Senior Climate Transition lead

Watercare Services Limited; Auckland; On-site; NZD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Training and development opportunities

Life and income protection insurance

Generous parental leave

Employee discounts

Job summary

Watercare Services Limited seeks a strategic leader to head the Climate Transition efforts, guiding decarbonisation, resilience planning and climate disclosures across its assets and operations in Auckland. You will translate policy into actionable programmes, manage stakeholder engagement and drive measurable sustainability outcomes.

You'll lead cross‑functional teams, collaborate with senior leaders, and ensure climate initiatives are embedded in planning, budgeting and investment decisions,

Qualifications

• Degree in Engineering, Science or related discipline.
• 5+ years' experience developing or implementing climate transition plans or decarbonisation roadmaps.
• Strong knowledge of greenhouse gas accounting and emissions reduction planning.
• Experience assessing climate risks, resilience challenges and adaptation opportunities.
• Ability to communicate complex technical information to senior leaders and non-technical audiences.
• Proven experience working across multidisciplinary teams and building stakeholder relationships.
• Strong project leadership skills and track record of delivering strategic outcomes.
• Experience with climate disclosures or sustainable finance is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Lead the development and evolution of Watercare's Climate Transition Plan.
• Translate strategy into practical implementation pathways, milestones, and reporting frameworks.
• Drive decarbonisation and resource efficiency across operations and asset lifecycle activities.
• Support climate risk assessments, resilience planning, and adaptation initiatives.
• Embed climate transition requirements into business planning, investments, and asset management.
• Coordinate executive and Board reporting, disclosures, and sustainability performance reporting.
• Build organizational capability and influence stakeholders to drive climate action.
• Track and manage specialist consultants and delivery of key sustainability projects.

Skills

Climate transition planning

Stakeholder management

Strategic thinking

Executive communication

Project leadership

Decarbonisation

Education

Degree in Engineering, Science

Job description

He kōrero mō mātou | About Watercare Ki te ora te wai, ka ora te whenua, ka ora te tangata

When the water is healthy, the land and the people are healthy Now is an exciting time to join Watercare, we're planning to spend $14 billion over the next 10 years to ensure we can continue to support our growing city in a climate-resilient way. When you average that out, that's an investment of $3.8 million every day!

He whakamārama mō te tūranga mahi | About the role

This is a strategic and influential role where you'll help lead Watercare's transition to a low-emission, climate-resilient future. Working closely with the sustainability team and stakeholders across the business, you'll develop and implement climate transition initiatives that deliver meaningful and measurable outcomes.

• Leading the development and ongoing evolution of Watercare's Climate Transition Plan
• Translating strategy into practical implementation pathways, delivery plans, milestones and reporting frameworks
• Driving decarbonisation and resource efficiency initiatives across Watercare's operations and asset lifecycle activities
• Supporting climate risk assessments, resilience planning and adaptation initiatives across critical infrastructure and business activities
• Embedding climate transition requirements into business planning, investment decisions and asset management processes
• Coordinating executive and Board reporting, climate disclosures and sustainability performance reporting
• Building organisational capability and influencing stakeholders to drive climate action across the business
• Managing specialist consultants and supporting delivery of key sustainability projects and programmes.

Ngā pūkenga e rapu nei mātou | About you

We're looking for a strategic thinker who can navigate complexity, influence diverse stakeholders and turn ambitious climate goals into achievable programmes of work. You will bring:

• A degree in Engineering, Science or a related discipline
• At least 5 years' experience developing or implementing climate transition plans, decarbonisation roadmaps, adaptation strategies or similar programmes
• Strong knowledge of greenhouse gas accounting, emissions reduction planning and climate-related disclosures
• Experience assessing climate risks, resilience challenges and adaptation opportunities
• The ability to communicate complex technical information clearly to senior leaders and non-technical audiences
• Proven experience working across multidisciplinary teams and building strong stakeholder relationships
• Strong project leadership skills and a track record of delivering strategic outcomes
• Excellent written communication, reporting and presentation skills
• Ideally, you'll also bring experience within infrastructure, utilities, water, wastewater, environmental management or other complex asset-intensive environments.
• Experience working with climate disclosures, climate modelling, sustainable finance, or Te Tiriti-based approaches would be highly regarded.

Ngā hua mōu | What's in it for you

We offer a competitive salary and staff benefits package including:

• Training and development opportunities
• Life and income protection insurance plans
• Generous parental leave
• Employee discounts at a range of large retailers