CSIRO deputy chief Kirsten Rose is set to leave the national science agency after almost five years to join the energy market operator in her home state of Western Australia.
Ms Rose, who has spent the last year leading the strategic direction of CSIRO alongside chief executive Doug Hilton, will take up her new role at the Australian Energy Market Operator in late August.
She replaces Nicola Falcon as executive general manager, Western Australia and Strategy. Ms Falcon will in turn assume the role of executive general manager, System Design.
Ms Rose stepped into the newly created role of deputy chief executive at CSIRO in May 2024 almost four years after joining the organisation as executive director, Future Industries at the height of the Covid pandemic in 2020.
She was tasked with establishing the way that CSIRO engages and collaborates with the broader innovation ecosystem, using her decades of experience across the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.
Her tenure coincided with a major restructure of the agency’s enterprise division, which was prompted by the falloff in one-off pandemic funding from the government and rising operating costs.
Over the last 12 months, she helped shape the CSIRO’s new Strategy and Engagement sector, which seeks to strengthen stakeholder connections and build public trust in science.
Taking to LinkedIn on Monday, Ms Rose said she was “very sad to be leaving the CSIRO after five phenomenal years”, but “incredibly excited to be joining AEMO in Western Australia!”
“I’m thrilled to be returning to an energy-focused role and very excited about the opportunities (and challenges!) in WA in delivering reliable, sustainable and affordable energy for all,” she said.
Ms Rose is the latest senior leader to depart the agency in recent months, joining former CSIRO chief scientist Bronwyn Fox, who joined the University of New South Wales in July last year.
Prior to joining CSIRO, Ms Rose spent four years as head of innovation, sustainable operations at BHP, and was director of the Founder Institute and a state manager at the Australian Institute of Company Directors before that.
She remains a governor of the American Chamber of Commerce in Australia (AmCham) and a director of Pilbara Ports, the world’s largest bulk export port authority.
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