Elena is an experienced heritage consultant specialising in Aboriginal cultural heritage. Elena has over seven years of industry experience and is skilled in cultural heritage survey and assessment, due diligence assessment, archaeological excavation, salvage as well as artefact documentation and analysis.
Elena grew up in sunny Brisbane and has lived and worked in every capital city on the east coast of Australia. When she is not working, Elena loves to read and bushwalk – “a must up in far north Queensland!”.
Based in our Cairns office, Elena has worked as a consultant on Niche’s QLD heritage team since November of 2020. Elena describes herself as a latecomer to archaeology and cultural heritage; however, upon completing her BA Hons, her career has since taken her as far as Spain, Indonesia, Timor and throughout Australia respectively.
The nature of Elena’s work means her time is split between Niche’s Cairns office, her own home office and in the field “I have a really great mix of the office, desk and field!”
In the field she is motivated by her experiences of being on Country, seeing its diversity and engaging with Tradition Owners. Describing a favourite moment Elena explains…“When conducting a field survey, an Elder out of the blue stood in the middle of the road and did a 360, in each direction he was pointing out their relationship to each other…to me, it is always a privilege to hear Aboriginal People’s knowledge and be on Country”.
Whilst working in the office she expresses the company culture as caring, busy, and supportive.
“I feel like I’ am supported, I’m allowed to take the lead on projects increasing my skills in the process and allowing me to become more confident in the role through taking on greater responsibilities.”
Elena concludes that she has no problem approaching anybody in the team. She has direct links with senior staff, allowing her to ask them questions at any time, watch them work and learn whilst doing so. Elena wishes to highlight Discipline Manager, Jill Reid who has helped mentor and guide Elena through her time at Niche “Jill, she always has time for me, I can go to her with anything”.
Elena chose to work at Niche as its multiple office locations and flexible working conditions offered her a chance to work close to home. It was particularly important to Elena to work in a company that operates honestly and ethically, as well as one that practices a high standard of workplace safety protocols. When asked, what advice she would give someone thinking of joining Niche, Elena answered –
“Do it! This company is a great place to work, accommodating to its staff, flexible to their needs and above all welcoming.”
Elena Piotto
Would you like to join our team?
Due to a strong pipeline of interesting work for great clients, Niche is currently recruiting in NSW and QLD.
Benefits for permanent employees include ongoing professional development, participation in our mentoring program and annual company retreat. See our Careers page for details.
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