Senior Environmental Scientist

Watercare; Auckland; On-site; NZD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Training and development opportunities

Life and income protection insurance

Generous parental leave

Employee discounts

Job summary

Watercare is seeking a Senior Environmental Scientist in Auckland to lead complex consent work and environmental monitoring. You will steer compliance programs, investigate incidents, and drive practical solutions across operations to protect water quality and the environment.

You will engage with communities, mentor colleagues, and apply your data analysis skills to inform regulatory reporting and strategic improvements.

Qualifications

• Honours degree in environmental science or related field.
• Around 6+ years' experience in environmental science or management.
• Strong knowledge of monitoring, compliance frameworks and data analysis.
• Ability to break down complex issues into practical solutions.
• Confident in engaging, influencing and collaborating with stakeholders.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, with report-writing experience.
• Apply and share environmental data analysis skills, including R.
• Support restoration and environmental enhancement initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Take ownership of resource consent compliance for complex operations.
• Lead environmental monitoring and reporting programmes.
• Investigate non-compliances to identify root causes and solutions.
• Respond to environmental incidents with investigations and stakeholder delivery.
• Use scientific expertise to strengthen capability across Watercare.
• Lead or contribute to environmental improvement initiatives.
• Engage with local communities to build trust and communicate performance.
• Act as a trusted advisor across the business and mentor others.

Skills

Environmental science

Data analysis

Stakeholder engagement

Environmental monitoring

Regulatory compliance

Statistical tools

Education

Honours degree in environmental science

Tools

R

Excel

Job description

Jora New Zealand will close on 16th September 2026. Thank you for being with us, we are cheering you on as you continue your career journey.

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!

Join Watercare and play a key role in protecting and improving Auckland's environment. As a Senior Environmental Scientist, you'll work on some of our most complex and high‑impact consents, including Māngere and Rosedale, where your expertise will directly influence environmental outcomes for our communities.

This is an opportunity to step into a role where you'll lead meaningful work, deepen your technical capability, and help shape how we deliver sustainable water services for the future.

In this role, you will:

• Take ownership of resource consent compliance for complex operations, proactively identifying risks and helping ensure we consistently meet regulatory requirements
• Lead environmental monitoring and reporting programmes, giving you visibility of environmental performance and the opportunity to influence decision-making
• Investigate non‑compliances, getting to the root cause and developing practical, long‑term solutions that reduce environmental impact
• Respond to environmental incidents, leading investigations and working with stakeholders to deliver effective and transparent outcomes.
• Use your scientific expertise to strengthen capability across Watercare, contributing to research, innovation, and improved environmental understanding
• Lead or contribute to environmental improvement initiatives that support sustainability and operational excellence
• Engage with local communities, helping build trust through clear communication about environmental performance
• Act as a trusted advisor across the business, sharing your expertise and mentoring others

You're an experienced environmental professional who enjoys solving complex problems and making a tangible difference. You bring both technical expertise and the ability to connect with people‑whether that’s influencing stakeholders, presenting to communities, or working collaboratively across teams.

To set you up for success, you'll bring:

• A relevant honours degree (or higher) in environmental science, environmental engineering, or a related field
• Around 6+ years' experience in environmental science or management (we're open to a range of backgrounds and experiences)
• Strong knowledge of environmental monitoring, compliance frameworks, and data analysis
• The ability to break down complex environmental issues and turn them into practical, actionable solutions
• Confidence engaging, influencing, and collaborating with a wide range of stakeholders
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including experience presenting and writing technical reports
• Apply and share technical expertise in environmental data analysis, including statistical tools (e.g. R)
• Support restoration and environmental enhancement initiatives, including through the application of restoration ecology principles.

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