• Location: Gladstone.
• Hours: Full time, however part-time hours considered. May include some evening and weekend work.
• Term of employment: 16-month contract.
• Remuneration: $98,362.37 per annum plus 11.5% superannuation and 17.5% holiday leave loading. You will also receive Christmas-New Years as additional paid leave on top of four weeks of annual leave.

THE ORGANISATION

Queensland Conservation Council is the state’s peak non-government environment group. Our mission is to protect our natural environment and climate and make Queensland communities more sustainable.

We achieve our goals by advocating to the government, engaging with the community and informing through the media. We apply the latest scientific research to develop policies. We monitor progress and rate the performance of governments, their programs, and companies, holding them accountable to their commitments to the environment. Incorporated in 1969, we are a non-profit community organisation with no political affiliations.

We have a membership of almost 60 environment groups throughout Queensland, who we consult and coordinate with. We’re growing, with 16 staff, and an ambitious plan to grow the Environment movement in Queensland.

THE CAMPAIGN

We need to build renewable energy infrastructure at the speed and scale necessary to prevent dangerous climate change. However, this must be done in a way that protects the very biodiversity we aim to safeguard. To succeed, renewable energy projects must be designed to restore nature while delivering strong social and environmental outcomes.

The Gladstone region is central to this transition. As a key area for Australia’s clean energy future, Gladstone must develop sufficient renewable energy capacity to support clean exports, including the extraction of transition minerals and the production of green hydrogen. This ambitious goal requires not only building the necessary infrastructure but also ensuring that the process is socially acceptable and environmentally responsible.

To achieve this, we need a new framework that goes beyond individual projects. It must focus on achieving a landscape-level positive impact, ensuring that renewable energy development in the Gladstone region sets a global example for how projects under the energy transition can be positive for nature as well as forthe climate.

THE ROLE

This role will focus on coordinating and consulting across a broad range of stakeholders, including Traditional Owners, community, government and industry within the Gladstone area to build consensus on how a nature positive framework for magnetite and renewable energy industrial precincts can work for the environment and community alike. This will involve from the individual project level to the wider regional level planning.

As part of the process, the Regional Environmental Advocate will engage with the community to identify regional solutions that will foster a well-planned transition to renewables that protects biodiversity and benefits local communities. This work will be done alongside the regional conservation council and in coordination with regional environmental advocates in other parts of the state, the successful applicant will engage with local experts and stakeholders in key regions to understand how the development of solar, wind and storage could progress in a way that benefits local biodiversity. This could include avoiding unacceptable impacts and improving connectivity, as well as finding local opportunities for renewable projects to improve biodiversity through restoration and better land management.

Key Responsibilities

• Community Listening and Relationships: Identify and build relationships with key stakeholders in the region that have an interest in enhancing the local environment through this process to understand concerns, priorities, and opportunities. Work alongside the regional conservation councils to foster and strengthen existing relationships.
• Local Priority Setting: Lead processes and incorporate relevant science to collectively agree local environmental priorities for biodiversity protection and restoration.
• Workshop Facilitation: Coordinate and facilitate workshops that bring together a broad range of stakeholders to identify and discuss environmental solutions and policy interventions by fostering a collaborative environment for brainstorming, problem-solving, and decision-making.
• Project and Policy knowledge: Rapidly develop an operational level of knowledge of proposed renewable projects and the approvals processes that apply to these projects, and an understanding of the role that net positive frameworks and environmental offsets play in this approval process.
• Solution Development: Compile feedback, gather relevant information, and analyse data on local solutions and policy interventions to form recommendations and next steps
• Advocacy: Present solutions to funding bodies, renewable energy industry and Government to improve regulation and project development.
• Consensus building: Promote consultation, negotiation and coordination with all levels of government as well as industry on what nature positive looks like.

SELECTION CRITERIA

Essential Requirements:

• Commitment to environmental conservation and sustainability.
• Ability to facilitate workshops, engage in deep listening, and identify solutions.
• Strong interpersonal skills to build relationships with diverse stakeholders.
• Experience working with groups and managing potentially conflicting situations.
• Willingness to coordinate with other regional environmental advocates, regional conservation councils and QCC staff.
• Some knowledge of the environmental approvals process and ecological values.
• Experience in liaising with government and industry on formulation and implementation of complex project ideas and/or policy development.
• Experience with local media and communications.
• Availability to travel within the region and surrounding areas as needed.
• Some level of cultural awareness and understanding.
• Current open drivers licence and vehicle to use to travel for meetings.

Desirable Skills:

• Community Engagement: Proven experience in engaging diverse communities and with indigenous engagement and in fostering inclusive participation in environmental initiatives. Ability to build rapport, trust, and collaboration with stakeholders from different backgrounds and perspectives.
• Negotiation: Strong negotiation skills to facilitate consensus-building and conflict resolution among stakeholders with competing interests. Ability to advocate for community needs while maintaining productive relationships with partners and decision-makers.
• Digital and Verbal Communications: Proficiency in digital communication tools and platforms, including social media, email marketing, and virtual meeting platforms. Excellent verbal communication skills to effectively convey complex ideas, facilitate discussions, and present information to diverse audiences.
• Marketing: Basic understanding of marketing principles and strategies to promote environmental initiatives, engage stakeholders, and raise awareness within the community.
• Basic understanding of bioregional and/or regional planning processes as well as biodiversity planning.
• Knowledge of renewable energy, critical minerals and/or green hydrogen along with their associated planning regulations and policy at the state and national level.

Preferred Qualifications include:

• Environmental Science, ecology, or a related field: Strong understanding of ecological principles, biodiversity conservation, and environmental management practices.
• Community Development: Background in community development, social work, or related disciplines. Familiarity with community organising strategies, participatory approaches, and capacity-building techniques to empower communities and facilitate collective action.
• Social Work: Knowledge of social work principles and methodologies to address social, economic, and environmental issues affecting communities. Ability to advocate for social justice, equity, and inclusion in environmental initiatives and policies.

Applicants who meet some, but not all, of the selection criteria are still encouraged to apply.

QCC aims to be as diverse as the country we are trying to protect and is an equal opportunity employer. First Nations candidates are particularly encouraged to apply.