Regional Conservation Officer

**_Do you want your work to make a difference for NSW?_**
- We work with private landowners to protect our state's natural capital_
- Regional Conservation Officer
- Ongoing full-time opportunity
- Queanbeyan or other BCT office location in the region by negotiation and availability
- Access to a range of flexible work arrangements including work from home in accordance with government requirements
- Salary ranges from $109,102 - $120,542 plus employer’s contribution to superannuation and annual leave loading.

**About the role**

We have an exciting opportunity to work as part of a regional team to work across the South East region and deliver on-ground private land conservation focussed programs. This includes:

- engage with private landholders that have entered into, or are seeking to enter into, conservation agreements on private land
- act as the primary contact for assigned landholders and provide landholder support including site visits, technical advice about biodiversity management and BCT programs, agreement monitoring and auditing, and facilitating access to funding
- annually review a range of conservation agreements (including Biodiversity Stewardship Agreements (BSA), Offset Conservation Agreements and other Conservation Agreements that receive annual payments) and support landholders to deliver their agreement obligations
- conduct field and desktop assessments of land and biodiversity assets; use spatial tools and software to enter spatial information and produce maps for inclusion in agreements; contribute technical and/or ecological knowledge to assist landholders develop and/or deliver management plans for conservation agreements
- conduct ecological monitoring (primarily vegetation assessment)
- collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to deliver BCT programs, delivery mechanisms, projects and partnerships
- Support a range of other work including: BCT program delivery, managing projects and partnerships as well as stakeholder engagement, education, communication, conservation assessment and agreement management.

**About you**

You have a passion for the environment, natural resource management and strong customer service skills as this role requires you to serve your local community by communicating BCT program information to private landholders and delivering it on the ground.

**Essential requirements**
- Relevant tertiary qualification and/or experience in natural resource management or biodiversity conservation or ecology
- Demonstrated ability to use Geographical Information Systems software to develop, manage, query and display spatial data relevant to property level management plans
- Experience identifying vegetation communities within the region and flora identification skills
- A current Australian Class C driver’s licence and willingness to travel

For more information on the role, read the Regional Conservation Officer role description.

**Who we are**

The Biodiversity Conservation Trust is a small, focussed agency with a clear statutory mission and functions. We manage over 2,500 existing long-term agreements with landholders by actively supporting them to protect biodiversity on their land, and we have funded strategies to grow private land conservation. We have an important statutory role as part of delivering conservation outcomes under the NSW Biodiversity Offsets Scheme.

We are a group of friendly and motivated staff delivering high-integrity biodiversity outcomes in NSW, under the direction of a strong statutory Board. A majority of staff are regionally based, and we value respectful, collaborative culture internally and with our stakeholders.

In our inclusive and accessible organisation and workplaces across the state, differences are embraced, contributions are valued, and everyone has a sense of connection and belonging. We support various employee affinity groups, practice flexible working, offer job share and workplace adjustments.

**Participation in the NSW Biodiversity Offsets Scheme (BOS) and the BCT’s private land conservation (PLC) programs**

The successful applicant for this role will be required to declare any conflict of interests related to the Biodiversity Offsets Scheme, as defined in the Biodiversity Offsets Scheme Conflict of Interests Protocol. This ensures the department is made aware of potential conflicts of interest so they can be appropriately managed.

Where an applicant has a high-risk “defined interest” in the Biodiversity Offsets Scheme, they may be required to divest this interest before being employed by the department.

**If you think you might have a conflict of interest related to the scheme, or you are unsure, please discuss this with the hiring manager.**

The department is committed to protecting the public interest and public trust in the exercise of its functions. These values, together with transparency and accountability, are integral to the administration of the Biodiversity Offsets Scheme. For more informatio