Senior Environmental Scientist

Watercare Services Limited; Auckland; On-site; NZD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Training and development opportunities

Life and income protection insurance

Generous parental leave

Employee discounts at a range of large

Job summary

Watercare Services Limited in Auckland seeks a Senior Environmental Scientist to lead complex consents and environmental programs that affect our communities. You will own consent compliance for complex operations, supervise environmental monitoring, and drive reporting to improve outcomes.

You will investigate non-compliances, lead incident investigations, and apply your scientific expertise to strengthen Watercare’s capability and sustainability initiatives across the business, mentoring teams

Qualifications

• Honours degree in environmental science or engineering.
• Around 6+ years’ experience in environmental science or management.
• Strong knowledge of environmental monitoring and compliance.
• Ability to translate complex environmental issues into practical solutions.
• Confident engaging, influencing and collaborating with stakeholders.
• Strong written and verbal communication and technical report writing.
• Experience applying environmental data analysis tools, including R.

Responsibilities

• Take ownership of resource consent compliance for complex operations, proactively identifying risks and helping ensure regulatory requirements are met.
• Lead environmental monitoring and reporting programmes to track performance and inform decisions.
• Investigate non-compliances, identify root causes, and develop long-term mitigations.
• Respond to environmental incidents, lead investigations and collaborate with stakeholders for transparent outcomes.
• Use scientific expertise to strengthen capability across Watercare through research and innovation.
• Lead or contribute to environmental improvement initiatives supporting sustainability.
• Engage with local communities to build trust through clear communication on performance.
• Act as a trusted advisor across the business, mentoring others.

Skills

Environmental monitoring

Data analysis

Stakeholder engagement

Technical reporting

Education

Honours degree in environmental science or environmental engineering

Tools

R

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

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

Ngā pūkenga e rapu nei mātou | About you

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.

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