Job Title:

Senior Satellite Communications Engineer (EL1 Equivalent)

This role is a full-time contract opportunity supporting the Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade (DFAT) through an ICT Labour Hire arrangement. The successful candidate will join DFAT’s Telecommunications and Data Centre Support Section (TCS) within the Infrastructure and Operational Support Branch and play a critical role in the delivery of DFAT’s Satellite Modernisation Project.

This is a hands-on senior engineering role, requiring on-site work in the ACT and regular engagement with DFAT Posts globally to support the design, deployment, and maintenance of secure satellite communications.

About the first project:

The initial engagement will support DFAT’s Satellite Modernisation Project, a multi-year initiative to modernise and future-proof satellite communications across DFAT’s global network of Posts.

The project focuses on:

• Transitioning from legacy Geostationary Orbit (GEO) satellite systems

• Introducing and piloting Non-Geostationary Orbit (NGSO) technologies

• Deploying high-performance, low-maintenance satellite terminals

• Maintaining high-risk and remote GEO locations

The role supports DFAT’s broader digital transformation agenda by enabling secure, resilient, and infrastructure-independent communications for cloud-hosted services and mission-critical operations in remote and challenging environments.

Responsibilities:

• Design, implement, and maintain satellite communication systems across DFAT Posts

• Provide senior technical input into high-level and detailed satellite system designs

• Support the integration and deployment of GEO and NGSO satellite technologies

• Conduct RF and microwave system design, testing, optimisation, and troubleshooting

• Support the deployment, maintenance, and lifecycle management of satellite terminals in remote and overseas locations

• Collaborate closely with architecture, cyber assurance, and regional technical teams

• Contribute to technology investigations, pilots, and proof-of-concept activities

• Produce high-quality technical documentation, including design artefacts and maintenance plans

• Support high-availability WAN services using satellite-based connectivity solutions

• Provide on-site technical support during deployments and upgrades as required

Qualifications:

• Bachelor of Engineering (Electronics and/or Communications)
  OR

• Diploma of Engineering (Electronics and/or Communications) with equivalent industry experience

Essential Criteria: 

• Demonstrated 5+ years’ experience in satellite communications engineering, including both GEO and NGSO systems

• Strong understanding of RF and microwave communications, including system design, testing, and optimisation

• Proven experience planning and implementing high-availability WAN services, including satellite-based connectivity

• Ability to produce clear, high-quality technical documentation, including high-level designs and maintenance plans

• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with experience working in cross-functional and geographically dispersed teams

• Willingness and ability to travel to geographically dispersed DFAT Posts and remote locations as required

Desirable Criteria:

• Experience supporting government or defence satellite communications projects

• Ability to mentor or provide technical guidance to junior engineers or field technicians.

Residency and Clearance

• Must hold a current active NV2 security clearance (mandatory – no exceptions)

• Australian Citizen

• This role is open to ACT-based candidates only

This is an on-site role; hybrid or remote working arrangements are not available

Who are Local Peoples?

Local Peoples is a strategic research and design studio based in Melbourne and Canberra.

Our mission is to design healthy, resilient and resourceful communities. We are proud to be a certified B-Corporation with a strong focus on our social, environmental and economic impact.

We work across brand and digital design, place and experience design,, content and community engagement. Our key partners include state and local government, social enterprises, universities and large commercial organisations. All are experiencing complex challenges right now and we believe that design research, thinking and delivery can help to solve these challenges and make positive change for people and the planet.

We produce www.mattersjournal.com, a publication and community of 100K+, which focuses on design-led social innovation and impact.

Why join Local Peoples?

• Representative and inclusive - we are dedicated to building an inclusive and accessible workplace for people from diverse backgrounds

• Impact driven - work towards achieving real impact for people and the environment

• Fantastic culture - driven by a welcoming, supportive and collaborative team environment

• Professional support for design excellence- benefit from being a part of one of Australia’s fastest growing design and delivery communities

• Flexible working arrangements - including the ability to work remotely

• Market rate salaries - attractive remuneration packages in line with the market rate

• Flexible employment types - including the preference for permanent, but will consider contracting

Local Peoples proudly supports the LGBTQ+ community, neurodiverse individuals, and First Nations people. We are committed to creating inclusive spaces where everyone, regardless of their identity, feels valued and respected. Together, we strive for equality and a positive future for all.

Local Peoples works, creates, and plays on the lands of the Wurundjeri, Bunurong, and Wathaurong peoples of the Kulin Nation, land which has never been ceded. We thank them for caring for this land for over 40,000 years and recognize and pay our deepest respect to Elders past, present, and emerging. This always was and always will be Aboriginal land