The Senior Technical Officer – Diagnostic Virology and Immunology (DVI) will provide scientific, technical, and operational support to Agriculture Victoria’s Veterinary Diagnostic Services, which undertakes activities to underpin Victoria’s agricultural biosecurity and plays an important role in fulfilling DEECA’s biosecurity obligations under the Diagnostic Services Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Biosecurity and Agriculture Services Branch. The diagnostic service is responsible for maintaining the capability to diagnose a range of veterinary diseases, undertaking fee-for-service testing, and responding to outbreaks of emergency animal diseases. The role is part of the Microbiology clade within the Biosecurity Sciences, Pests and Diseases Unit at Agriculture Science and Technology, based at AgriBio, The Centre of Agribioscience, Bundoora. The position reports directly to the Senior Research Scientist, Virology in the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory.
The Senior Technical Officer – DVI will require strong theoretical scientific knowledge, technical laboratory experience and organisational skills, particularly in immunological and serological virology techniques such as virus isolation, tissue culture and a range of assays such as virus neutralisation tests and ELISA. The position will apply this knowledge and experience across the Microbiology group and will coordinate and conduct routine immunology and serology diagnostic testing. The role will coordinate laboratory activities and provide day-to-day operational support under the direction of senior management, including supporting workflow coordination and contributing to staff scheduling. The role will support compliance activities associated with animal ethics requirements in line with established permits and under the direction of senior management. The position will contribute to laboratory test development and validation, while participating in general operational activities that support the quality management system and regulatory accreditation. Many of the duties will be repetitive and will require independent work. A good aptitude for working in a fast-paced diagnostics laboratory will be required for this position. The successful applicant will work effectively as a member of a team, enjoy flexible working arrangements and undertake a wide variety of work across the unit.
Specialist/Technical Expertise/Qualifications
-
Qualifications: An appropriate tertiary degree in Biological Sciences, Science or an equivalent science qualification.
-
Experience coordinating laboratory operations: Demonstrated experience coordinating high-throughput diagnostic veterinary immunology and virology laboratory activities, including supporting surge capacity and roster arrangements for emergency animal disease response activities. Demonstrated ability to support and guide colleagues through knowledge sharing and on-the-job support, and contribute to a collaborative team culture. Experience with AgLIMS, including supporting use, integration and optimisation to enhance laboratory efficiency.
-
Experience working under quality and compliance systems: Demonstrated experience supporting quality assurance processes and compliance with laboratory standards and safety requirements. Knowledge and experience working in compliance with animal/human ethics committees or biosecurity/quarantine material (i.e. OGTR or Department of Agriculture) and/or in a NATA-accredited (ISO 17025) laboratory environment, including document control, non-conformance handling, internal audits, traceability, measurement uncertainty and proficiency testing.
-
Technical Experience: Extensive knowledge and demonstrated experience in veterinary virology diagnostics including both traditional and molecular methods. Proven expertise in identifying and resolving diagnostic issues, implementing solutions for complex testing challenges, and maintaining the reliability and accuracy of diagnostic results.
-
Specialised Technical Experience: Hands-on experience performing routine microbiological diagnostic testing with accuracy and efficiency, including immunological and virological cell-based assays for veterinary pathology investigations, with extensive experience in serological and immunology-based diagnostics such as virus isolation, ELISA, VNT, and HI, and proficiency working under PC2 containment. Experience in the maintenance of mammalian, insect or fish cell lines, and performing virus isolation in cell cultures or embryonate eggs.
-
Communication and Interpersonal Skills: Excellent verbal and written communication abilities for clear and effective interaction with team members, regulatory bodies, and stakeholders and the ability to prepare diagnostics and scientific reports, training materials, and conference and workshops papers, using clear, concise language.
This is a fixed term position available for a period of three years. The work location for this position is Bundoora.
To be considered for this position, applicants are encouraged to submit a resume and cover letter (no longer than 2 pages) summarising their skills and relevant experience.
Please refer to the Key Selection Criteria provided in the Position Description, including the mandatory requirements.
How to Apply:
If you are a current DEECA employee, please apply via DEECA Careers.
Click the ‘Apply’ button and you'll be redirected to a new platform and create an account.
Applications close 11.59pm on Wednesday, 15 July 2026.
All applications must be submitted through the online portal. We are unable to consider email or manual applications at this time.
Other relevant information:
Preferred candidates will be required to undertake pre-employment screening, including a Declaration and Consent form and a Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check.
To be eligible for appointment to this role, applicants will possess corresponding work rights for the advertised employment period. Appointment to an ongoing position is only available to an Australian/New Zealand citizen or an Australian Permanent Resident.
An inclusive, culturally safe and flexible workplace
DEECA fosters an inclusive workplace culture and is committed to a fair, accessible, and equitable recruitment process.
We strongly encourage Aboriginal and or Torres Strait Islander people to apply. We recognise the strengths, knowledge and perspectives First Nations people bring and DEECA is committed to a culturally safe and respectful workplace. If you need support to participate, please contact
[email protected].
We support flexible working arrangements, including hybrid work, varied hours, part-time work and job sharing. For more information about our recruitment processes, visit applying for a role with us.
