Jonathan was born and raised in tropical Far North Queensland where he completed his formal education before going overseas with his girlfriend, now wife, living, working and travelling in Europe for several years.
They returned to Australia in 2001 to settle in Tasmania where they have lived ever since.
Prior to his employment at Waratah-Wynyard Council (WWC), he had no previous experience in either asset management or local government.
Jonathan has worked for WWC for a little over 10 years now.
For the past several years, under a broader resource sharing arrangement, he has divided his time between WWC and their western neighbour, Circular Head Council (CHC).
Jonathan is responsible to the Executive Manager of Engineering Services for both Councils, but his role often places him midway between Engineering and other departments such as Finance and Corporate Services.
“My position requires different things at different times but is chiefly around assisting our organisations to increase their Strategic Asset Management maturity levels, a goal I actively pursue as part of a growing team that we call the Cross-organisational Strategic Asset Management Group,” said Jonathan.
Deputy Mayor of WWC Alwyn Friedersdorff, who nominated Jonathan, said that Jonathan’s hard work was yielding fantastic results across the region and holding decision making dependable and transparent.
“Jonathan Linden began his local government life in the garden gang, just so he could get a job.
“But when it was discovered that he possessed skills away beyond our gardening needs, he was selected to become an Asset Management apprentice following the purchase of the National Asset Management Strategy program as part of the advantage of Resource Sharing with a neighbour Council.
“Staff from across each council became part of the team to address strategic and operational needs, data collection and maintenance, team building, mentoring and training with valuable input from the project author Jeff Roorder.”
A key project Jonathan is working on is the continual redevelopment and maintenance of council’s asset management plan.
“Our asset management team is continually working back and forth across a range of key project areas identified in the asset management improvement plans for both Councils,” said Jonathan.
“A particular current focus at each Council is the development of formal service levels and the establishment of meaningful links between our Asset Management Plans, Long Term Financial Plans and Community Strategic Plans.”
Jonathan said that his successes come as part of the team he works with.
“It is important to emphasise that the work I do is only as effective as the team of which I am a part.
“I am privileged to belong to a multi-disciplinary asset management team that, with ongoing support from Senior Management and Councillors, continues to develop into a very capable, committed and constructive group.”
