• Full time – 38 hours per week, 12 month contract 
• $73,108 per annum

The Environment Centre NT is seeking a savanna and freshwater campaigner, to work to protect the unique biodiversity and water values of the Northern Territory. We are seeking to combine the campaigner role with the ECNT volunteer coordinator role to create a five day per week position.  We will consider splitting the roles, depending on the expertise and availability of suitable candidates. 

The Roles

The campaigner will:

1. Increase public understanding of the risks and threats to the Top End’s savannas and freshwater systems, and the importance of their protection;
2. Engage with Traditional Owners, Indigenous organisations and a range of other stakeholders (including industry and government) regarding these risks and threats, and work towards collaboratively establishing the foundations for integrated landscape-scale protection and management of Top End savannas and freshwater systems;
3. Build networks with a diverse range of people and organisations in the Top End who want to see savannas and freshwater systems protected from clearing and over-extraction, to grow an effective force for change;
4. Conduct research, prepare submissions and analyse information (including policy) as needed to support campaign goals.

The volunteer coordinator will:

1. Support, recruit and manage volunteers to take action to protect the Top End’s savanna and freshwater, and to support ECNT’s Climate Conversations Program. This will include organising events and supporting volunteers to write letters, circulate petitions, engage on social media, and contact politicians and decision-makers.
2. Work with the ECNT team to assess the organisation’s volunteer needs and identify new volunteering opportunities that align with ECNT’s strategic goals
3. Be responsible for administration regarding ECNT volunteers including maintaining database information, responding to volunteer enquires and matching volunteer enquiries to their interests and ECNT needs.

The attributes and skills we’re looking for

This is a different kind of campaign, and we’re seeking a different kind of campaigner. The campaigner will recognise the importance of human-nature interconnectedness, and that enhancing public understanding of the complex nature of these interconnections is key to mobilising against the threat of environmental damage.  The campaigner will also recognise that Traditional Owners, and their knowledge traditions and governance systems, must be valued in any effective mobilisation around place-based conservation.

In particular, we’re looking for someone with:

1. Demonstrated passion and commitment to conservation outcomes, and to making positive change.
2. Creativity and a can-do attitude.
3. An ability to work independently.
4. Excellent communication and people management skills.
5. (Preferable) Experience working with Indigenous people and organisations and/or in regional and rural contexts.
6. A driver’s licence and car.
7. A valid working with children check and a recent police check.
8. Flexibility to travel regionally. 

Selection criteria

1. An understanding of, or demonstrated capacity to learn about, policies and laws regarding water and biodiversity management and protection in the Northern Territory
2. Experience in planning and delivering successful people-powered advocacy campaigns
3. An ability to leverage networks and engage with collaborators with different perspectives to achieve outcomes
4. Experience working with Indigenous people and organisations and/or in regional and rural contexts
5. Experience in building effective relationships in complex and sensitive situations, and an ability to deal with conflict;
6. Experience in Volunteer engagement and management;
7. Excellent written and oral communications skills, with an ability to tailor the message and language for different purposes/audiences
8. A commitment to environmental sustainability, biodiversity and healthy freshwater systems in the Top End

Terms

The job is full time, with 3 days a week devoted to the campaign, and 2 days a week devoted to managing ECNT’s volunteers to enable them to take action to protect the environment.

Salary: $73,108 p.a. plus 9.5% super

The Top End of the Northern Territory

The Top End of the Northern Territory is an area of unsurpassed ecological and cultural value, with vast areas of biological diversity, largely intact tropical savannas, and free-flowing interconnected ground and surface water systems.  The Northern Territory is unique in Australia in that over half of land is owned as freehold by Traditional Owners, and the vast majority of remaining land (including pastoral leases) is subject to native title rights and interests. 

There are a number of current and emerging threats to the Top End’s unique environment, including for large-scale agribusiness.  This will involve clearing large tracts of native vegetation and the extraction of water from already stressed systems. This push is occurring in a context where the Northern Territory’s savannas have recently been classified by scientists as being on the brink of collapse, including due to climate change and landscape fragmentation.

About the Environment Centre NT

The Environment Centre NT is the peak community sector environment organisation in the Northern Territory (NT). We have been working to protect the NT environment since 1983. Our vision is for ‘thriving nature and a sustainable future for all Territorians’.

Purpose: To inspire, support and take action that protects the environment

We work to foster sustainable communities by empowering community members to take action. ECNT works with local community groups across the NT. For more information, please visit our website: https://www.ecnt.org.au/.