Freshwater Planning Technical Director

**About the business and the role**

Do you believe you can make the world a better place?

SLR’s purpose is Making Sustainability Happen, which we achieve by having a team of experts who partner with our clients to tackle some of the world’s most complex sustainability Challenges

SLR is an international environmental consultancy with a globally recognised reputation for providing high quality tailored services. With close to 200 staff spanning the length of Aotearoa and an additional 800+ staff across Asia Pacific, we provide consultancy advice and support on a wide range of strategic and site-specific issues to a diverse and growing base of business, regulatory and governmental clients. We celebrate a ‘One Team Culture’, where bringing together diversity of thought and expression is key to building the best team to deliver excellent results.

A rare opportunity has arisen for a Technical Director - Planning with specialist freshwater policy and consenting expertise to join our Auckland Planning team. The key focus of this role is providing high quality strategic and technical planning advice to clients with a focus on natural resource management and three water infrastructure consent acquisition. As part of this role it is anticipated you will manage and collaborate on multi-disciplinary major freshwater policy and consenting projects across SLR and with other professionals. Your work will span across different geographical locations both within the public and private sector. On top of your technical delivery excellence, you will act as a mentor and provide professional support to other planners within the team, raising their capabilities along with SLR’s external profile.

**Responsibilities**

As a key member of the planning team you will be responsible for the following:

- High quality delivery and management of policy and consenting projects within the resource management freshwater sector.
- Being a trusted advisor to your clients on all aspects of the planning process.
- Leading client engagements, acting as the primary relationship owner throughout project lifecycles.
- Managing and delivering projects to meet time and budget expectations,
- Promoting a culture of collaboration and knowledge sharing across the SLR disciplines particularly our Hydrology and Hydrogeology Team and Ecology Team.
- Establishing strong working relationships with clients, other professionals and the team across SLR.
- Support and seek business development opportunities to ensure our business, teams, and people continue to grow, thrive, and achieve performance metrics.
- Working closely with the Auckland Planning Manager, Team Leaders and Technical Directors to manage resources and grow and develop the team.
- Undertaking technical and peer reviews of reports
- Staying updated with industry trends and best practices, participating in technical associations and forums.

**Skills and experience**

You will also possess the following skills:

- A professional qualification in resource management planning or other relevant degree.
- Obtained or working towards full NZPI membership.
- 15+ years' experience in planning and resource management
- Recognised as an industry expert within the resource management freshwater sector.
- Strong client relationship management skills.
- Experience as a mentor and coach to other consultants.
- Demonstrated experience working in multidisciplinary project teams.
- Strong commercial acumen and ability to support our client base.
- Effective communication with colleagues and clients.
- Proven track record of winning work, managing complex projects and achieving financial targets.
- Strong time management skills with the ability to manage multiple deliverables on competing timeframes.

**Our Benefits**

We are proud of our unique culture where we work together to collaborate on projects to get the best possible outcome for our clients. SLR supports flexible working arrangements as we recognise that every person is different, and our benefits aim to ensure that we cater for all.

You can find a comprehensive list **here.**

**Next Steps**

We make hiring decisions based on your experience, skills and passion. Please note that interviews are conducted with gender diverse interview panels to the best of our ability. When you apply, please tell us the pronouns you use and any reasonable adjustments you may need during the interview process.

Unsolicited resumes from recruitment consultants will not be accepted. You must be part of the preferred supplier agreement list which is coordinated through our Talent Acquisition team.