Lead Scientist

• Full Time fixed term role until April 2030 for a dedicated and diligent Lead Scientist
• provide leadership and operational oversight for a established translational research focused laboratory
• Base Salary $131,108 + 17% superannuation

About the opportunity

The Centre for Organ Assessment, Repair & Optimisation (COARO) is seeking an experienced scientist to provide scientific leadership and day-to-day operational oversight of an established translational research laboratory focused on the metabolic profiling, repair and regeneration of human livers and other organs. The laboratory has developed a world-leading platform enabling long-term ex vivo organ preservation for up to 7 weeks under near-physiological conditions, creating a unique environment in which organ repair, regeneration, and metabolic adaptation can be established over extended, clinically meaningful timescales.

This role represents the first dedicated biological leadership position within the program, charged with defining the mechanistic framework underpinning sustained organ repair and regeneration.

This role is designed for a talented scientist who combines deep hands-on laboratory expertise with the ability to maintain a strategic overview of multiple concurrent research projects. The successful candidate will provide scientific direction for experimental programs, integrate findings across projects, and place biological insight at the centre of experimental design. A key expectation of the role is the ability to link individual experiments to a broader understanding of long-term regeneration and functional recovery in ex vivo systems, while remaining directly involved in experimental execution.

This is an ambitious and fast-moving program that requires sustained engagement, intellectual curiosity, and genuine enthusiasm for complex biological problems. The research environment is collaborative and multidisciplinary, bringing together engineers, clinicians, scientists, and laboratory staff to address complex translational challenges in organ preservation, assessment and regeneration. Biological understanding is expected to actively inform system development and experimental strategy, ensuring that technological advances are grounded in robust physiological and mechanistic principles relevant to sustained ex vivo organ function.

The laboratory is well funded and entering a growth phase, including the world’s first clinical trial of long-term organ preservation prior to transplantation. This role provides the opportunity to develop as a long-term scientific leader within the program, shaping the scientific agenda of a laboratory focused on advancing sustained organ repair and regeneration in ex vivo platforms under near-physiological conditions, with a strong pathway to clinical translation.

What you will do

• maintain an overview of the organisation and progress of research projects across the laboratory
• lead and help to physically conduct experiments, including experimental design, execution, optimisation, and troubleshooting
• interpret experimental results independently, integrating data across projects to understand broader biological mechanisms
• oversee the scientific agenda, helping define priorities, hypotheses, assessment strategies, interventions and future experimental directions
• balance strategic oversight with close attention to experimental detail, maintaining both big-picture perspective and experimental rigor
• work collaboratively with PhD students, engineers, scientists and laboratory staff, providing day-to-day scientific guidance
• supervise and mentor PhD students and junior researchers
• ensure smooth day-to-day laboratory operations, planning, and coordination
• contribute to publications, reporting, and the longer-term development of the laboratory

About you

• PhD with desirable postdoctoral research experience demonstrating scientific independence

• demonstrated deep expertise in at least one of the following domains, with working literacy across others:

liver injury and regeneration biology

metabolic physiology and mitochondrial biology

multi-omics analysis (e.g. transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics) and integration

systems biology approaches to complex biological datasets

• proven ability to design, execute, and interpret complex experiments, as evidenced by peer-reviewed publications

• strong foundation in cellular and systems biology, with relevance to liver and/or kidney biology, regenerative biology, metabolic physiology, or closely related fields

• demonstrated capacity to integrate experimental data across projects to develop coherent biological insight

• outstanding organisational and communication skills, with the ability to work effectively within and across multidisciplinary teams

• demonstrated ability to prioritise work, maintain a strategic overview of multiple projects, and simultaneously attend to experimental detail and rigor

• experience working in translational or clinically adjacent research environments, ideally involving human tissue or organ systems

• track record of leading or contributing to sustained, multi-phase experimental programs rather than short, narrowly defined studies.

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Sponsorship / work rights for Australia

You must have unrestricted work rights in Australia for the duration of this employment to be eligible to apply. Visa sponsorship is not available for this appointment.

Pre-employment checks and declarations

Your employment is conditional upon the successful completion of all pre-employment or background checks required for the role in terms satisfactory to the University. Also, to meet the University’s obligations under the National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Eliminate Gender-Based Violence you will be asked to declare if you have been investigated for, or found to engaged in, sexual harm or gender-based violence in the course of previous employment or in a legal process. Similarly, your ongoing employment is conditional upon the satisfactory maintenance of all relevant clearances and background check requirements. If you do not meet these conditions, the University may take any necessary step, including the termination of your employment.

EEO statement

At the University of Sydney, our shared values are trust, accountability and excellence and we strive to be a place where everyone can thrive. We are committed to creating a university community that thrives through diversity and reflects the wider community that we serve. We deliver on this through our commitment to diversity and inclusion, evidenced by our people and culture programs, as well as key strategies to increase participation and support the careers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People, women, people living with a disability, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, and those who identify as LGBTQIA+. We welcome applications from candidates from all backgrounds.

We are proud to be recognised as an Australian Workplace Equality Index (AWEI) Platinum Employer. Find out more about our work on diversity and inclusion.

How to apply

Applications (including a cover letter, CV, and any additional supporting documentation) can be submitted via the Apply button at the top of the page.

For employees of the University or contingent workers, please login into your Workday account and navigate to the Career icon on your Dashboard. Click on USYD Find Jobs and apply.
For a confidential discussion about the role, or if you require reasonable adjustment or any documents in alternate formats, please contact Danielle Selinger Recruitment Consultant by email to [email protected]

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Click to view the Position Description for this role.

Applications Close

Sunday 05 July 2026 11:59 PM