National Border Surveillance

APS 5 - $76,260 - $83,658 per annum plus superannuation
- Biosecurity Plant and Science Services Division
- Melbourne, VIC

**Who we are**
The Surveillance Section is one of the four national sections that deliver diagnostic or surveillance activities within the Operational Science & Surveillance (OSS) team of the Science & Surveillance Group (SSG). The section is comprised of the National Border Surveillance (NBS), Vector, Khapra and Hitchhiker surveillance teams, and is led by a management team consisting of a Director, two Assistant Directors and two APS 6 Senior Surveillance Officers. The NBS program began operations in late 2016 and is one of the department’s largest surveillance programs, with more than 20 surveillance staff and significant supervisory and diagnostic support within SSG.

**The Job**
This position will undertake and support surveillance activity, with key duties including but not limited to:

- supervising and managing the performance of a small team, including building and sustaining productive, positive, respectful relationships among team members and facilitating regular, constructive feedback and communication
- providing technical, administrative and managerial guidance to team members on key pests of biosecurity concern and in helping to implement NBS activities
- working as part of the national NBS team to ensure effective, consistent, accurate and timely implementation of surveillance methods and recording and reporting of NBS activities
- identifying and coordinating technical and professional development of team members to build their diagnostic, surveillance and plant health surveillance related skills
- co-ordinating and participating in biosecurity surveillance activities, noting that this will involve:

- working outside, conducting field surveillance and monitoring activities throughout the year
- procurement, maintenance and management of surveillance devices and consumables
- ensuring effective scheduling and planning of surveillance in line with the department’s annual surveillance priorities and during pest response situations
- client and stakeholder public relations and feedback or reporting
- assessing high priority plant pest targets in your area and their associated risk pathways
- prioritising on ground surveillance based on resources and risk analysis
- ensuring accurate collection and reporting of data in line with the surveillance outcome
- undertaking targeted priority pest surveillance research or trials
- providing scientific advice to your team, and as part of the national NBS team, to ensure diagnostic tasks are performed in a timely and accurate manner including:

- triage of specimens in the field or laboratory
- preparation of surveillance specimens for laboratory diagnosis and their long-term preservation for storage in the department’s reference collections
- sourcing appropriate literature and diagnostic tools
- liaising with diagnosticians for more complex identification purposes
- ensuring accurate, consistent and timely (up to date) data entry and reporting
- liaising with clients, stakeholders and government agencies to manage surveillance operations and mitigation of biosecurity risk, as necessary
- promoting and ensuring compliance with departmental WH&S policies and guidelines, and being alert for and reporting risks regarding WH&S issues.

**What we are looking for**

**Knowledge and experience**
The successful applicant will have:

- experience in planning, managing and conducting pest surveys or surveillance activity
- knowledge and experience in entomology, plant pathology and/or botany
- experience leading and managing a small local team

**Eligibility**

**Mandatory qualifications**
A tertiary qualification in a relevant scientific field such as entomology, botany or plant pathology and demonstrated relevant experience.

The successful applicant must:

- hold and maintain a valid Australian motor vehicle drivers licence
- note that the physical requirements of the role(s) involve a combination of outdoor and office-based work
- note that you may be required to perform occasional out-of-hours and weekend work
- note that you will be required, from time to time, to work in difficult, remote and harsh environments (possibly for extended periods) under limited supervision or in teams
- wear an official uniform supplied by the department, including during field operations (as applicable), in accordance with the department’s uniform policy
- wear appropriate protective personal equipment and clothing to comply with departmental Work Health & Safety policies and procedures
- hold or obtain authorisation as a Biosecurity Officer.

**For additional information, please read the Job Description below.