Department of Water and Environmental Regulation WA – Joondalup WA
About the Environmental Response Team
The Environmental Response team is a frontline responder to events that impact communities, industry and the environment. The team responds to a diverse range of environmental incidents, managing environmental hazards, protecting ecosystems and minimising harm to human health and property in the event of accidents, disasters, or environmental crises.
The team's functions include field operations, investigation, and coordination capabilities. Officers work in dynamic environments where no two incidents are the same, requiring sound judgement, adaptability, and strong situational awareness.
The team is also responsible for providing informed, science‐based information to internal and external stakeholders to better inform and mitigate environmental risk.
About the Role
As the Manager Environmental Response, you will lead DWER's statewide environmental incident response capability. You will set strategy, standards and governance for environmental response and compliance activities, direct operational responses to complex incidents, and provide authoritative regulatory and technical advice to senior decision makers.
You will:
* Lead and manage statewide environmental response capability across Western Australia to pollution incidents and hazardous materials emergencies under the Environmental Protection Act 1986 and deliver services under the Emergency Management Act 2005 and the State Emergency Management Framework.
* Direct the branch's Environmental Response team and the after‐hours on‐call team, ensuring people, equipment, systems and procedures are ready to respond safely and effectively, 24/7.
* Coordinate incident response and recovery, including mobilisation, on‐scene leadership, technical assessments and evidence‐based decision‐making to reduce environmental and public health risk.
* Coordinate the provision of science‐based advice and intelligence to internal and external stakeholders, such as government agencies, local government, industry and communities, to inform prevention, preparedness, response and recovery and mitigation of environmental risks.
* Lead DWER's Light Industry Program to better support local government officers to manage low‐risk pollution issues, offering practical guidance, escalation pathways and capability building.
* Build interagency and industry partnerships, working collaboratively with emergency services and regulators to ensure aligned plans, joint training, and clear roles during incidents.
* Drive continuous improvement, capturing lessons learned, maintaining SOPs and training programs and reporting on performance against the team's strategic priorities.
* Steward people, culture and resources, fostering a safe, inclusive and high‐performance environment and ensuring efficient use of budget, equipment and logistics.
About You
You are an experienced leader in a complex, high‐risk regulatory or incident management environment, with the ability to:
* Set direction and deliver outcomes in ambiguous and time‐critical situations
* Interpret and apply legislation and regulatory frameworks with confidence
* Lead multidisciplinary teams and build capability
* Consolidate, interpret and prioritise technical advice from your team and other sources, in order to provide clear, authoritative advice on complex environmental and compliance matters to decision‐makers and other stakeholders
* Manage risk, investigations and enforcement activities with strong judgement and integrity
* Lead with an affiliative and adaptive leadership style, fostering strong, confident and psychologically safe teams through clear communication, trust, and a focus on people, capability and wellbeing
* Build trusted relationships and influence outcomes across stakeholders.
CLOSING DATE: 4:00pm Monday, 22 June 2026 (Australian Western Standard Time)
#J-18808-Ljbffr