The Environment, Heritage and Planning Division is responsible for building resilience in the landscape, preserving the ACT’s heritage, and achieving long-term nature conservation outcomes. We aim to lead the Territory through promoting liveability and wellness and ensuring sustainability. The Division develops, administers and oversees implementation of several key environmental and conservation strategies, policies and plans to support the environment and industry.

The Office of Nature Conservation within the Environment, Heritage and Planning Group brings together policy, science, and data expertise to accelerate unified thinking and action to respond to the immense conservation challenges facing the ACT. The team focuses on an outcomes-based philosophy to guide and inform on-ground conservation efforts undertaken by ACT Parks and Conservation Services, ACT Natural Resource Management, volunteer environmental partners and the community.

The Canberra Grassland Earless Dragon has been recently uplisted to Critically Endangered under the ACT Nature Conservation Act 2014. A part of an ACT Government proactive response, a Program Leader position has been established to ensure the delivery of coordinated emergency action for the recovery of this species. The Canberra Grassland Earless Dragon Program Leader will work collaboratively with a wide variety of operational and policy teams across the Environment, Heritage and Planning Group and external stakeholders to progress implementation of the new ACT Action Plan for the Canberra Grassland Earless Dragon 2024-2034.

We are committed to creating an inclusive environment where people with diverse thoughts, lived experience, and perspectives can thrive and contribute their unique talents to the ACTPS and ACT community. We encourage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people with disability, people with culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, veterans, younger and older workers, and people with diverse genders, sexes and sexualities to apply.

Eligibility/ Other Requirements:

To be eligible for this temporary position you must be in Australia on a visa with work rights or be an Australian citizen or permanent resident.

Other Mandatory Requirements:

• Tertiary qualifications in ecology, environmental science, environmental management, political ecology, or related relevant discipline.
• At least three years' experience working in a government, non-profit, university or other setting and holding responsibilities to deliver a program of work with strong relevance to threatened species recovery.

Highly Desirable:

• Post-graduate qualifications in ecology or a similar discipline.
• Knowledge of government processes, structures, legislation, policy, and priorities relevant to nature conservation and management in the ACT.
• Knowledge of Canberra Grassland Earless Dragon ecology

Note: This is a temporary position available 23 September 2024 to 18 September 2026 with the possibility of extension and/or permanency. An order of merit will be established from this selection process and may be used to fill future identical vacancies over the next 12 months. Please note, this position operates under a hybrid working arrangement which includes activity-based working (ABW). Under ABW arrangements, officers do not have a designated workstation/desk.