Technology Development Engineer

Classification: ANU Officer 7 (Engineering)
Salary package: $105,219 - $110,489 per annum plus 17% superannuation
Terms: Full time, Fixed Term (up to 28 months) (flexible arrangements or part time hours will be considered)

• Be part of a multidisciplinary team aiming to increase safety and resilience of communities in rural flood prone catchments
• Lead the design, prototyping and testing of low-cost flood monitoring networks
• Support and engage with community groups and residents in technology co-development

About the opportunity

The Technology Development Engineer will lead the technology development activities related to the local community flood intelligence networks.  This covers hardware for data collection and communication, working with community members and relevant agencies as well as ANU staff across disciplines.  This focuses on co-developing technologies for collecting, sharing and consolidating rainfall and water level data in remote upper catchment areas for use by community groups and agencies to support preparation and decision-making before and during flood events.

The position will focus on the design, prototyping, testing, and evaluation of data collection nodes and communication hardware making use of existing community assets, networks and expertise.  Appropriate background and skills would include experience with technology development and/or engineering with a particular focus on small-scale distributed IoT networks covering standalone power, environmental data collection, and communication networks.  Experience with or knowledge of local communication platforms, such as CB UHF and LoRa, particularly the mesthtastic open-source protocol, would be of value with these networks already in place in some communities.  Experience with or interest in community-led approaches, Humanitarian Engineering, and/or disaster risk reduction would be a benefit as these are used within the project to support collaboration across community and university partners.

This role is part of the NEMA Disaster Ready Fund (DRF) supported strengthening community capacity and resilience through the development of community-led flood intelligence networks across NSW project.  This seeks to complement community strengths and social networks through the design and development of low-cost distributed data collection and communication technologies to collect and share greater local levels of information and intelligence about emerging and current flood events.  Through the DRF support, the project is working to pilot community-led flood intelligence networks in four local governance areas in NSW building on existing collaborations in the NSW Northern Rivers that started in mid-2022.

The project aims to build on existing community strengths, networks, and assets, as well as targeted technology development, to capture and share real-time rainfall and creek level data to increase community safety and resilience. Networks of nodes are being developed to support the collection and consolidation of rainfall and water level data in upper catchment areas that have limited coverage of gauges and mobile communications.  These areas are critical for early identification of potential flood events in catchments where the time between rainfall and flood peaks is in the order of 6-24 hours.

The position is fixed term for a period of 28 months full-time equivalent with the DRF project due to finish in March 2028.  The role is based in Canberra with expectations on travel to community partners and a current Australian drivers licence would be beneficial.  Flexible arrangements or part time hours will be considered.

About the College

The ANU by 2025 Strategic Plan calls for the University to serve society through transformational research and education. As one of the great universities of the world, ANU is driven by a culture of excellence in everything we do. Our lived experience is increasingly one of large-scale systems of people, whose actions and interactions are influenced by our digital, physical and biological environment. The ANU College of Systems and Society (CSS) hosts three of the key disciplines necessary to help us design, build, regulate and secure the future.

CSS brings together expertise in social, technical, computational, ecological and scientific systems to build a new approach to systems design and build new national capabilities in data-driven policy and business development. The work we do in the College directly supports one of the four pillars of ANU by 2025: to strengthen our national mission and meet our unique responsibilities as Australia’s national university. We will deliver on our mission by building a strong community, providing transformative educational experiences, conducting high-impact research, seeking meaningful engagement, and becoming a resilient organisation post COVID-19.

We welcome and openly acknowledge differences in expertise, research / education / professional focus, experience and perspective.

CSS is a vibrant and diverse community of more than three thousand students, staff, and visitors. Our College is comprised of the School of Computing, School of Cybernetics, School of Engineering, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Mathematical Sciences Institute, and the Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science, supported by the Professional Services Group.

The School of Engineering brings together a diverse and welcoming community that is motivated to seek “wicked problems”. We connect divergent thinkers, to explore and pose solutions, that cross the traditional interdisciplinary and global boundaries. We have evolved from our foundational strength in systems thinking, reaching beyond traditional engineering fields. This systems approach embraces our core strengths and is shaped around four focus areas: Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Mechatronics. Join us in our fundamental quest of discovery and passionate pursuit of knowledge that goes beyond our lived world.

To enquire about this role, please contact Associate Professor Jeremy Smith, Humanitarian Engineering Program Coordinator, at jeremy.smith@anu.edu.au

Our commitment to diversity, belonging, inclusion and equity

ANU is committed to building a diverse and inclusive community, and particularly welcomes applications from women, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and candidates from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Furthermore, it is practice in the ANU College of Engineering, Computing and Cybernetics to actively seek a gender mix of shortlisted candidates for interview. For more information about staff equity at ANU, visit https://services.anu.edu.au/human-resources/respect-inclusion   

We welcome and develop diversity of backgrounds, experiences and ideas and encourage applications from individuals who may have had non-traditional career paths, who may have taken a career break, had career disruptions or who have achieved excellence in careers outside of the higher education sector. We support applicants who require flexible arrangements in their work environments or patterns. If your experience looks a little different to what we’ve described, but you’re passionate and motivated by this position, we welcome your enquiry and application. 

What we offer

The ANU provides attractive benefits and excellent support to maintain a healthy work/life balance and offers generous remuneration benefits, including four weeks paid vacation per year, assistance with relocation expenses and 17% employer contribution to superannuation. We also offer generous parental leave, the possibility of flexible and part time working arrangements, a parental and aged care support program, dual career hire programs, staff and family tuition fee discounts, ANU school holiday programs, and childcare facilities on campus. For more information, visit: https://services.anu.edu.au/human-resources  

How to apply

Applicants must apply online via the ANU recruitment portal and should upload the following separate documents: 

• A detailed curriculum vitae (CV) and the names and contact details of at least three referees (preferably including a current or previous supervisor). If your CV does not include referees, you can complete these online when prompted in the application form. 
• A 2-page statement addressing the selection criteria. 
• Other documents, if required. 

Please note: The successful candidate must have rights to live and work in this country and will be required to undergo a background check during the recruitment process.  An offer of employment is conditional on satisfactory results.