Ranger/project Lead, Biodiversity

Are you a critical thinker with a broad range of experience planning and delivering conservation programmes?
- Run world-class conservation programmes alongside a motivated and high-performing team
- Live in a friendly community on the doorstep of the spectacular Fiordland National Park
- Permanent, full-time role based in Te Anau, with a team culture that embraces flexible working

We would love to hear what your unique skills and passions are and how they could fit into our team.

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

Te Papa Atawhai, Department of Conservation (DOC) serves to protect and sustain nature across Aotearoa. We put nature and people at the heart of our mahi, guided by te reo Māori, te ao Māori and Te Tiriti o Waitangi. We do this by:

- Protecting land, species, ecosystems, and cultural heritage for conservation purposes
- Managing threats and adverse impacts
- Being a voice for conservation
- Connecting people to nature

He angitūtanga | About the role
The six Project Lead positions in our team have a high salary potential and reflect the complexity of the projects that we run. As a Project Lead, you will manage budgets, complete regular wildlife monitoring, and be involved in big-picture planning with Senior Rangers. Our current Project Leads enjoy the autonomy to manage their own programmes in collaboration with Senior Rangers and Supervisors.

**As a Project Lead, your work will be focused on**:

- Overseeing conservation programmes in Fiordland National Park
- A mixture of project management and hands-on fieldwork
- A variety of projects focused on threatened species protection (vegetation, birds, bats, lizards, and invertebrates)
- Contract management including planning, delivery, and reporting of operational projects
- Contributing to the long-term planning and strategic thinking of biodiversity conservation in Fiordland

**The outgoing Project Lead is responsible for**:

- Running a short-tailed bat monitoring programme in the Eglinton Valley, including large scale predator control
- Running conservation programmes on Fiordland sanctuary islands (Chalky and Preservation Inlets)

Having a large team gives us the flexibility to tailor work according to your specific skillset and experience. If you're unsure whether this role is right for you, please get in touch or go ahead and apply.

Ngā pūkenga me ngā wheako | Skills and experience
We are looking for the right person to fit into our dynamic and collaborative team. Maintaining a positive team culture is one of our top priorities.
If you have the following attributes, we are keen to hear from you:

- Critical thinker with ability plan and deliver complex conservation programmes
- A broad range of biodiversity field experience, including in species management
- Great initiative and self-drive
- Excellent interpersonal and relationship building skills, with the ability to lead and deliver successfully in collaboration with internal and external groups (tangata whenua, trusts, and local businesses)
- Competent working in the bush (navigation, GPS use, travelling off-track)
- A tertiary qualification, or equivalent experience and achievements, in conservation/ecology/biology
- Current full driver license

**Desirable**:

- Experience planning and delivering pest control operations to protect threatened species

Mō te tīma | About the team
We are a team of motivated and high performing biodiversity rangers who enjoy each other's company and a collaborative work environment. We have 15 permanent staff including six Project Leads, four Senior Rangers, two Supervisors and several field Ranger positions. In summer, we usually employ an additional 3-4 seasonal field rangers to support our peak season. A large part of our fieldwork is delivered by external contractors, for example, an extensive trapping programme in the Murchison Mountains.
One of the most desirable things about working on our team is the huge range of projects and geographical areas we work in. This gives everyone an opportunity to be involved in a wide variety of work. Our team delivers conservation work across Fiordland, including:

- Predator control and monitoring (on offshore islands such as Resolution and Chalky, Eglinton Valley and around Lake Hauroko)
- Threatened species monitoring and management (bats, kākā, lizards, invertebrates, rodents, marine mammals)
- Marine monitoring (Undaria, dolphins, whales, marine reserves)
- Ecosystem restoration (Murchison Mountains, Waitutu, Resolution and Secretary Islands)
- Weed/invasive species control (Mavora Lakes, Big Bay, Eglinton, Clinton and Arthur Valleys)
- Infrastructure maintenance (such as huts and tracks used by the biodiversity team)

We're proud to have a culture of flexible working, including adapting our hours and location of work. We enjoy the autonomy and trust to work on our own projects. People in our