About Portable
We’re innovation partners for public good. We seek out areas of social need and policy complexity and create transformational change using research, design and technology. Our partners are government agencies, nonprofits and socially-minded businesses - and they’re as passionate about outcomes as we are.
There are currently 65+ of us working as researchers, strategists, designers, technologists and producers from our head office in Collingwood, and remotely from co-working spaces and homes across Australia.
A significant part of this role is a long-term engagement with a public transport operator, supporting the operational technology systems that keep track of Melbourne's network. You'll also contribute to other Portable engagements as the work evolves. The right person is likely to become deeply embedded in the client's operational environment and across Portable more broadly.
Then there’s you!
You’re an analytically sharp, naturally curious person who gets a quiet thrill from cracking a complex operational problem before 10am. You’re comfortable in the weeds of a Linux terminal one minute and on the phone with a depot manager the next - and you don’t find those two things particularly different. They’re both just about getting to the right answer.
You’ve probably come from a software development, business analysis, data analysis, or quality assurance background – but what defines you isn’t your job title, it’s the fact that you can hold a lot of context at once. You know how to figure out what’s really going on, who needs to know about it, and how to tell them in a way that actually lands.
What also matters is that you care about the work. Melbourne’s public transport network is a living system, and the problems that come across your desk each morning are real, operational, and time-sensitive. If you find that kind of thing boring, this probably isn’t the role for you. If it sounds like the kind of puzzle you want to be solving, read on.
What you’ll do
Much of your time will be oriented around this transport engagement, with capacity to contribute to other Portable projects as the work evolves.
On a normal week, you will:
- Attend daily team stand-up meetings to align on immediate priorities.
- Receive and triage operational issues reported by public transport drivers, depot staff, and network controllers.
- Pull data from GPS, radio, and other operational systems to diagnose incidents.
- Synthesize findings across multiple data sources into clear, well-structured reports for diverse stakeholders.
- Maintain documentation of system anomalies and incident resolutions, ensuring the team has a clear record of recurring issues.
- Dig into system logs, utilise command-line tools, and write queries to isolate signals within the noise.
- Work with the client's team to investigate anomalies, track patterns, and surface insights that improve network performance.
- Translate complex technical situations into clear, actionable language for non-technical stakeholders to support informed decision-making.
- Collaborate with developers to improve tooling, data capture, and reporting cadences.
What we’re looking for
Must-haves
- Strong analytical thinking – you can hold complexity, work across data from disparate sources, and arrive at a coherent picture.
- Good communication and stakeholder management skills – you know how to frame a problem, ask the right questions of the right people, and present clearly articulated findings.
- The ability to context-switch and manage multiple threads of investigation simultaneously.
- Genuine curiosity and passion for operational systems – transport systems, network and infrastructure, or something similarly involved. This work rewards people who find it interesting.
- Willingness to work from the office at least 3 days per week – we value the collaboration and connection that comes with being together.
- Comfortable working in Linux environments. Willingness to find your way around a command line and can grep, pipe, and navigate with little need to look up.
Nice-to-haves
- A background that spans more than one of: software development, business analysis, data analysis, quality assurance
- Experience working with real-time operational or transport data.
- Prior experience in a managed services or support environment.
How we remunerate and support our team
The salary range for this role is $110,000–$135,000 plus superannuation.
Here's what else you can look forward to:
- Meaningful work: Clients who are building things that matter, and problems worth solving properly
- Flexible work arrangements: Hybrid and remote options, flexible hours, and personalised start/finish times. You can expect to be in the client's inner north Melbourne office, or Portable's Collingwood office at least 3 days a week.
- Enhanced leave: Bonus annual leave based on tenure, purchasable additional leave, paid volunteering leave, and paid mental health days with no explanation required
- Growth and development: $1,000 annual professional development allowance plus two working days, structured career pathways, regular salary reviews
- Wellbeing support: Up to 4 counselling sessions per year through our EAP with The Mindroom
- Financial incentives: Profit-sharing bonus, employee share plan options, and salary sacrificing
- Family-friendly policies: Enhanced parental leave and flexible arrangements around family commitments
How to apply
We’re committed to building a diverse and equitable team. People from underrepresented groups are strongly encouraged to apply.
To be considered for this role, please send us:
- Your resume.
- A short (max. one-page) cover letter answering:
- What attracted you to this role, and why do you think it’s a good fit for you?
- Tell us about a time you had to untangle a complex operational or technical problem - what did you do, and how did you communicate your way through it?
