Senior Surface Water Scientist

About the opportunity| Ko te āheinga:

Join us at the Hawkes Bay Regional Council where you can apply your skills in hydrology whilst experiencing one of New Zealand’s warmest and driest regions. We’re looking for a Senior Surface Water Scientist to join the Environmental Science Section. This role is responsible for developing Council’s surface water programs and providing strategic direction to surface water management in Hawke’s Bay. If you are passionate about hydrology and want to make a positive difference, this could be your opportunity!   

In this role you will | I tenei mahi ka mahi koe:

• Develop and manage surface water programs to assist with setting limits and provide strategic direction for managing surface water resources in Hawke’s Bay.
• Undertake desktop and field investigations to assist with understanding the impacts caused by resource use.
• Produce technical reports and present findings.
• Procure contractors, manage budgets and, co-ordinate and mentor staff.
• Provide advice to a range of audiences, including providing expert evidence in relation to hearings and enforcement proceedings when required.

About you | E pā ana ki a koe:

Successful candidates will demonstrate:

• Experience with the design of surface water flow programs to assist with setting environmental flows.
• Familiarisation with Instream habitat survey methods and models used to determine the relationship between flows and fish habitat in New Zealand waters.
• The ability to critically assess the impacts of various stresses on instream values such as aquatic life, flow variability, and stream morphology.
• A thorough understanding of the broad suite of hydrological statistics and experience deriving these metrics.

Candidates will ideally demonstrate (but not essential):

• Knowledge of the recent developments in New Zealand’s management of water resources, including the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management and the limit-setting process. 
• An understanding of the complex interactions with surface water and groundwater, and the methods available to quantify and investigate the resulting physical and chemical changes. 
• Proven experience with programming languages such as, but not limited to, R, Python, and FORTRAN for data manipulation, analysis and statistical computing will be highly regarded.
• Experience with the design and use of rainfall runoff/catchment models such as SWAT or SOURCE.

What we offer | Nga huanga mōu:

The salary range for the Senior Surface Water Scientist role is between $102,870 to $114,300. This will depend on the qualifications and experience of the successful candidate. Other benefits of working for our team include a supportive and encouraging working environment, flu vaccinations, and other well-being initiatives. HBRC also has a strong commitment to developing and upskilling people within a flexible and supportive working environment. To see a full list of our benefits please visit our website: https://www.hbrc.govt.nz/our-council/careers/working-with-us/. All applicants must have existing rights to work in New Zealand.

How to apply | I pēhea ki te whakauru:

To view the job description please click here.

 We may be interviewing suitable candidates prior to the closing date and may close the role early.

 Please apply via SEEK.

About us | E pā ki a mātou:

At Hawke’s Bay Regional Council our purpose is to work with our community to protect and manage the region’s precious taonga of rivers, lakes, soils, air, coast and biodiversity for health, wellbeing and connectivity. Our organisation is diverse, and our work is varied. Our structure comprises of six key business units; Corporate Services, Integrated Catchment Management, Asset Management, Māori Partnerships, Policy & Regulation, and the Executive Advisory Group which also consists of the Civil Defence and Emergency Management.

We focus on prioritising:

Te kounga o te wai, te haumarutanga me te mārohirohi ā-āhuarangi o te whakamarutanga | Water quality, safety and climate-resilient security.  

Kia koi, kia toitū hoki te whakamahinga o te whenua | Climate-smart and sustainable land use. 

Kia ora, kia āhei, kia mārohirohi ā-āhuarangi hoki te rerenga rauropi | Healthy, functioning and climate-resilient biodiversity. 

Kia toitū, kia mārohirohi ā-āhuarangi hoki ngā ratonga me ngā hanganga ā-whare | Sustainable and climate-resilient services and infrastructure. 

28 March 2023

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