RMIT University

Senior Sustainability Officer - Sustainability Integration at the City of Melbourne

North Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

In the Senior Sustainability Officer role I work across the organisation to integrate sustainability thinking, practice,reporting and outcomes. Key achievements to date have been to deliver certified carbon neutral status to Melbourne Music Week and Melbourne Fashion Week through 2018 and 2019. This involved implementing an entirely new carbon neutral standard to these two very complex events. Throughout this time I worked closely with the federal government's Climate Active team to further develop it's new tools and approaches to carbon accounting.I have worked closely with the Event Partnership Program team, which manages City of Melbourne sponsored events, to embed leading practice sustainability criteria into the sponsorship program and align it to the City of Melbourne's emissions reduction and waste minimisation targets. I have mentored a number of key event staff so they are equipped with the knowledge and confidence to apply these criteria and work with sponsored events to achieve outcomes.I have led a project, in partnership with the University of Melbourne to undertake Australia's first local government Voluntary Local Review and the development of a prioritisation and planning framework to embed the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into the City of Melbourne's corporate planning and reporting processes. I also co-developed a tool which plotted the SDGs against priority actions in the City of Melbourne's COVID-19 reactivation and recovery plan. I have also developed a process with the Procurement branch at the City of Melbourne for negotiating voluntary carbon offsetting for large suppliers to the organisation.

City of Melbourne

Senior Sustainability Officer - Sustainability Integration

As the Sustainability Officer -  Sustainable Buildings at the City of Melbourne I managed the CitySwitch Green Office program for a number of years. In this role I worked with a broad range of stakeholders across Melbourne and Australia to improve the environmental sustainability of commercial buildings and the varied organisations which tenant them.  From Sustainability Managers and environment committees to key facilities staff and property management companies, my role involved engaging with staff at different seniority levels across different business types to both up-skill and influence operational and strategic outcomes for sustainability. I oversaw the rapid growth of the program in Melbourne and was part of the national team that secured federal funding to expand the program to suburban and regional Australia.My work on the sustainable buildings agenda delivered against the Zero Net Emissions strategy and later, the Climate Change Mitigation strategy at the City of Melbourne. The CitySwitch program operates right across Australia and during my time managing it in Melbourne I negotiated and planned with other capital city and state government agencies to maximise outcomes for the City of Melbourne.

Sustainability Officer - Sustainable Buildings

I undertook a short secondment into the team leader role while continuing my substantive Senior Sustainability officer role. Through this period I mentored key Events Melbourne staff in carbon accounting for events and oversaw the certification of three major events as carbon neutral. I reoriented the team's work to focus on core functions and helped to review the sustainability training suite and make recommendations for updating them.

(Acting) Team Leader - Sustainability Integration

Senior Sustainability Officer - Sustainable Buildings

I stepped into the Sustainability Programs Team Leader role during an organisational realignment in which I worked with a team of leaders to integrate two branches of the City of Melbourne into one. Leading a team of six staff through a culturally challenging time developed my negotiation skills, my ability to sensitively apply organisational objectives and work with individuals on wellbeing. Through this period I  ensured that my team were well supported to deliver project targets  across the portfolios of; commercial buildings; residential buildings and; renewable energy programs.

Sustainability Programs, Team Leader

In my role as a Sustainability Services Consultant I delivered services for Victorian busiensses including carbon footprint assessments, sustaianbility assessments and a sustainability advisory service as well as work on proposals and pitch for work and funding.

VECCI

Sustainability Services Consultant

Working on various programs in VECCI's Carbon Down business program I developed and delivered carbon reduction strategies for Victorian SMEs. Through developing strategic partnerships with corporates, industry associations, NFPs and local governments I helped drive busienss efficiency and reach Carbon Down's engagement and emissions reduction targets. Developing skills in project management, carbon accounting, program design and stakeholder management, my role as project officer delivered results and built strong, lasting partnerships.

Paul Whelan