Ranger Biodiversity

Nau mai haere mai ki Te Papa Atawhai o Murihiku. Welcome to the Department of Conservation in Southland.
- Does the idea of working across a diverse landscape including coastal, island, forest and freshwater/wetland ecosystems appeal to you?
- Are you wanting diversity and a mix of field and office work?
- Do you thrive on planning, executing, delivering, and reporting on project work and seeing things through from start to finish?

Toitū te marae a Tāne, toitū te marae a Tangaroa, toitū te tangata
If the land is well and the sea is well, the people will thrive

At Te Papa Atawhai, Department of Conservation (DOC) we express our spirit of service and serve Aotearoa through our purpose, Papatūānuku Thrives. Our organisational strategy, Te Kaupapa a Te Papa Atawhai, puts nature and people at the heart of everything we do. It is anchored by te reo Māori and te ao Māori, recognising that Te Tiriti o Waitangi and our whānau, hapū and iwi are central to all our mahi.

He angitūtanga | About the role
As a Biodiversity Ranger you will be working across a range of workstreams with a balance between field and office work. Much of the time this is likely to be split 60% office and 40% field however this will vary across the year depending on our programmes of work. Working within the Operations team you will need to be adaptable and flexible; days may involve trapping, undertaking weed control, working on restoration projects, fencing, or working with species or responding to a wildlife call. Alternatively, you could be in the office working on contracts, planning work delivery, data capture, analysis, and reporting. You may also be required to work to support our other Operations colleagues in providing support to the Visitor and Heritage team or the Community team.
Our work is planned and delivered within structured frameworks so you will need to be adaptable to changing demands and reprioritisation of work. The role will also require you to be comfortable working within our various Departmental systems and operating requirements. Our Operations environment is dynamic and varied.

Ngā pūkenga me ngā wheako | Skills and experience
With your mix of office and practical skills, you will be a problem solver who can think on their feet when things do not go to plan and when there are multiple tasks on at the same time. You will enjoy being outdoors working on the whenua, knowing that the outcomes are not instant, but being rewarded with changes to the environment around you over time.
You may have experience working with whānau, hapū and iwi, and landowners and we would welcome people with great interpersonal and communications skills. The work requires our team to work collaboratively and for us to establish enduring relationships with colleagues and our local partners. You will ideally be comfortable working alone or within a team.
To support field delivery, you will ideally have some of the following:

- Current First Aid Certificate
- Current Growsafe Certificate
- Current Controlled Substance License
- Off track navigation and GPS skills
- Knowledge and/or experience in field delivery work
- Practical experience in pest control, threatened plants and animal populations would be an advantage
- 4x4 and LUV driving experience
- Strong Health and Safety focus

To support delivery of the office-based component of work you will be required to have the following:

- Data management and reporting/writing skills
- An understanding of logistics planning and project delivery
- An understanding or willingness to learn basic GIS and management of spatial information
- Be able to recognise opportunities and/or challenges within your work
- Be solutions focused and a desire to work with your team to surmount challenges
- Good interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence.

Mō te tīma | About the team
The Murihiku team currently have two positions available in our biodiversity team for hard-working team players. We are a small team of 6 rangers working amongst our other Operations colleagues with around 30 staff in the Operations team. We are co-located in Invercargill with a range of other internal DOC groups with up to 100 staff present at times in our office in Don Street. Our District is part of the wider Southern South Island Region, and we endeavour to work across our region to support our priority work. We work in partnership with tangata whenua in the management of lands and taonga species and have multiple strategic partnerships in action that support and enhance the conservation work that we do.

Mō Murihuku| About Southland
Murihiku is a diverse district covering alpine forests, lowland plains and a large coastal environment. The district is home to several iconic species including the nationally endangered mohua/yellowhead, long tailed bats, giant weta and numerous rare and threatened plants. The critically endangered NZ sealion and endangered yellow eyed penguin and two sub-populations of Hector's