Build what doesn't exist.

Arkeus is building next-generation sensing and AI technologies for defence and national security.

We are looking for a Principal Scientist - Disruption to lead a small, high-performing team focused on exploring the frontier of what is technically possible.

This is a low-TRL, hands-on scientific role. You won't be managing research from a distance or simply identifying interesting technologies. You'll be expected to get into the detail, build things, run experiments, do the maths, test assumptions and work out whether an idea can actually work.

Think pathfinder rather than traditional R&D.;

Your job is to take a new idea, size the problem, investigate it and push it towards a proof of concept. If it works, you'll help transition it to the engineering teams to turn into a deployable capability. If it doesn't, you'll understand why and move on.

The Opportunity

You will lead Arkeus' Disruption function. The team sits at the tip of the spear of Arkeus' technology development, deliberately operating ahead of conventional product and engineering roadmaps.

The objective is to pursue ambitious technical ideas and develop them to proof-of-concept level, typically in months rather than years.

Over a year, this could mean taking several genuinely new concepts from:

Idea → hypothesis → mathematics/modelling → experiment → prototype → proof of concept → engineering handover

You will work with universities, research organisations, specialist contractors and Arkeus' engineering teams to bring together the expertise required to investigate difficult problems.

What You'll Do

- Lead the Disruption function and provide technical direction to a small, highly capable team.
- Identify and pursue opportunities at the frontier of sensing, defence and emerging technology.
- Take ideas with low Technology Readiness Levels and determine whether they are technically viable.
- Roll up your sleeves and build, test, measure, calculate and experiment.
- Develop mathematical models and first-principles calculations to size and understand problems.
- Design and build proof-of-concept systems using available technologies, components and experimental platforms.




- Combine existing technologies in novel ways to answer: "Is this actually possible?"
- Develop several current concepts through to POC level each year.
- Know when a concept has demonstrated enough potential to transition into engineering and help make that handover happen.
- Work across disciplines including optics, RF, sensing, materials, computational science, physics, AI and edge computing.
- Work closely with Arkeus' AI team to investigate new approaches to AI-enabled sensing and effect.
- Explore the deployment of AI on constrained edge systems, where capability must operate on-device rather than rely on a server or cloud environment.
- Build relationships with universities and research organisations and connect Arkeus with relevant research groups and emerging ideas.
- Bring together internal teams, university researchers, contractors and specialist technical partners around difficult problems.
- Challenge assumptions and investigate unconventional approaches.
- Create the technical evidence needed to determine whether an idea should be pursued, changed or stopped.

The Technology The exact technology problems will evolve, but areas of interest include:

- Advanced sensing
- Passive radar and novel RF techniques
- Optics and photonics
- Mid-wave infrared
- Sensors and sensor systems
- Electromagnetics
- Materials and advanced materials
- Computational physics
- MEMS and micro-scale systems
- Signal processing
- AI and machine learning
- Edge-deployed AI
- Integrated sensing and effect
- Emerging defence technologies

You don't need to be an expert across all of these areas.

We are looking for someone with deep expertise in one area and genuine curiosity across many others.

Ideal Candidate





You are likely to have a PhD in a highly technical discipline and a track record of translating that expertise into real-world experimentation and capability.

Particularly relevant backgrounds could include: Computational Physics, Physics / Microtechnology, Sensors / Engineering Physics

We want to see evidence that you have:

- Taken a new idea and pursued it beyond theory.
- Developed something that did not previously exist.
- Built experiments and prototypes.
- Worked with hardware, instrumentation or experimental systems.
- Used maths, modelling or simulation to investigate a problem.
- Taken a concept through to proof of concept.
- Worked with people outside your immediate area of expertise.
- Translated scientific capability into a practical application.
- Pursued an idea because you believed it could work, even when there was no established pathway.

The Person

This role will suit someone who is naturally curious, lateral and highly practical.

Someone who hears an interesting technical question and wants to go and find out whether it works.

You might be the person who:

- Doesn't just read the paper. You build the experiment.
- Doesn't just say something should work. You do the calculations.
- Doesn't stop at the theory. You test it.
- Doesn't wait for someone else to provide the tools. You find a way to build them.
- Is comfortable moving between a whiteboard, a lab, a computer and a workshop.
- Can work with a physicist one day, an RF engineer the next and a university research team after that.
- Is comfortable being wrong, learning quickly and trying again.
- Can take an ambiguous problem and create a path forward.

Why Arkeus?

Arkeus operates at the intersection of defence, sensing, AI and advanced technology.

This is an opportunity to work on problems where the answer doesn't already exist and where the successful outcome can move directly from scientific discovery into real-world capability.

You will have the freedom to investigate ambitious ideas, access to a multidisciplinary engineering environment and the opportunity to work with leading researchers and institutions.

If you're a scientist who would rather build the experiment than just talk about it, we'd like to hear from you.

📌 Principal Scientist, Disruption - Scaling Deep Tech / AI on the Edge, Defence (Port Melbourne)
🏢 Love Your Work
📍 Port Melbourne