The Role

Do you have a passion for environmental management and want to make a real difference? Do you want to contribute to national Defence and environmental initiatives and outcomes at a local operational level?

The Department of Defence is currently looking for enthusiastic senior environmental management professionals to join our South Australia and Victoria teams (with future vacancies in Northern Territory and North Queensland) to provide expert environmental advice and support to local Defence outcomes and activities.

These are operational support roles with a strong focus on stakeholder engagement and partnering. This is your chance to play a key role in the implementation of national Defence and environmental policies, plans and initiatives at a local level and to work on diverse issues from contamination to heritage, biodiversity to biosecurity, and environmental assessments and approvals.

In this role, you will be the local lead for practical operational level environmental advice and support, with a focus on stakeholder engagement and partnering. You will undertake and contribute to complex environmental work and outcomes that help ensure Defence outcomes and activities are managed, sustainable and compliant. You will be responsible for local environment management outcomes and advice including policy interpretation across diverse environmental and heritage disciplines. You will collaborate with a variety of teams and stakeholders including military and industry partners. You may also manage a small team of local environmental and sustainability professional.

In this role, you will have access to unique environmental work, sites and experiences that are not commonly found within other environmental roles or industry sectors. This role will also provide the ability to diversify, develop and expand your professional environmental management knowledge, skill set and experience. Whilst primarily office-based, this role includes occasional on-site work and travel to non-metropolitan regional and remote Defence operational sites.

If you are someone who enjoys working within a dynamic and fast-paced workplace on a wide variety of issues and outcomes, has proven experience in environmental management and engagement, and wants to contribute to environmental outcomes at an operational level we would love to hear from you.

About our Team

As the largest Commonwealth land owner, with a 3 million-hectare portfolio consisting of more than 1000 owned and leases properties, the Department of Defence operates across many sites with nationally significant environment and heritage values.

To support Defence with its environmental and heritage management outcomes and obligations, a network of local Environment and Sustainability teams are located across Australia. These Environment and Sustainability teams provide professional environmental management advice to internal and external stakeholders in support of Defence outcomes, activities and sites. The teams work within a national environmental management framework and directly contribute to Australian Governmental initiatives and commitments such as Net-Zero. The teams have an operational and stakeholder engagement focus and undertakes work that matters.

The Environment and Sustainability teams works across all aspects of environmental management including environmental assessments and approvals, compliance, pollution prevention, contamination, heritage, biodiversity, biosecurity, and sustainability. The teams are made up of a diverse and skilled workforce who operate as a collaborative professional network to achieve Defence environmental management outcomes.

Working within the Environment and Sustainability team provides access to environmental work, sites and experiences unique to Defence and not commonly found within other environmental roles or industry sectors. It also provides the ability to greatly diversify, develop and expand your professional environmental management knowledge, skill set and experience as part of your role and responsibilities.

Our Ideal Candidate

Our ideal candidate will enjoy working in a dynamic and fast-paced workplace on a wide variety of issues and outcomes, and will have the following characteristics:

• A senior environmental management professional experienced in complex and operational environmental management issues and outcomes and with sound knowledge across environment, heritage and sustainability related disciplines;
• A senior environmental management professional experienced in provision of clear advice and guidance, policy interpretation and operating within a policy and legislative framework;
• A capable leader with stakeholder engagement experience, who will lead and guide others to ensure environmental management in accordance with Defence environmental policies, procedures and Commonwealth legislation;
• An excellent communicator, who genuinely focuses on developing and maintaining positive and effective relationships to generate results and can communicate effectively across diverse stakeholders;
• An excellent relationship builder, who can build and maintain relationships with stakeholders from all levels to communicate Defence’s environment management requirements;
• An excellent collaborator, who can work collaboratively across a geographically dispersed team to deliver Defence environmental management outcomes and build team knowledge;
• An ability to manage multiple issues with effective time management and prioritisation;
• A motivated and collaborative team leader and team member who contributes to a positive organisational and team culture, who will share their knowledge and innovative ideas with others to help problem solve and generate results, and who is eager to learn and grow;
• Experience in leading and managing a small team;
• Experience in the use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and associated spatial data;
• Tertiary qualifications in an environment management / science discipline or a related field or equivalent experience; and
• Class C drivers licence.

Application Closing Date: Thursday 15 May, 2025

For further information please review the job information pack, reference SEG/02546/25 on https://defencecareers.nga.net.au/?jati=CDE7571A-8E2B-BFD1-B406-E3C268C4FE81.