Principal Ecologist

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 expert advisors and technicians, 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 over 1000 staff in Asia Pacific alone and nearly 200 spanning the length of New Zealand, 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 great opportunity has come up for a Principal Consultant to join our Ecology & Marine Science team.  Based out of the Wellington office, this role will provide inspirational and empowering leadership to our people.  Key focuses will be the development and coaching of senior employees, building a high performing team; business development to ensure our business and team continue to grow and thrive; as well as technical excellence to ensure our team delivers technically excellent work to our clients. 

Job tasks and responsibilities
Your responsibilities will include:

•    Bringing with you an established network and proven ability to win work will be highly advantageous

•    Delivering clear and precise, high quality reports

•    Undertaking fieldwork activities and resourcing the right teams on projects 

•    Developing, facilitating and enhancing effective relationships with our clients and internal SLR team members

•    Working within multidisciplinary teams to deliver projects across a range of sectors

Skills and experience
To be successful in this role, you will need:

•    A degree in Ecology, Marine Science or a related field

•    Demonstrated consulting experience with years in Ecology or Marine Science and ideally as an expert who has exceptional technical ability in terrestrial/freshwater ecology

•    Demonstrated experience winning, leading and managing projects

•    Experience in preparing impact assessments and environmental risk assesments

•    Working knowledge of New Zealand environmental legislation and policies, standards and guidelines

•    Excellent written and verbal communication skills

•    New Zealand Citizenship or rights to work in New Zealand

•    Excellent driving history and hold a current driver's license

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. Whether you're working in the office, from home or a mix of the two, 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.

So, if this sounds like the ideal environment for you, come and join us For more information or to have a confidential discussion please contact Jaden Pine-Murphy via email at

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.