Lead Ecologist

Company Description

At AECOM, we’re delivering a better world.

We believe infrastructure creates opportunity for everyone. Whether it’s improving your commute, keeping the lights on, providing access to clean water or transforming skylines, our work helps people and communities thrive.

Our clients trust us to bring together the best people, ideas, technical expertise and digital solutions to our work in transportation, buildings, water, the environment and new energy. We’re one global team - 47,000 strong - driven by a common purpose to deliver a better world.

Here, you will have freedom to grow in a world of opportunity.

We will give you the flexibility you need to do your best work with hybrid work options. Whether you’re working from an AECOM office, remote location or at a client site, you will be working in a dynamic environment where your integrity, entrepreneurial spirit and pioneering mindset are championed.

You will help us foster a culture of equity, diversity and inclusion - a safe and respectful workplace, where we invite everyone to bring their whole selves to work using their unique talents, backgrounds and expertise to create transformational outcomes for our clients.

We will encourage you to grow and develop your career with us through our technical and professional development programs and diverse career opportunities. We believe in leadership at all levels. No matter where you sit in the organization you can make a lasting impact on the projects you work on, the teams and committees you join and our business.

We offer competitive pay and benefits, well-being programs to support you and your family, and the development resources you need to advance your career.

When you join us, you will connect and collaborate with a global network of experts - planners, designers, engineers, scientists, consultants, program and construction managers - leading the change toward a more sustainable and equitable future. Join us and let’s get started.

**Job Description**:
As Lead Ecologist you will drive strategic growth, technical excellence and innovation in ecological assessments and management planning for exciting transport, energy and future-fuels projects.

Contribute your knowledge, skills and experience in fauna, flora and ecological communities, ecosystems and/or landscape function to multidisciplinary assessments informing planning, design and approval processes for high profile projects. This role will see you managing and coordinating workload, providing technical review and advice regarding best practice ecology principles - particularly targeted survey methods, significant impact assessments and mitigation such as fauna passage and biodiversity offset requirements.

This is a technical leadership role with potential for a combination of field and office-based work. In a high-performing team focused on growth, you will find an opportunity to deliver ecological services in ways you enjoy most. Choose focus areas such as strategic planning, technical advisory, project management, field practice, impact assessment, management planning or navigating approval pathways.

As a Lead Ecologist, you will support our Queensland-based team to deliver robust strategic assessments while working collaboratively with our national practice group and industry expertise from around the world to help solve our clients most pressing challenges. Embrace new ideas such as remote sensing and digital solutions to realise efficiencies and help our clients address current and future challenges. As a natural communicator and passionate leader, you value the opportunity to guide and mentor a growing team of professionals, with a focus on technical excellence in client service and project delivery.

Job Responsibilities

+ Support the delivery of consulting projects, including in the areas of ecological surveys, significant impact assessments, offsets planning and nature-based solutions

+ Lead technical teams in the development and delivery of desktop and field-based ecological assessments

+ Lead strategic impact assessment and management planning for State and Commonwealth approvals

+ Lead and/or manage field-based ecological surveys, including ground-truthing regional ecosystem mapping and BioCondition assessments, threatened species surveys (flora and fauna) and rehabilitation monitoring

+ Provide technical ecological advice and strategic planning for impact assessment and approvals across a diverse range of projects and environmental services

+ Prepare and review of technical reporting, including constraints studies, impact assessments, management plans, offset strategies and environmental impact statements

+ Uphold positive and beneficial relationships with clients, contractors, government agencies, service providers and staff

+ Prepare proposals and ecology-related inputs for tenders or other business development activities

+ Contribute to professional development of ecologists within the ec