Principal Scientist - Environmental Planning and Approvals

Perth, WA | RPS

Great projects. Good people. The opportunity to make your mark.

Our Environmental Planning and Approvals team in Perth is growing. With new opportunities coming into the business and our people progressing into new roles, we're looking for an experienced Principal Scientist to join us.

From coastal to terrestrial environments, environmental approvals, impact assessment, planning and sustainability, our work is varied and brings plenty of interesting challenges. You'll have the opportunity to work alongside talented environmental professionals, apply your expertise and help deliver practical solutions for our clients.

We're looking for someone who brings strong technical knowledge, enjoys building relationships and wants to make a meaningful contribution to the projects and people around them.

What you'll make happen

As a Principal Scientist, you'll be someone our clients and colleagues turn to for trusted advice, technical expertise and practical solutions.

You'll have the opportunity to:

• Lead environmental impact assessments and develop practical approvals strategies, helping clients navigate complex State and Commonwealth regulatory requirements.
• Provide senior technical advice across environmental planning, impact assessment and management projects.
• Prepare and review environmental assessments, approvals documentation, technical reports and management plans, ensuring the quality of our work.
• Bring together technical inputs from different specialists, helping projects progress from early planning and assessment through to approvals.
• Build trusted relationships with clients, understand their challenges and identify opportunities where our expertise can make a difference.
• Contribute to proposals, project planning and delivery, bringing sound commercial judgement and an understanding of quality and risk management.
• Share your experience, mentor colleagues and contribute to the ongoing development of our team's technical capability.

You'll enjoy this role if...

• You enjoy solving complex environmental challenges and finding practical solutions that work for your clients.
• You like being trusted to get on with the job, but also value having experienced colleagues around you to share ideas and different perspectives.
• You're comfortable providing technical leadership, enjoy working directly with clients and get satisfaction from helping others develop.
• And while you take your work seriously, you appreciate being part of a team where people support each other and enjoy working together.

What you'll bring

You'll have extensive experience in environmental planning, impact assessment and approvals, ideally within consulting, along with:

• Strong knowledge of WA and Commonwealth environmental legislation and approvals processes.
• Demonstrated experience delivering complex environmental assessments and approvals projects.
• High-quality technical writing, analysis and report review skills.
• Sound project management skills and commercial awareness.
• Strong communication and stakeholder engagement skills, with the ability to build trusted client relationships.
• A collaborative approach to working with multidisciplinary teams and mentoring colleagues.
• Relevant tertiary qualifications in environmental science, environmental management, planning, ecology or a related discipline.
• Professional certifications and involvement in relevant industry organisations will be highly regarded.

A little more about working with us

At RPS, you get the best of both worlds with the opportunity to work closely with a supportive local team, backed by the expertise and opportunities of Tetra Tech's global network. It's a combination that gives our people access to diverse projects, specialist knowledge and opportunities to keep developing their careers.

But it's our people who make RPS a great place to work. You'll join a supportive team that shares knowledge, values different perspectives and takes pride in delivering quality work.

Along with interesting projects and opportunities to keep developing your career, we offer:

• Flexible working arrangements to support work-life balance.
• Professional development, mentoring and study assistance.
• Paid parental and partner leave.
• Annual professional membership reimbursement.
• A $250 annual active lifestyle allowance.
• Additional annual leave purchase and salary packaging options.
• Wellbeing initiatives, social events and employee support programs.

Sound like your kind of opportunity?

We'd love to hear from you. Apply now or get in touch for a conversation about joining our Environmental Planning and Approvals team in Perth.