Environmental Monitoring Scientist - Hydrologist and Trainee Hydrologist

Are you interested in a great opportunity to be out measuring river flows and being at the forefront of environmental monitoring?

Do you have field hydrology monitoring experience and would like a new challenge?

or

Have you just left school or university with either good results in maths and science or an environmental science related degree?

or

Have trade, electrical or mechanical experience and wish to try a new career?

We are open to someone new to hydrology (Trainee hydrologist) or a person with experience (hydrologist).

Trainee Hydrologist

Waikato regional Council (WRC) have developed a trainee hydrologist pathway that provides an opportunity for people with the right skills and aptitude to become qualified on the job. A combination of in-house and classroom training will help you gain the knowledge to undertake theDiploma in Field Hydrology, required for this role. All training, PPE and tools are provided by WRC.

Hydrologist

Purpose of role: To support the Team Leader to deliver the work programme for the Hydrology team and provide technical expertise to support the work of the team and their learning. Typically more than 2 years hydrology experience.

The Role:

The position is in the Hydrology team at WRC. You will be collecting river level and flow, rainfall and sediment data from our instruments. You need to methodically and accurately collect data using a range of different electronic and mechanical instrumentation, in all weathers. The role requires you to maintain the equipment, sites and telemetry systems used to collect the data. You will be based in Hamilton, but our sites cover the whole of the Waikato and will involve some overnight stays – one day you could be in the Coromandel, the next in Taupō, the King Country or Raglan.

Although there is a lot of physically demanding fieldwork, all our data needs to be processed and quality checked in the office so being IT literate is a must along with an aptitude for maths and physics. You will need to process data in the office in a timely and accurate manner following set procedures. Your systems and data knowledge will enable you to identify issues with the data or equipment and propose solutions to fix the problems.

Health and safety is at the forefront of everything we do at WRC, whether working on your own, or as part of a team. You will utilise your field knowledge to collect data safely and offer suggestions to improve the safety and efficiency of our sites. Our health and safety training also covers survival and rescue in swift water, therefore you will need to be a capable swimmer(competency testing will be undertaken).

Applicants for this position should:

• Have NZ residency or a valid NZ work visa

• Have a restricted NZ Drivers licence and a Full licence within 1 year – able to drive a manual vehicle

• Be in good physical health and a capable swimmer

• Enjoy being part of a team

• Have great communication skills

• Be able to use their initiative

• Be competent and focused on identifying health and safety issues

• Take pride in their workmanship

Is Hydrology new to you and you are wondering what a Hydrologist does? The following links provide an indication of some of the tasks you will be carrying out (this is just a subset of what you will be required to do).

Inspecting a Water Level Site

(8) Basic Site Inspection Method - YouTube

Inspecting a Rain Gauge Site

(8) Rain Gauge Site Check - YouTube

Measuring water flow in a river 

(8) ADCP StreamPro Gauging & Moving Bed Tests - YouTube

The salary ranges for the position are listed below, appointment within the range will depend on the qualifications and experience of the successful candidate:

Trainee Hydrologist: $48,450 - $76,500

Hydrologist: $68,850 – $87,975