Geoscience Australia values the lands, water and sky as we work to deepen a shared understanding of Country and Earth. We respect First Nations peoples and their enduring connection, contribution and obligations to Country. Reflecting on our shared history, we are committed to listen and learn.

About us

Geoscience Australia is Australia's pre-eminent public sector geoscience organisation. We are the nation's trusted advisor on the geology and geography of Australia. We apply science and technology to describe and understand the Earth for the benefit of Australia. We apply our diverse qualified expertise, our deep and trusted knowledge, our national-scale Earth observation infrastructure and our strong partnerships, to the opportunities and challenges that face our nation.

Our culture

Our strength lies in our people, including our diversity in backgrounds, skills and experiences, and the way we work together to respond to the emerging needs of our work. We value diversity in gender, backgrounds, culture, and experiences of our employees and are committed to providing an inclusive workplace culture that ensures everyone has equal opportunity to contribute, participate and progress. Applications from people who reflect this diversity are encouraged.

Our workplace is committed to the health, safety and wellbeing of our employees and offers a variety of flexible working arrangements to enhance flexibility, including remote working arrangements.

What we can offer you

When you work at Geoscience Australia you will have access to a range of benefits and the opportunity to experience a workplace culture that truly values and promotes diversity, inclusion, equity and belonging. To learn more about our competitive salary, free onsite parking, generous flexible working arrangements and the role you can play in growing our culture click here.

Our team The Digital Atlas of Australia team leads the ongoing delivery and evolution of the Digital Atlas as a national digital capability that has transformed how trusted location-data is shared, accessed and used for better informed place-based decisions. The team works across government and with a wide range of stakeholders to enable secure collaboration, publish and maintain reliable content, and continuously improve user experience.

The Digital Atlas is delivered through a public platform and a secure government environment, supported by service operations, governance, and user enablement to ensure it can be adopted and used confidently at scale.

The role

As Assistant Director, Digital Atlas Platform Enhancement and Sustainment you will lead a nationally significant geospatial capability that brings together trusted data, digital tools and location-based insights to help users explore, analyse and visualise information about Australia’s geography, people, economy and environment.

The Digital

Atlas platform delivers two distinct environments for end users: Digital Atlas for Government and the Digital Atlas for Public. These instances enable government, industry and the community to explore, visualise and analyse authoritative national data, and help shape informed decision-making.

We are seeking an experienced and collaborative EL1 Assistant Director to lead the sustainment and enhancement of the Digital Atlas platforms. The role will provide leadership and service delivery across geospatial operations, ICT administration, Esri platform sustainment, cloud management, security operations, stakeholder engagement, and continuous improvement. The role requires specialist technical management to support an APS and contractor workforce to deliver reliable, secure and user-centred Digital Atlas services for both government and public-facing platforms, that is aligned with government priorities.

In this role you will:

- Provide leadership across multidisciplinary teams spanning ICT administration, system architecture, security operations, geospatial production, content management and program governance,



by building a positive culture and developing people to perform at a high level.
- Lead the day-to-day sustainment, service delivery and enhancement activities for the Digital Atlas platform, by ensuring the platform is a stable, secure and a well-maintained technical environment.
- Coordinate and maintain platform operations by engaging with stakeholders within Geoscience Australia and across government that ensures reliable, secure and fit-for-purpose geospatial infrastructure.
- Oversee ICT administration activities, including platform configuration, planning and prioritising system upgrades, user administration, permissions, troubleshooting and maintenance of operational documentation.
- Lead administration, sustainment and delivery of Digital Atlas for Government and Digital Atlas Public environments. This includes managing the secure deployment of Esri software and online services across Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud infrastructure.
- Support cloud platform operations, including coordination of infrastructure, access controls, resilience, vulnerability, system performance, including financial considerations.
- Coordinate security operations, including business continuity, system monitoring, vulnerability management, incident response coordination, security reporting, assurance evidence and Digital Atlas Authority-to-Operate accreditation requirements.
- Manage a forward work program of platform improvements, balancing user needs, technical dependencies, risk, security, accessibility and operational constraints.
- Manage, lead and support a multidisciplinary APS and contractor workforce, including setting priorities, allocating work, monitoring delivery, supporting capability development and fostering a positive, inclusive and accountable team culture.
- Drive continuous improvement in service delivery, release management, incident response, knowledge management and operational readiness practices.
- Support procurement, contract and financial management activities, including industry engagement to support the sustainment and enhancement of the Digital Atlas for Government and Public-facing environments.

To be successful in the role you will:

The successful candidate will be a confident EL1 leader with strong judgement, a practical delivery mindset and the ability to work across business and technical domains. You will be comfortable operating in a complex environment, translating technical concepts into clear business outcomes and bringing people together to deliver a stable, secure and well-maintained technical environment.

- Demonstrated experience leading ICT administration, digital platform sustainment, service delivery, GIS operations, geospatial platforms, content management or comparable technology-enabled services.
- Strong practical experience administering Esri ArcGIS enterprise and online geospatial platform capabilities, such as ArcGIS Server, Portal, Data Store, Image Dedicated Server, ArcGIS Monitor, including distributed collaboration and related services.
- Experience working with cloud platforms, particularly Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services, including cloud-hosted infrastructure, identity and access controls, monitoring, availability, resilience and operational support.
- Strong stakeholder engagement skills, including the ability to influence, negotiate and communicate clearly with technical and non-technical audiences.
- Sound understanding of governance, risk, cyber security, security operations, privacy, accessibility, procurement and service management considerations in a secure government environment.
- Experience supporting security operations, including monitoring, incident response, vulnerability management, patching,



access reviews, security reporting and assurance activities.
- Experience managing multidisciplinary APS and contractor workforces, including prioritising work, coordinating delivery partners, supporting team performance and delivering outcomes across government and public-facing digital platforms.
- Ability to manage competing priorities, make evidence-based recommendations and resolve complex operational issues with limited direction.
- Well-developed written communication skills, including the ability to prepare executive briefs, status reports, governance materials and user-focused communications.
- A commitment to continuous improvement, user-centred service delivery and building positive team culture.

Required skills, knowledge, experience and/or qualifications

- A relevant tertiary qualification or at least 7 years demonstrated experience in leading ICT administration, digital platform sustainment, GIS operations, geospatial platforms or comparable technology-enabled services.
- Strong practical knowledge of the Esri ArcGIS enterprise and online geospatial platform capabilities, including system administration, content management, development tools, web services and applications, GIS workflows, mapping, analytics and data management.
- Proven experience of operating and leading multi-disciplinary, hybrid teams that deliver clear and repeatable ways of working, including change, release, incident and request pathways.
- Strong relationship management skills with a customer focus.

Experience in partnering and influencing stakeholders in the context of technical services, products and platform enhancement.

Use of AI in Recruitment

Geoscience Australia may use Microsoft Copilot to support limited administrative and preparatory aspects of the recruitment process. Artificial Intelligence is not used to assess or select candidates, and all decisions are human-led and based on merit.

Candidates must ensure their application reflects their own skills, experience and capabilities. Any use of AI must be responsible, transparent where required, and must not misrepresent their suitability for the role.

Candidates will be asked to disclose their use of AI when submitting an application and may also be asked to do so at various stages throughout the recruitment process.

Applicants are encouraged to familiarise themselves with the Principles for candidate use of AI in recruitment, as well as the Principles for agency use of AI in recruitment which outline expectations for the responsible, ethical and transparent use of AI when applying for APS roles.

Eligibility To be eligible to apply for this position you must meet the below eligibility criteria.

- Be an Australian Citizen at the closing date of application.
- The successful applicant must be able to obtain, hold and maintain a security clearance of an appropriate level relevant to this role.
- Commencement of employment is subject to the successful applicant undergoing and satisfying pre- employment screening, which includes a police history check.

Recruitability

RecruitAbility applies to this vacancy. Under the RecruitAbility scheme you will be invited to participate in further assessment activity for the vacancy if you choose to apply under the scheme; declare you have a disability; and meet the minimum requirements for the position. For more information please visit the Australian Public Service Commission website.

Hearing or speech impaired applicants are invited to use the National Relay Service by contacting 133 677, and requesting to be connected with our Recruitment team on 02 6249 9777 in order to obtain selection documentation.

Technical Assistance

If you require technical assistance, call our Recruitment and Delivery team on (02) 6249 9777 or email [email protected].

A merit list/pool may be created from this process. If you are successful for the merit pool, your details may be shared with other Australian Public Service agencies unless you choose not to have your details disclosed.

📌 Assistant Director, Digital Atlas Platform Enhancement and Sustainment (Canberra)
🏢 Geoscience Australia
📍 Canberra