Associate Director - Environmental Planner

Bold ideas bring transformative solutions.

We believe infrastructure creates opportunity for everyone. Whether it’s improving your commute, keeping the lights on, providing access to clean water or transforming skylines, our work helps people and communities thrive.

Our environmental practice helps industries and governments fulfill their responsibilities to the people they support, as well as the planet that support us all. We provide advisory and technical services to enable you to achieve compliance, manage impacts and reduce or even eliminate risks.

Our services help clients anticipate and manage the environmental impact at each stage of the project: planning and obtaining permits for new facilities; decommissioning, clean-up and closure of contaminates sites and surplus operations facilities; restoration for reuse; addressing critical climate – change issues; protection or restoration of habitats and water quality and the preservation of culture resource.

AECOM’s Planning team are seeking an experienced Environmental Planner with proven track record in the renewable energy sector. The ideal candidate will possess a robust network of industry contacts and a track record of successfully managing the environmental assessment and approval of large-scale renewable energy projects in New Zealand.

With high projected growth in the renewable energy sector there has never been a more exciting time to be in the energy industry. This is a fantastic opportunity to be actively involved in a high-performing team of planning, environmental and energy professionals and develop your career in a growing sector. As a senior practitioner you will be instrumental in enabling and growing the team as well as winning new work. Your experience with whole of life cycle project experience in renewable energy projects will be key to your success in this role.

Within our national planning team, you will be working with technical leaders across our environment business in statutory, spatial and policy planning, sustainability, stakeholder engagement and natural resource management. In addition, you will have the opportunity to draw on AECOM’s international planning networks and work collaboratively with colleagues throughout Australia and NZ on best practice planning, innovation and project delivery.

There are opportunities in the Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington OR Christchurch offices.

What will a day in this role look like:

• Maintaining, cultivating, and developing key client relationships
• Identifying and evaluating new business opportunities and market trends in the renewable energy sector.
• Preparing and managing consent and statutory approval applications and major environmental assessments,  working on a range of technical documents, including consent strategies, assessment of alternatives/Multi Criteria Analysis and client advisory
• Providing planning advice on local, regional and national planning policy
• Supporting the delivery of urban, environmental and infrastructure projects

• 15 + years experience
•  A degree qualified in Resource Management or Planning (or a suitable related field)
• Full NZPI membership or eligibility
• Proven experience in environmental planning within New Zealand’s energy sector, ideally with a focus on renewable projects.
• Possess a robust network of industry contacts and a track record of successfully managing large-scale renewable energy and other infrastructure projects in addition to winning new work
• Demonstrated technical experience in areas such as infrastructure planning, policy and land use planning, statutory RMA planning, public engagement, project management, strategy, business cases.
• Experience in preparing and presenting expert evidence
• Excellent analytical, writing, communication and interpersonal skills
• Demonstrated ability to problem solve and deliver quality technical analyses and reports

About AECOM

AECOM is the world’s trusted infrastructure consulting firm, delivering professional services throughout the project lifecycle – from advisory, planning, design and engineering to program and construction management. On projects spanning transportation, buildings, water, new energy and the environment, our public- and private-sector clients trust us to solve their most complex challenges. Our teams are driven by a common purpose to deliver a better world through our unrivaled technical and digital expertise, a culture of equity, diversity and inclusion, and a commitment to environmental, social and governance priorities. AECOM is a Fortune 500 firm and its Professional Services business had revenue of $14.4 billion in fiscal year 2023. See how we are delivering sustainable legacies for generations to come at aecom.com and @AECOM.

Freedom to Grow in a World of Opportunity 

You will have the flexibility you need to do your best work with hybrid work options. Whether you’re working from an AECOM office, remote location or at a client site, you will be working in a dynamic environment where your integrity, entrepreneurial spirit and pioneering mindset are championed.

You will help us foster a safe and respectful workplace, where we invite everyone to bring their whole selves to work using their unique talents, backgrounds and expertise to create transformational outcomes for our clients.

AECOM provides a wide array of compensation, benefits and well-being programs to meet the diverse needs of our employees and their families. We’re the world’s trusted global infrastructure firm, and we’re in this together – your growth and success are ours too.

Join us, and you’ll get all the benefits of being a part of a global, publicly traded firm – access to industry-leading technology and thinking and transformational work with big impact and work flexibility. As an Equal Opportunity Employer, we believe in each person’s potential, and we’ll help you reach yours.

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.