Location: Near Shelford, VIC (Approx. 45 mins from Geelong & Ballarat, 90 mins from Melbourne)

Employment Type: Full-Time

Accommodation: Available on-site (Shearers' quarters) if needed but priority given to Geelong/Ballarat/regional locations.

About Us

Warrambeen is a large, historic, family-run farm near Shelford, breeding high-quality Merino sheep and Angus cattle alongside seasonal cropping activities. Deeply committed to environmental stewardship, we actively protect and manage a large area (~930ha) of high-quality remnant native grasslands (Victorian Volcanic Plains). These areas hold extreme environmental value, and we are seeking a dedicated professional to help us protect and maintain these vital ecological offsets from invasive weeds and environmental threats.

Position Overview

As a core member of our full-time team, you will assist in maintaining and restoring our high-quality native flora and fauna offsets. This role is designed as a 2IC position, with a clear long-term pathway to step up and take full responsibility for all offset operations across the property.

During this coming seasons, you will step into a leadership role, supervising and coordinating small teams of casual staff and backpackers.

Key Roles and Responsibilities

• Career Progression: Step in as 2IC with the longer-term view of transitionally taking over management of all offset works (~930ha).
• Weed Management: Execute targeted weed control through various methods, predominantly knapsack.
• Team Leadership: Coordinate, lead, and supervise a team of up to 6 backpackers/casuals during peak seasonal workloads.
• Ecological Restoration: Carry out seeding, planting, and broader revegetation works.
• Fire Management: Assist with and conduct seasonal controlled ecological burns.
• Land Maintenance: Construct and maintain temporary exclusion fencing and complete other land management tasks as seasonal conditions require.
• Compliance & Reporting: Maintain accurate field records and report directly to the Offset Manager.

Ideal Criteria:

• Experience: Field experience in bush regeneration or land management is essential. Leadership or supervisory experience is highly preferred.
• Autonomy: Ability to safely and efficiently complete tasks in a timely fashion on your own.
• Physical Fitness: Physically fit, reliable, and comfortable working outdoors in all weather conditions. A strong sense of care and personal accountability for your work is vital.
• Education: Tertiary or TAFE qualifications in Conservation and Land Management (CLM), Natural Resource Management (NRM), or a related environmental field will be viewed favourably, however experience is top of the list for us. Could suit graduate with field experience and team leadership skills.
• Botanical Skills: Well-developed plant identification skills (both native flora and invasive weeds). However, areas of lack of knowledge will be taught.

Further Desirable Criteria (but not essential)

• Current Agricultural Chemical User Permit (ACUP).
• Specific experience working within Victorian Volcanic Plains (VVP) grasslands.
• Practical ecological burning experience.
• Basic GIS mapping skills or data collection knowledge is useful.

What We Offer

• A unique opportunity to manage a critically important, large-scale conservation ecosystem.
• A clear career progression pathway into offset management.
• On-site accommodation available in the farm shearers' quarters.
• Start date to be negotiated but we prefer sooner to get your trained up for the coming season.

If you are motivated, dependable, and genuinely passionate about ecological restoration and environmental management, we would love to hear from you!