Operations Manager – Nature-Based Carbon Projects

• Newcastle/Upper Hunter location
• Mixture of field work and working from home
• Full time ongoign role

The Company
Our client, Covalent Land Australia Pty Ltd (Covalent) is at the forefront of tackling climate change through evidence-led, nature-based solutions. The organisation partners with landholders to integrate productive agriculture with environmental stewardship, developing high-quality carbon projects that enhance ecosystem resilience while delivering economic value.

With a strong focus on sustainable agriculture and carbon sequestration at scale, Covalent is building a future where thriving regional communities and healthy landscapes go hand in hand.

The Role
The Operations Manager – Upper Hunter provides operational and technical leadership to deliver high-integrity, compliance-aligned natural resource management and nature-based carbon projects, with a focus on native reforestation. Reporting to the Senior Operations Manager, this role leads field execution, oversees vegetation establishment and monitoring, manages landscape risks (fire, weeds, ferals), and ensures accurate, audit-ready data and reporting aligned with regulatory and project requirements.

Working closely with internal teams, landholders, contractors and stakeholders, the role drives performance, ensures governance across budgets and milestones, and maintains safe, efficient delivery to a high standard.

Key Roles and Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end delivery of native restoration projects, including planning, coordination, cost tracking, contractor management, and stakeholder reporting.
• Oversee field monitoring programs, vegetation management, and weed control to ensure strong ecological outcomes and adherence to standards.
• Build and maintain trusted relationships with landholders and stakeholders to support successful project delivery.
• Ensure projects meet strategic, budgetary and regulatory requirements, including reporting and compliance obligations.
• Apply strong technical capability (GIS, spatial tools, field data apps, data QA/QC) to support decision-making and high-quality reporting.
• Lead and support team members to deliver safe, effective and accountable field operations.

About You
You are a practical, field-oriented leader who combines strong technical expertise with the ability to coordinate complex projects in rural or remote settings. You bring a passion for land restoration, sustainable agriculture, and working collaboratively with landholders, and thrive in roles that balance hands-on fieldwork with leadership and stakeholder engagement.

Required Skills and Proficiencies

• Demonstrated experience in agronomy or forestry, including soil and plant health, pasture/crop management, and revegetation practices.
• Relevant tertiary qualification (Degree preferred) in Agronomy, Agricultural Science, Forestry, or related discipline, underpinning practical field capability.
• 5–7 years’ hands-on experience in bush regeneration, revegetation, forestry/silviculture or large-scale land management, including 2+ years in a supervisory or crew-lead role.
• Strong agronomic capability: soil analysis, plant health diagnostics, weed/pest management, and land-use or grazing strategies, with demonstrated application in the field.
• Experience in project delivery, contractor/crew management, GIS, and large-scale land or natural resource management, ideally in rural or remote settings.
• Knowledge of NSW land management and native vegetation regulations, chemical herbicide handling certification, and ability to work with diverse stakeholders, including Indigenous. communities, and to manage Aboriginal cultural heritage due-diligence in ground-disturbing works.
• Demonstrated WHS leadership in remote field operations, including contractor safety management as a shared duty holder, SWMS/JSAs, journey and fatigue management, and incident response.
• Understanding of revegetation establishment risk and its mitigation – browsing/grazing pressure, tree-guard performance, and survival/stocking monitoring against ACCU Scheme method requirements.

The Rewards and Culture
At Covalent, culture is more than a value, it is the foundation of everything they do. The organisation is deeply committed to investing in its people, supporting flexible ways of working, encouraging work-life balance, and creating space for employees to recharge, connect with family, and pursue the activities they enjoy most.

This people-first approach extends beyond flexibility. It is reflected in values-led decision-making, genuine collaboration, and a team that champions one another's success. Employees are united by a shared purpose and take pride in delivering meaningful outcomes through large-scale environmental and carbon projects that create lasting impact.

If you're looking for a workplace where values are genuinely lived, people are supported to thrive, and your work contributes to best-practice environmental outcomes, this could be the career opportunity you've been searching for.

How to Apply
Apply now by submitting your current CV (in Word format) via our online application process. For a confidential discussion please contact Claire Black on 0407821086 or via claire@talentnation.com.au

To be eligible to apply, you must have unrestricted rights to work in Australia.

Talent Nation encourages applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and people of all cultures, abilities, sex, and genders.

Applicants can request a reasonable adjustment at any stage during the recruitment process, please contact us so we can provide adjustments for you.