About the Role
The Department of Industry, Science and Resources is seeking a motivated, proactive and skilled LIMS Administrator (APS6 equivalent) to support the Laboratory Information Management System (Thermo Fisher Sample Manager) used by the National Measurement Institute (NMI). The LIMS underpins the Analytical Services Branch laboratories in Melbourne and Sydney and several groups within the Chemical and Biological Branch in Sydney. The administrator works closely with the business areas to troubleshoot and support the system, develops and enhances functionality in Sample Manager's proprietary VGL language, configures and tests software, produces technical documentation, and works as part of a team of LIMS administrators and developers alongside ICT colleagues and the LIMS vendor. The role is preferred in Melbourne; strong applicants in Sydney and Canberra will also be considered.
Manage and support the Sample Manager LIMS operated by NMI's Analytical Services Branch (Melbourne and Sydney) and groups within the Chemical and Biological Branch (Sydney). Gather requirements from business areas and develop enhancements and new functionality in VGL; configure, test and troubleshoot the system; provide technical support to staff including bug fixing and user-account and access management; train NMI staff; prepare specifications and test amendments; carry out enhancements under the direction of the LIMS Technical Manager within change control; implement and maintain quality-control measures; develop and maintain interfaces for data exchange between LIMS and other systems; maintain SOPs, procedures and test plans; perform routine maintenance (committing and archiving LIMS data, backups, user and access reviews); liaise with the LIMS vendor on core system issues; generate financial, management and statistical reports for senior management; and work across ICT (database, server, security and network teams) on upgrades, testing, issues and outages.
Key Responsibilities
- Liaise with business areas to gather requirements and develop enhancements and new functionality in the LIMS (Sample Manager) using its proprietary VGL language.
- Provide technical support to staff: troubleshooting, bug fixing, and managing LIMS user accounts and access; address enquiries from staff and senior management about LIMS data and the system.
- Train NMI staff in the use of the LIMS; specify requirements, prepare specifications for amendments and test the programs developed.
- Carry out system enhancements under the direction of the LIMS Technical Manager, adhering to change control; implement and maintain quality-control measures.
- Develop and maintain interfaces for data exchange between LIMS and other systems; develop and maintain SOPs, procedures, documentation and test plans.
- Perform routine maintenance: committing and archiving LIMS data, backups, and reviewing and updating users and access under NMI managers' direction; liaise with the LIMS vendor to troubleshoot core system issues.
- Generate financial, management and statistical reports for senior management.
- Work across ICT (database, server, security and network teams) to deliver business outcomes, upgrades, testing, and to manage issues and outages.
- Required skills: LIMS administration (Sample Manager or similar in a commercial analytical or scientific laboratory); one or more of VGL, LIMS Basic, .NET C#, Visual Basic, Java and HTML, SQL; database administration and SQL; knowledge of scientific laboratory environments; rapid learning of new systems; problem solving; collaboration; strong communication; initiative; sound judgement; organisation and prioritisation.
Essential Criteria
- Availability management: analyses service and component availability, reliability, maintainability and serviceability; contributes to the availability management process and performs defined availability management tasks; ensures services and components meet and continue to meet agreed performance targets and service levels; implements arrangements for disaster recovery, documents recovery procedures and conducts testing of them.
- Problem management: investigates problems in systems, processes and services; assists with the implementation of agreed remedies and preventative measures.
- Programming and software development: designs, codes, verifies, tests, documents, amends and refactors simple programs and scripts; applies agreed standards and tools to achieve a well-engineered result; reviews own work.
Role Details
| Citizenship | Australian citizens only |
| Security Clearance | Baseline - must hold an ACTIVE clearance at time of application |
| Contract | One position. Estimated start Monday 16 November 2026. Initial contract 12 months with two further 12-month extensions. APS6 equivalent. Maximum 40 hours per week. A maximum of two candidates per seller. |
| Location | Onsite. Preferred Melbourne; strong applicants in Sydney and Canberra will also be considered. Location of work listed as ACT, VIC and NSW. Maximum 40 hours per week. |
| Max Candidates | 2 per seller |
This opportunity is sourced through the Australian Government's BuyICT panel for ICT Labour Hire services.