Data Analyst

Role Overview

Do you want to apply your data skills to be part of science and research at CSIRO?
Are you passionate about open-source software and open data?
Would you like to work on international collaborations?

We are offering an exciting data role working at CSIRO in biodiversity science, using modern open- source technology and collaborating with stakeholders all around the country and the world.

The Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) is Australia’s national biodiversity data aggregator providing biodiversity data and related products and services to over 75,000 users in research, government, industry and to the general public. Funded under the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) and hosted by CSIRO, the ALA is the Australian node of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF).

Our digital infrastructure is developed in-house to support research activities, government decision-making and community events. The ALA uses and produces open-source software and tools to aggregate Australian biodiversity data from a variety of providers and make it discoverable and reusable online. Our technology stack is reused by over 25 countries.

The ALA Science and Decision Support team is seeking a data analyst for a two-year contract opportunity to develop analytic workflows and develop and maintain software packages, ideally in the R statistical environment. This is a full-time position based in Canberra, but remote work and part-time hours are available.

Salary: AU$102,724 to AU$111,165 pa (pro-rata for part-time) + up to 15.4% superannuation

Tenure: Specified term of 2 years

Reference: 78524

What will you be doing?

The ALA Science and Decision Support team has a broad remit that includes development and maintenance of software for research applications; production of robust data workflows and assets; collaboration with external partners; and communicating the utility of ALA products and services to a range of stakeholders.

In this role, you will apply your understanding of data modelling, data integration and analysis, and standards to develop novel integrated data products at scale. You will be responsible for development of robust workflows and software packages that support the work of the science and decision support team, as well as key stakeholders, including the Integrated Marine Observing System, Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network and the Department of Agriculture, Water and Environment. You will also be responsible for maintaining relationships with project leads and data teams within the ALA and its partner organisations.

Key tasks may include:

Develop integrated information products from the ALA and its partner organisations
Develop standard methods to support biodiversity data integration workflows and modelling scenarios
Develop and maintain software tools to support those workflows as required
Develop effective metadata and documentation of integration workflows
Develop effective relationships with the project leads and data analysts across the project partners
Liaise with users and their communities/representatives regarding the delivery of services to meet their requirements.

Who are we looking for?

Our preference is to hire a talented programmer with tertiary qualifications in Computer Science/Software Engineering, Quantitative Ecology, Science or another relevant field.

Ideally, you should have:

Experience in data cleaning, transformation and analysis in a command-line environment (such as R or Python)
Experience in using and working with APIs to harvest and publish data
Experience in collaborative software development following best practice standards for code testing, style, and dependency management
Demonstrated ability to work with independence and self-motivation within a team environment, drawing on excellent verbal and written communication skills

Desirable, but non-essential, criteria are:

Knowledge of the R programming language, including skills in package development, Rmarkdown, and Shiny apps
Experience working with standard web technologies (HTML, XML, CSS)
Skills in effective visualisation of complex data
Knowledge of standard data sources and formats for environmental applications
Sound understanding of commonwealth environmental reporting frameworks and stakeholders