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
- Lead animal welfare and biorisk specialists at CSIRO’s ACDP
- Champion animal welfare and ethical research
- Drive compliance and improvement in high-containment research
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.
Why join ACDP?
CSIRO’s Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness (ACDP) in Geelong is a nationally significant high-containment facility protecting Australia from serious and emerging animal and zoonotic disease threats. Our teams work across research, surveillance, diagnostics and emergency response, helping safeguard Australia’s animal industries, environment and communities.
This is a pivotal time to join ACDP. A major Part-Life Refit is modernising laboratories, infrastructure and animal research capability to support the Centre’s critical work for decades to come at the Geelong site. You’ll have the opportunity to contribute to science with genuine national impact in helping Australia anticipate, detect and respond to serious biosecurity threats such as lumpy skin disease, African swine fever and avian influenza. Whether your role supports research, diagnostics, surveillance, animal care, laboratory operations or critical infrastructure, your work can strengthen Australia’s preparedness, protect animal health and industries, and help reduce risks to the environment and community. You’ll also build distinctive experience in a complex, highly regulated environment unlike conventional veterinary, animal-care or laboratory practice.
The opportunity
As the Animal Welfare and Regulatory Compliance Team Leader, you’ll lead a team of animal welfare and biorisk specialists supporting ethical, compliant animal and scientific operations at ACDP. You’ll oversee compliance with the Australian Code for the Care and Use of Animals for Scientific Purposes (2013), DAFF biosecurity controls, OGTR guidelines, the SSBA Regulatory Scheme and internal policies.
Working with researchers, regulators and internal ethics, biorisk, quality and infrastructure teams, you’ll provide animal welfare oversight and expert advice on research design, experimental proposals and animal ethics applications. You’ll coordinate regulatory audits and documentation requests, strengthen collaboration and contribute to ACDP’s certified ISO 9001 management system.
Your high-level duties will include:
- Lead animal welfare and biorisk management officers to deliver expert advice and support best-practice animal care and compliant research.
- Oversee compliance and microbiological security requirements for research involving biosecurity goods, genetically modified organisms and security-sensitive biological agents.
- Coordinate transparent external and internal audits across ACDP, ensuring non-compliance is reported appropriately and corrective actions are implemented.
- Support adverse-event investigations, advise on animal welfare interventions and report outcomes and recommended actions to relevant committees and authorities.
- Collaborate with research, facility and quality teams to develop consistent procedures, policies and compliance frameworks across ACDP.
- Partner with the Animal Research Ethics Team to align practices with CSIRO’s Animal Welfare Procedure and the Australian Code for the Care and Use of Animals for Scientific Purposes.
- Provide expert regulatory guidance and contribute to training in technical procedures, animal welfare and animal ethics across CSIRO.
- Contribute to biorisk management leadership, advise on emerging compliance and welfare matters, and foster inclusion, knowledge sharing and continuous improvement.
Role particulars
Location: Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness (ACDP), Geelong, VIC
Salary: AU$135k - AU$158k per annum + 15.4% superannuation
Tenure & work schedule: Indefinite, Full-time
Reference: 104343
As the successful candidate, you will bring:
Essential criteria
- Tertiary qualification in veterinary science, animal science, bioscience, or a closely related discipline.
- Demonstrated experience working in a heavily regulated laboratory or scientific environment.
- Demonstrated experience within a scientific or health institution, with a requirement for experience in system development, implementation, and compliance framework management.
- Demonstrated understanding of quality, compliance, regulatory and environmental processes.
- Proven ability to effectively handle sensitive and confidential information, interpret policies, procedures, and guidelines to provide clear and consistent advice and support on compliance animal welfare issues and the ethical conduct of research.
- Proven ability to work effectively in a team environment, collaborate widely both internally and externally, and establish effective interpersonal relationships with a wide variety of people.
Desirable criteria
- Demonstrated experience working with animals in a laboratory environment or under animal ethics systems that consider welfare.
- Demonstrated understanding of the compliance requirements for work with biosecurity, GM or SSBA materials and animal research ethics principles and state and national requirements.
- Further qualifications or formal training in animal welfare, laboratory animal medicine or compliance management.
- Experience working under a quality management system with demonstrated accomplishments in the delivery of continual improvement and systemic improvements.
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 contact Laura Mason via Careers.Online@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 CV and cover letter (maximum 2 pages) that demonstrate your motivation and ability to meet the selection criteria of this role.
Applications close
19 November 2026, 11:00pm AEDT