Environmental and Sustainability Advisor

Company Description

Meridian is New Zealand’s largest renewable energy generator and a major electricity retailer. We generate around 30% of New Zealand’s Electricity – all from renewable sources. We are committed to increasing the amount of renewable electricity we generate and store to meet the growing demand for electricity with clean energy.   

Meridian is building a new development in Northland – the Ruakākā Energy Park – that will help reduce the region’s reliance on electricity generated from other parts of the country and improve the security of electricity supply for all Kiwis. The Ruakākā Energy Park will include a 125MW solar farm that will produce around 230 GWh of energy per year from about 250,000 solar panels. 

 Sustainability defines who we are at Meridian and comes to life in all parts of our business – it’s a key focus when we’re building new developments such as the Ruakākā Energy Park. 

Mō te tūranga | What you’ll be doing

Our Site Environment / Sustainability Advisor will be critical to the success of the project and will provide leadership to achieve the required environmental and sustainability outcomes working collaboratively with members of the Meridian site-based team and wider business.  While a credible specialist in your own right, you will also be a team player and respond to the challenges of complex construction interdependencies with an emphasis on doing great work for our internal customers. 

You’ll manage onsite environmental and sustainability assurance, reporting and responses for the construction site in accordance with Meridian policy and practices. This includes undertaking relevant on-site monitoring of environmental and sustainability practises and leading the achievement of project environmental and sustainability outcomes. 

As the main point of contact on site for the day to day environmental and sustainability requirements, you’ll play an integral role in the site project management team, embedding a sustainability ethos across construction and project delivery. You will champion, identify and implement sustainability initiatives in overall project delivery. 

Ngā pukenga kei a koe mō tenei tūranga | What you’ll bring

• A good understanding of the Environmental and Sustainability construction sector within NZ and what approaches are best used to manage risks and drive value 

• Relevant experience working on site in a construction type environment or similar 

• Understanding and experience in relation to on site management of contractors and on the ground monitoring and oversight 

• Experience in managing costs to budget including consultant contract performance 

• A good understanding of Te Ao Māori / Tikanga / Mana Whenua 

• Established relationships within the environmental and sustainability construction and environmental/sustainability consultancy markets within NZ and to some extent overseas. 

• A self-directed individual who gets energy from integrating their work with the wider teams' requirements and demands 

He aha koe i hono mai ai ki a mātou? | Why join us?   

At Meridian, we value all people. We embrace different ways of thinking, living and working, because we believe diversity benefits us all. It makes our capabilities even stronger. We encourage all our people to feel comfortable bringing their whole selves to work and we’re proud to have a diverse and inclusive workplace. So, no matter who you are, you’ll find it a great place to work. 

We value and live by three ‘How to Be’s’: ‘be gutsy’, working together by ‘being in the waka’ and doing the right thing by ‘being a good human’. We work hard and value the importance of connection and fun, whether this be through daily quizzes, morning teas, birthday and cultural celebrations both in person and virtually! 

Sustainability sits firmly in our DNA both socially and environmentally. We proudly support KidsCan and the Kākāpō Recovery and work side-by-side with our generation communities to empower and support projects where needed. There are many opportunities to volunteer to any of our partnerships throughout the year. 

Ngā painga ki a mātou | What we can offer   

We value work/life balance so our WFH and flexible work options (where possible) make things easier for you and your whānau. We also offer: 

• an attractive and competitive salary package that’s reviewed annually, plus discounts from a number of partnerships 

• enhanced leave provisions: three company paid days (over the holiday period), enhanced parental leave and options to buy up to 12 days additional leave 

• life, trauma and income protection insurance (which we hope you won’t need!) 

• enhanced KiwiSaver contributions 

• excellent learning and development opportunities, we want you to be the best version of yourself and will help you get there! 

• award winning wellbeing programme that provides support whenever and wherever you need it 

• employee discounts off your power with Meridian, every bit counts 

• a one-off $400 payment to support your work from home set-up (if needed) 

All in all, we’re an awesome place to work. If this sounds like you and you want to bring your energy and use your power to make a difference (pun intended), then apply today and tell us why! 

If you’ve any questions, or would like the full Position Description, please email [email protected] and one of our team will get back to you. We're committed to becoming more accessible and providing support if needed, please get in touch via email or phone if there are any parts of our process you would like assistance with (process found here meridianenergy.co.nz/careers), we’re more than happy to help. 

Advertising closes on 23 March 2025 (please note this is subject to change)