Principal Ecologist / Team Leader

SLR Consulting; Wellington; On-site; NZD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

SLR Consulting's Ecology team in Wellington seeks a Principal/Team Lead Ecologist to provide inspirational leadership across Wellington and Nelson offices. You will coach senior staff, build a high-performing team and drive business development to grow the practice while delivering technically excellent work for clients.

You will lead multidisciplinary projects across sectors, manage client relationships and supervise fieldwork, reporting, and risk assessments, ensuring compliance with NZ

Qualifications

• Degree in Ecology, Marine Science or related field.
• 12–15+ years in Ecology or Marine Science with senior expertise.
• NZ citizenship or rights to work in NZ; valid driver's license.

Responsibilities

• Provide inspirational leadership to Wellington and Nelson offices and coach staff.
• Win work and develop business for ecology team; grow the practice.
• Deliver technically excellent reports and supervise fieldwork and risk assessments.
• Coordinate multidisciplinary projects and client relationships across sectors.

Skills

Ecology expertise

Team leadership

Business development

Project management

Report writing

Stakeholder engagement

NZ environmental legislation knowledge

Driving license

Education

Degree in Ecology or Marine Science

Job description

About the Business and the Role

Do you believe you can make the world a better place? SLR’s purpose is Making Sustainability Happen, which we achieve by having a team of expert advisors and technicians who partner with our clients to tackle some of the world’s most complex sustainability challenges. SLR is an international environmental consultancy with a globally recognised reputation for providing high quality tailored services. With over 1000 staff in Asia Pacific alone and nearly 200 spanning the length of New Zealand, we provide consultancy advice and support on a wide range of strategic and site‑specific issues to a diverse and growing base of business, regulatory and governmental clients. We celebrate a ‘One Team Culture’, where bringing together diversity of thought and expression is key to building the best team to deliver excellent results.

Key Opportunity

A great opportunity has come up for a Principal/Team Lead Ecologist to join our Ecology team in Wellington. This role will provide inspirational and empowering leadership to our people in both our Wellington and Nelson Offices. Key focuses will be the development and coaching of senior employees, building a high performing team; business development to ensure our business and team continue to grow and thrive; as well as technical excellence to ensure our team delivers technically excellent work to our clients.

Job Tasks and Responsibilities

Your responsibilities will include:

• Bringing with you an established network and proven ability to win work will be highly advantageous
• Delivering clear and precise, high quality reports
• Undertaking fieldwork activities and resourcing the right teams on projects
• Developing, facilitating and enhancing effective relationships with our clients and internal SLR team members
• Working within multidisciplinary teams to deliver projects across a range of sectors

Skills and Experience

To be successful in this role, you will need:

• A degree in Ecology, Marine Science or a related field
• Demonstrated consulting experience with 12-15+ years in Ecology or Marine Science and ideally as an expert who has exceptional technical ability in terrestrial/freshwater ecology
• Demonstrated experience winning, leading and managing projects
• Experience in preparing impact assessments and environmental risk assessments
• Working knowledge of New Zealand environmental legislation and policies, standards and guidelines
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• New Zealand Citizenship or rights to work in New Zealand
• Excellent driving history and hold a current driver’s license

Benefits

We are proud of our unique culture where we work together to collaborate on projects to get the best possible outcome for our clients. Whether you’re working in the office, from home or a mix of the two, we recognise that every person is different, and our benefits aim to ensure that we cater for all. You can find a comprehensive list here.

Equal Employment Opportunity

We make hiring decisions based on your experience, skills and passion. Interviews are conducted with gender diverse interview panels to the best of our ability. When you apply, please tell us the pronouns you use and any reasonable adjustments you may need during the interview process.