TRAINEE ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING SCIENTIST - HYDROLOGY

About us:

We want more good people to come and do great things with us.

We love where we live. That’s why we work so hard to look after our region and the people who live and work in the Waikato region.

Customers sit at the heart of everything we do, and all staff have an important role to play in the delivery of exceptional customer service.

Our work is as diverse as the region we care for; from the tip of the Coromandel Peninsula to the slopes of Ruapehu. We’ve got ambitious goals and there are some tricky issues, but that’s what makes it so interesting.

Looking for flexible ways of working options, at Waikato Regional Council we are committed to working more creatively to ‘get work done’ in a way that is of mutual benefit to you, the organisation and our communities.

About you:

Have you just left school or university with either good results in maths and science or an environmental science related degree? Do you have a passion for the environment and you’re looking for a career that helps to protect it?

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. Whether you have no prior hydrology experience or many years we can accommodate you in the programme. A combination of in-house and classroom training will help you gain the knowledge to undertake the Diploma in Field Hydrology, required for this role. All training, PPE and tools are provided by WRC.

Qualifications:

• 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

Experience:

• None required

About the role:

You will join the Hydrology team at the WRC. You will be collecting river 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).

This position is permanent and full time.

At Waikato Regional Council we require all new staff to be fully vaccinated for COVID 19. If you are successfully appointed to the role you have applied for conditions of employment include that you provide evidence of your full vaccination status and provide ongoing evidence of your full vaccination status as required.