Electronics Technician

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• The Opportunity
• A great opportunity to combine the advantages of a relaxed, ocean-side lifestyle with a leading-edge technology job at a world-class science and technology research facility.

Space and Astronomy (S&A) manages CSIRO's world-class facilities for radio astronomy and spacecraft tracking. We are internationally renowned for our radio astronomy research and engineering expertise, and closely engaged with construction of the SKA, a €2 billion international project in radio astronomy sited jointly in Western Australia and South Africa.

The next-generation

• Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP)
• is operated at Inyarrimanha Ilgari Bundara, CSIRO's Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory, in Western Australia.

ASKAP is a new, world-class radio telescope comprising 36 fully-steerable antennas equipped with novel Phased Array Feed receivers (PAFs) designed and built by CSIRO. ASKAP is already producing high impact science results and has recently commenced its initial 5-year survey program for which it was designed, which will map the cm-radio sky to unprecedented depths of sensitivity, discovering tens of millions of new galaxies.

An upgrade to the telescope called CRACO is underway, designed to detect Fast Radio Bursts and other transient sources with increased sensitivity.

We are seeking an

• Electronics Technician
• to be part of the support team for the ASKAP Operations and, together with ATNF staff at other sites, to support delivery of instrumentation upgrades including CRACO.

Your role will support complex digital, analogue and radio frequency systems including the PAF receivers, digital signal processing, control and monitoring, and timing systems.

The role includes participating in planning for critical systems maintenance activities, fault finding and testing, and participating in the planning of deployment of new state-of-the-art instrumentation.

You will be part of a multi-disciplinary engineering team located on our Geraldton site, but working at times within the broader ATNF technical team including at our Marsfield Headquarters to maintain operations and support new projects such as CRACO.

Please note : Frequent travel to the Inyarrimanha Ilgari Bundara, CSIRO's Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory (approx. 350km northeast of Geraldton) will be required. Visits will be typically five days in duration and require overnight stays at the Boolardy accommodation facility.

• Your duties will include
• Working within a small multi-disciplinary team to monitor system performance and maintain the Observatory electronics systems, to ensure the highest levels of availability required for the National Facility.
• Undertaking repairs to electronic equipment and modules down to component level.
• Proactively identifying potential spares issues or failure modes and working with external suppliers or staff at other ATNF sites to determine suitable replacement parts or alternative solutions.
• Actively participate in planning and design of instrumentation upgrades for the Observatory, working closely with colleagues at other ATNF sites and within CSIRO.
• Traveling occasionally to other ATNF sites, as required, to assist with installation and maintenance of electronics systems.
• Actively contributing to written and online documentation associated with equipment repair and maintenance, including management of system drawings and schematics, and configuration management.
• Traveling frequently to the site of the ASKAP radio telescope, some 350km northeast of Geraldton.
• Location
• Geraldton, WA
• Salary
• AU$87,068 to AU$98,504 plus up to 15.4% superannuation
• Tenure
• Indefinite
• Reference
• 93354
• To be considered you will need
• Essential
• A relevant Electronics Certificate, Associate Diploma or equivalent in Electrical / Electronic / RF Engineering with at least 5 years relevant experience.
• Demonstrated experience in diagnosing complex electronics systems and aptitude for advancing system knowledge.
• Proven ability to work effectively as part of a multi-disciplinary, regionally dispersed team, and to carry out tasks autonomously.
• Demonstrated experience with soldering, rework of PCBs and electronic modules as well as mechanical assembly.
• Extensive experience with data cabling including working with optic fibre installation, splicing and optical measurement equipment.
• Willingness to travel to other CSIRO sites for training and professional development or to assist with the repairs, ins