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

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.

The Opportunity

• ​​​​​​Work for Australia’s National Science Agency and Innovation Catalyst.
• Drive CSIRO’s People Safety and Culture programs.
• We work flexibly at CSIRO, offering a range of options for how, when and where you work.

About CSIRO

CSIRO is Australia’s National Science Agency and one of the world’s largest and most successful research and development (R&D) organisations. We are a powerhouse of ideas, technologies and skills for building prosperity, growth, health and sustainability. We have improved the lives of many around the world through our R&D including WiFi, the Hendra Virus Vaccine, Aerogard and the Total Wellbeing Diet. With over 53 locations and over 5,600 people across Australia and internationally, CSIRO works with governments, industries, businesses and communities across the nation to solve the greatest challenges through innovative science and technology. www.csiro.au

The Role

CSIRO is seeking to appoint an Executive Director People to drive the organisation’s People Safety and Culture programs. As an organisation that prides itself on its world leading capability and scientific impact, the person appointed will be an active member of a collaborative Executive Team, under the leadership of the newly appointed CEO.

Reporting to the CEO, the successful applicant will be a dynamic and strategic leader bringing a track record of conceiving and implementing large-scale organisational transformation in complex environments. Driving CSIRO’s cultural vision of collaborative, inclusiveness, empowerment, agility, and contributing to the overall risk appetite will be key areas of responsibility along with the need to listen and learn from staff to build mutual trust to drive change.

As a member of the CSIRO Executive Team, the Executive Director People plays an important role in setting the strategic priorities and bringing the voice of the 6,000 strong Team CSIRO people to the table. The Executive Director People will effectively lead high impact, geographically dispersed functions that are valued across the business.

Location: Any CSIRO Capital City Site

Salary: Attractive Salary Package and up to 15.4% superannuation. (Based on experience and negotiable for the right candidate.)

Tenure: Specified Term of 3 years, Full-time

About You

To be considered you will need to demonstrate alignment to the following pivotal experience & expertise:

• 10+ years demonstrated experience providing strategic and visionary people and culture leadership in an organisation at or approaching the scale and complexity of CSIRO.

• Demonstrable experience fostering a high-performance, and psychologically safe innovation culture.

• Previous experience reporting to a senior level, with exposure to the CEO or board on people related matters. A successful stakeholder management track record with board of directors, government, industry, staff association/unions, other research bodies or agencies.

• A demonstrated capacity to align employees with the organisation’s core purpose. This alignment is critical to empowering CSIRO’s people to operate with trust, independence and agility.

• Tertiary qualifications in Human Resources or other relevant higher education.

For full details about this role, including further assessment criteria, please review the position description.

Eligibility

Applications for this position are open to Australian/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.

Flexible Working Arrangements

We work flexibly at CSIRO, offering a range of options for how, when and where you work.

Diversity and Inclusion

We are working hard to recruit people representing the diversity across our society, and ensure that all our people feel supported to do their best work and feel empowered to let their ideas flourish.

CSIRO's Commitment

At CSIRO Australia's national science agency, we solve the greatest challenges through innovative science and technology. We put the safety and wellbeing of our people above all else and earn trust everywhere because we only deal in facts. We collaborate widely and generously and deliver solutions with real impact.

CSIRO is committed to values-based leadership to inspire performance and unlock the potential of our people.

CSIRO is committed to the safety and wellbeing of all children and young people involved in our activities and programs, whether we are undertaking research, engaging with the public or nurturing future scientists in person or online. Source – CSIRO Child Safe policy 2023

Join us and start creating tomorrow today!

How to Apply

CSIRO has appointed Heidrick & Struggles to advise on this appointment.

To apply for the role of Executive Director People at CSIRO, please submit your CV and cover letter, specifically addressing your alignment to the Pivotal Experience & Expertise of the Heidrick Leadership Framework as well as your motivation in applying to execdirpeople@heidrick.com.

Only applications submitted via email to execdirpeople@heidrick.com will be considered, please do not apply via any other application portal.

Applications Close

Applications close at 11:59pm AEDT on Sunday October 29th, 2023.