our primary industries and environment. Our diagnostic laboratory is world-class and equipped with modern robotics and flexible liquid handling systems to facilitate the diagnosis of over 250 exotic plant pathogen targets from a wide range of horticulturally important plant species. While our remit is applied and operational, we continually seek new and innovative ways of delivering world-class plant health diagnostics.
**The Job**
Under the direction of the Assistant Director, you will contribute to the delivery of national plant health diagnostics by:
- implementing bioinformatics pipelines to deliver modern molecular capability, in line with relevant biosecurity legislation, policies, procedures, and guidelines
- managing computational pipelines and resources across cloud-based platforms for processing high throughput sequencing datasets
- establishing and maintaining key networks with researchers and industry to maintain currency with bioinformatics and molecular technologies
- preparing and publishing reports, scientific publications, and quality assurance guidelines to support the accreditation of high throughput sequencing diagnostics for regulated plant pathogens at PEQ
- contributing to the strategic delivery of bioinformatics within SSG nationally, by providing advice to the executive and training staff within SSG laboratories
- promoting and ensuring compliance with departmental WHS policies and guidelines and being alert for and reporting risks regarding WHS issues.
**What we are looking for**
**Knowledge and experience**
- Demonstrated experience in the design, implementation, deployment, and optimisation of end-to end bioinformatics workflows in Galaxy Australia or similar platforms.
- Experience in developing and delivering training courses and user guides for upskilling of diverse end-users in molecular diagnostics or bioinformatics.
- Experience or demonstrated ability in developing standard operating procedures and quality assurance guidelines to support ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation.
- Experience in molecular diagnostic skills as applied to regulated plant pests or pathogens.
**Eligibility**
**Mandatory qualifications**
A PhD or equivalent in bioinformatics, plant pathology, plant virology or a related field.
The successful applicant must:
- hold and maintain a valid Australian motor vehicle drivers licence
- wear appropriate protective personal equipment and clothing to comply with departmental Work Health & Safety policies and procedures
- note that the physical requirements of the role(s) involve a combination of laboratory and office-based work.
**For additional information, please read the Job Description below.