Our culture, our people – working with us

Welcome from the CE

Are you thinking of joining us? If so, you’d be joining us at a very exciting time.

We are changing the way regional governance is managed in Canterbury and you would play a leading role in that work.

Our organisation works to have the best people who are well supported and working in a safe environment, delivering organisational goals and carrying out our vision and purpose of taking action together to shape a thriving and resilient Canterbury, now and for future generations.

Toitū te marae o Tāne, toitū te marae o Tangaroa, toitū te iwi.

Our work is varied - ranging from managing the region’s air, biosecurity and biodiversity, to water and navigation safety. Our work is plentiful and important and impacts future generations who will live in this stunning region.

It is our job to ensure we manage the region’s resources to the best of our abilities for future generations.

Come work for us, I promise you won’t regret it.

Together we can/Me mahi tahi tātou

Waitaha - our Canterbury region - is like no other and we are proud to call it home. We work with Papatipu Rūnanga, stakeholders and the wider community to manage the use and quality of our natural resources, including water, land and air. As a regional council we're responsible for flood protection, public transport, Civil Defence, and more.  Learn more about our role.

We're taking action together to shape a thriving and resilient Canterbury, now and for future generations. Toitū te marae o Tāne, toitū te marae o Tangaroa, toitū te iwi.

Our culture thrives on our values, they underpin the way we work.

Our values are our organisational commitment to each other and our community. They are a promise of how we will go about delivering on our vision and purpose

Taking action together to shape a thriving and resilient Canterbury, now and for future generations/Toitū te marae o Tāne, toitū te marae o Tangaroa, toitū te iwi. 

Our values

  • Manaakitanga | People first – people, customers and staff come first
  • Whanaungatanga | Collaboration – together works best
  • Kaitiakitanga | Stewardship – good decisions today for tomorrow
  • Pononga | Integrity – trust in us and our information
  • Māiatanga | Can do – be brave and make it happen

Meet our people

Meet a few of our exceptional staff members, representing just a few of the opportunities in our organisation:

Thomas Jansen (TJ), Advisory Officer

My job involves educating and informing customers, providing advice on plans, policies, role and responsibilities and helping customers to make informed decisions. 

The best thing about my job is the team I work with.  The Advisory team has a great culture, loves a good laugh and is an incredibly supportive crew.  I also enjoy the customer service part of our role, being able to build rapport and help the public in anyway way I can.

I'm inspired by my Team Leader who always does everything in her power to ensure we have all the tools to do our jobs and is always looking out for us.  She is everything a Team Leader should be and more.

Nathan Dougherty, Senior Incident Response Officer

My job involves no day ever being the same! I can be out in the field, taking water samples from a stream, examining where contaminants have come from, working with people to promote best practice and avoid environmental effects, to collecting evidence which might be used for enforcement. I also write reports and follow up on information from the office. I work a lot with knowledgeable and helpful colleagues inside Environment Canterbury, like scientists and planners, among others.

The best things about my job are the constant variety, my fantastic colleagues, and the opportunity to help people make a bit of a difference in the way they work and minimise effects (and harm) to the environment.

I'm inspired by the opportunity to work with people to increase their understanding of key issues facing the community and find practical solutions.