Rural Engagement Officer

• Permanent Full Time
• $83,714.28 per annum plus superannuation
• Join the Sustainability, Climate and Waste team

Hume City Council is one of Australia’s fastest growing and culturally diverse councils. We put the customer and our community at the centre of all that we do, ensuring our services are efficient and accessible.

The Rural Engagement Officer is responsible for coordinating and administering the Conserving our Rural Environment (CoRE) Grant, Primary Producer Rate Rebate (PPRR) and Rural Engagement programs. This includes promoting opportunities to the rural community, managing application and funding processes, undertaking property assessments and audits, monitoring program outcomes, and contributing to the ongoing review and improvement of program delivery to support sustainable rural land management and community engagement.

What you’ll be doing:

• Implement the Conserving our Rural Environment (CoRE) grant, Primary Producer Rate Rebate (PPRR) and Rural Engagement programs.
• Effectively market and promote the programs to the rural community.
• Carry out administration of the program, including assisting to review and develop application forms, guidelines and funding agreements, and the processing of applications, assessments, and approvals.
• Collaborate with others in the Sustainability Engagement team to organise and deliver field days and/or other engagement activities for rural landowners.
• Assist in the delivery of other land and biodiversity events, including forums and workshops.
• Participate in the development of contract specifications, evaluation of Tenders and induction of sub-contractors.
• Ensure compliance to all aspects of Council’s WH&S and relevant legislative requirements to ensure the safety of self, contractors, other staff and the public.

The skills and experience you’ll bring to the role:

• Ability to communicate sensitively and sympathetically with all stakeholders including rural landholders, members of the public and internal customers and to use initiative in relation to meetings and opportunities, etc.
• Excellent written and verbal communication and interpersonal skills, including a demonstrated capacity to communicate with landholders and groups from diverse backgrounds.
• Ability to identify customer needs and expectations, determine the appropriate actions and respond accordingly.
• Sound understanding of local sustainable land management issues within a rural context, their impacts on biodiversity and techniques to manage their impacts.
• Skills and knowledge in the identification of local flora and fauna, including indigenous plants and plant communities, and weed identification.
• Proven ability in managing time, setting priorities and planning and organising own workload to achieve set objectives in a timely manner.

Required Certifications & Qualifications

• Tertiary qualifications in Environmental Science, Natural Resource Management, Agriculture, Conservation and Land Management, Environmental Management, or a related discipline with relevant work skills, or lesser formal qualifications with relevant demonstrated relevant experience
• Current driver’s licence

For any queries, please contact us atcareers@hume.vic.gov.au.

Why Hume City Council?

A leader in local government, we’re committed to creating an inclusive and collaborative work environment that is guided by our values:

We’re better, every day: We give things a go and value progress over perfection. We have permission to go for it and are expected to reflect and learn.

We’re in it together: At Hume, everyone matters. We Welcome and include all. Respect and safety are expected.

We show up: We empower and trust others and own our work. We rise to the challenges and are expected to do what we say we will.

All for Hume: We strive to achieve our best for the Hume Community. We are proud and passionate about working towards better outcomes and expect they are at the centre of everything we do.

We offer a competitive salary package, professional development opportunities, and a supportive work environment.

A child safe organisation and an equal opportunity employer. Council encourages people of all ages, people with disability, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, LGBTIQA+ people and people from culturally diverse backgrounds to apply.

All candidates will be required to undertake background and probity checks including Reference Checks, Working with Children Check, and a Criminal Record Check.