Title: Head of Knowledge Systems
Reports to: Chief Executive Officer
Manages: Cultural knowledge, science and other staff (& contractors)
Location: Sydney, NSW
Background
Ecotrust Australia is an innovative new non-profit organisation working to promote Reliable Prosperity in Northern Australia. We seek to offer tools and resources to Indigenous and other community-based organisations to facilitate positive change at the intersection of cultural resilience, ecosystem conservation, economic opportunity and community vitality.
Working with partners, the Head of Knowledge Systems will build a team of practitioners to provide information, technology and sector expertise to support a new, Indigenous-led vision of Northern Australia, and to initiate use and occupancy mapping studies, land- and marine-use plans, and contribute to building superior information management systems in and between remote communities in the north. The Head of Knowledge Systems will have strong organisational skills and a vision of how information and planning, combined with local leadership, can be used strategically to leverage greater returns for northern communities. The Head of Knowledge Systems will also work on maintaining and building relationships with communities, funders and professional associates. As a member Ecotrust Australia’s management team, the Head of Knowledge Systems will be responsible for internal strategic planning, overseeing program budgets and project management.
Qualifications
• Advanced degree in environmental science, economic geography, ecological economics, or related field;
• Minimum five years of land use and environmental planning and/or environmental/cultural mapping experience;
• Experience in working directly with Indigenous/First Nations communities, with a strong
foundation and understanding of Indigenous culture, rights, political and economic issues;
• Understanding and knowledge of Northern Australia issues;
• Excellent communication skills with experience in group facilitation and participatory planning;
• Experience supervising staff and contractors;
• Project management experience, including budgeting, tracking and reporting;
• Proven record in fundraising and proposal writing;
• Experience in curriculum development, teaching and lecturing and/or training;
• Technical grounding in GIS, cartography and information management practices;
• Familiarity with Australian geospatial data, including data suppliers and gatekeepers;
• Interested and able to travel extensively; and
• High tolerance for ambiguity and low co-efficient of boredom
Key functions include
• With partners, help to initiate and produce a bioregional-scale Reliable Prosperity atlas of Northern Australia that integrates cultural, economic and ecological information to describe patterns of change and related opportunities in the bioregion;
• Initiate use-and-occupancy studies and map production for Indigenous communities;
• Build information management systems infrastructure internally, and for partner organisations;
• Help initiate an Australian Aboriginal Mapping Network and build Ecotrust Australia’s web space as a respected source of Knowledge Systems tools and information;
• Explore fee-for-service business options for Ecotrust Australia;
• Help position Ecotrust Australia as a “think & do tank” for societal change;
• Maintain strong links to Ecotrust and Ecotrust Canada Knowledge Systems teams;
• Oversee production of high quality publications in a variety of formats and outlets;
• Build relationships and credibility in Northern Australia, and with government agencies, the scientific community, other NGOs, funders, etc.
Duties and responsibilities
• Integrates and delivers results
• Serves on the management team
• Develops plans
• Raises money
• Manages staff and contractors
• Represents Ecotrust Australia in public fora
Measures of success
• Numbers and level of engagement of partners in Northern Australia
• Production of atlas and use-and-occupancy map surveys
• Amount and continuity of funding or other income;
• Number and breadth of use of knowledge systems tools in the bioregion.
Compensation: Commensurate with experience.
Application
Application letter (addressing the outlined qualifications) and resume to be emailed to
suzanne@ecotrust.org.au by 5pm on Wednesday 15 September 2010.