• Food and Beverage Accelerator Program : Based in the School of Chemical Engineering

• Join a university ranked in the world’s top 50

• Be part of the Australia’s Food and Beverage Accelerator (FaBA) research program

• Full-time, Fixed-term position through to April 2027, Part-time may be negotiated for the right candidate

• Based primarily at our St Lucia Campus

About the Food and Beverage Accelerator

Australia’s Food and Beverage Accelerator (FaBA) is a $160 million initiative to boost growth and innovation in the food and beverage manufacturing sector. Part of the Federal Government’s Trailblazer Program, FaBA leverages $50m of government investment with more than $110m from universities and industry. Partners work across four areas: the research programs ‘Innovative Ingredients’ and ‘Premium Food and Beverage Products’, and the enabling programs ‘Innovation Pathways’ and the ‘FaBA Training Centre’.

A national initiative, FaBA provides F&B manufacturers access to research teams, next generation industry professionals, state-of-the-art equipment and pilot facilities. FaBA is proudly hosted by The University of Queensland, in collaboration with participants QUT, UniSQ and UniQuest.

Join a community where excellence is at the core of our culture, contributions are valued and a range of benefits and rewards are available, such as:

• 26 weeks paid parental leave or 14 weeks paid primary caregiver leave

• 17% superannuation contributions

• 17.5% annual leave loading

• Access to flexible working arrangements including hybrid on site/WFH options, flexible start/finish times, purchased leave, and a condensed fortnight

• Health and wellness discounts – fitness passport access, free yearly flu vaccinations, discounted health insurance, and access to our Employee Assistance Program for staff and their immediate family

• On campus childcare options

• Cheap parking (from just $5 a day)

• Salary packaging options

Primarily based at St Lucia Campus, however, travel to other locations may be required.

About This Opportunity

We are seeking a Food Technologist or Food/Chemical/Mechanical Engineer with experience in production/processing to operate as a Food Research Engineer and provide specialist technical and engineering subject matter expertise in support of high quality research outcomes at all stages of the research life-cycle. You will join a vibrant research team of other researchers, research students and industry partners.

This role involves working in a research and development environment supporting both industry-led and translational research in Australia's Food and Beverage Accelerator. It is part of the Premium Foods & Beverages program. This will include operating and maintaining newly acquired lab- and pilot-scale twin screw extruders located in the St Lucia (School of Chemical Engineering) and the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries pilot facilities in Health and Food Sciences Precinct in Coopers Plains, respectively. The role will provide food industry-relevant technical support to students, researchers, staff and industry personnel. It will require working collaboratively across units to ensure beneficial research outcomes, support engagement with industry partners, and assist in translating research into business opportunities for end-users.

Key responsibilities will include:

Responsibilities

• Applies specialist technical skills or knowledge to research activities

• Implements research results and new knowledge from engineering

• Manages the design and specification of equipment, and supporting infrastructures according to project schedules, ensuring that apparatus being used comply with best scientific practice, expectation of stakeholders and safety standards

• Assists in the development or design of new research products and technology

• Collaborates on standards for procedures and component requirements

Safety

• Ensures a high standard of research housekeeping, waste disposal, sample storage and chemical/specimen/sample inventory management

• Assists with developing a proactive safety culture and implement continuous improvement

• Under broad direction, sets up, monitors and demonstrates standard experiments and equipment use

• Performs standard maintenance of instruments/equipment to ensure optimal performance

Research and Administrative Support

• Assists with the development of research/analytical protocols

• Maintains accurate records of experiments or technical activities and results/outcomes

• Conducts simulations, cost calculations, and feasibility studies pertaining to area of research

• Designs testing procedures and coordinate to identify problems and solutions

• Contributes to research outputs, joint preparation and authorship of reports/manuscripts

This is a full-time (100%), fixed-term position through to April 2027, however, we are flexible and open to negotiating part-time hours for the right candidate.

At HEW level 6, the full-time equivalent base salary will be in the range $84,871.95 - $91,158.90, plus a generous super allowance of up to 17%. The total FTE package will be up to $99,300.18 - $106,655.91 annually.

About You

• Completion of a relevant degree in Food Technology, Food / Chemical / Mechanical Engineering or similar with subsequent experience in coordinating activities or an equivalent combination of relevant experience and/or education/training.

• Experience working in manufacturing / food production environment, or in a relevant research and development environment, is highly desirable.

• Advanced technical capabilities in extrusion processing and food processing unit operations desirable

• Knowledge of legislative requirements and operating procedures for research, food production, and food safety, including development of standard operating procedures, waste disposal, labelling and risk assessments.

• Well-developed problem-solving skills, with an ability to forward plan, prioritise tasks to meet deadlines and work with a high level of adaptability, both independently and as part of a team

• Strong interpersonal and communication skills with proven ability to produce clear, succinct documentation.

• The ability to liaise effectively with a wide range of stakeholders in a research and development environment.

• An avid interest or previous experience in the teaching and training of undergraduate/postgraduate students and staff development is desirable.

In addition, the following mandatory requirements apply:

• Work Rights: You must have unrestricted work rights in Australia for the duration of this appointment to apply. Visa sponsorship is not available for this appointment.

• Mandatory Immunisations: It is a condition of employment for this role that you will be required to provide evidence of immunisation against certain vaccine preventable diseases.

• Background Checks: All final applicants for this position may be asked to consent to a criminal record check. Please note that people with criminal records are not automatically barred from applying for this position. Each application will be considered on its merits.

Questions?

For more information about this opportunity, please contact Professor Jason Stokes (jason.stokes@uq.edu.au). For application queries, please contact recruitment@uq.edu.au stating the job reference number (below) in the subject line.

Want to Apply?

All applicants must upload the following documents in order for your application to be considered:

• Cover letter addressing the ‘About You’ section

• Resume

Please note that you will be asked to add all documents into the one upload box labelled ‘resume’, which is step one of the application form.

Other Information

At UQ we know that our greatest strengths come from our diverse mix of colleagues, this is reflected in our ongoing commitment to creating an environment focused on equity, diversity and inclusion. We ensure that we are always attracting, retaining and promoting colleagues who are representative of the diversity in our broader community, whether that be gender identity , LGBTQIA+ , cultural and/or linguistic , Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples , or people with a disability . Accessibility requirements and/or adjustments can be directed to recruitment@uq.edu.au

If you are a current employee (including casual staff and HDR scholars) or hold an unpaid/affiliate appointment, please login to your staff Workday account and visit the internal careers board to apply for this opportunity. Please do NOT apply via the external job board.

Applications close Monday, 27 November 2023 at 11.00pm AEST (Job Reference Number - R-19023)