Job Specification
Position Title:
Natural Heritage and Invasive Species Biologist
Job Code:
14024 - Biologist 2B
Purpose of Position :
To provide biological advice and spatial analytical assistance in resolving natural heritage and invasive species issues and provide related input to risk assessments and provincial planning and policy initiatives. Under the general direction of the Coordinator, this position will lead and/or participate on multi-disciplinary teams that will develop and transfer relevant provincial policies, plans and program with a focus on natural heritage, including wetland conservation and invasive species management.
Duties / Responsibilities :
Job requires:
Participating on provincial task teams to provide support and natural heritage and invasive species information during review and development of provincial resource policies, legislation, programs and guidelines, based on sound biological principles and practices.
Review, edit, analyze, interpret and report on existing geospatial and tabular data, including quality control, and data validation.
Communicating with internal and external clients regarding natural heritage and invasive species plans, programs, policies and guidelines, and transferring assigned components of the same to staff, partners and the public for implementation and monitoring assigned policy and program components for effectiveness.
Participating in the planning, coordination and delivery of provincial/regional public consultation exercises including public awareness programs.
Participating in the development of invasive species training and communications products and the delivery of training sessions and presentation for staff and external stakeholders on the interpretation of new/revised legislation and policies.
Coordinating the delivery of the approved projects by preparing agreements with partners, tracking progress and deliverables, and completing reporting requirements.
Participating as a member on multi-disciplinary ministry, inter-ministry, and inter-jurisdictional policy task teams, committees, and working groups.
Note: The incumbent shall, while in the workplace, conduct themselves in compliance with the Occupational Health and Safety Act and its regulations, and any workplace policies, procedures or practices as directed by their immediate supervisor, report any hazards of which they are aware to their immediate supervisor, report all work related injuries and illnesses to their immediate supervisor
Knowledge :
Job requires:
Knowledge of current biological/ecological sciences and principals, resource management practices and planning approaches and risk assessment methodology to provide sound advice and input to the development and review of legislation, policies, regulations, procedures, and guidelines;
Job requires knowledge of GIS, delineation, spatial analysis, mapping and reporting. Job requires knowledge of statistics and data analysis techniques as applied to natural resource management.
Job requires knowledge of organizational and project management approaches to complete projects involving several components within assigned deadlines.
Job requires knowledge of communication (oral & written) and training techniques to ensure required input to policies, programs, standards and guidelines is obtained from a wide range of staff and an effective transfer of programs and techniques to new users occurs.
Job requires knowledge of negotiation and facilitation techniques, team and partnership building and maintenance approaches in order to successfully work with partners to develop and deliver programs and projects.
Job requires knowledge of worker responsibilities as outlined in the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
Skills :
Job requires:
Job requires project management and organizational skills to deliver information products and reports on time and within budget.
Job requires spatial and tabular data management and analyses skills to organize and interpret electronic information.
Job requires verbal communication skills to present policy proposals, make formal presentations to client groups, scientific/technical peer groups, task teams, managers and the public to explain current plans, policies, programs, standards and guidelines to seek assistance with the development and implementation of guidelines, plans and programs, and to explain new plans, programs, standards and guidelines.
Job requires written communication skills to write technical reports outlining the rationale and underlying principles of policies, programs, standards and guidelines, preparing briefing notes, drafting responses to Ministers letters, preparing notes of advice and documents (e.g. draft guidelines, summaries of program planning processes, minister's draft correspondence)
Freedom of Action :
Work is assigned and carried out under the general direction of the Coordinator, with wide latitude for independent decision making on content of reports, analytical approaches to use and recommendations offered.
Work is guided by current government policy, legislation, objectives and priorities required timelines, policy development manuals, and existing scientific literature.
Work is reviewed for overall effectiveness in dealing with the resource management issues and policy development processes.
Job refers to Coordinator, in situations that may impact existing programs, policies, etc; and seeks direction regarding current priority initiatives, components of the policy development exercise to be addressed, funding available, and format of the final product (i.e. background research paper, task team draft recommendations, final reports).