Research Assistant II

This position is not eligible for new sponsorship.

Announcement Number

Announcement Number STAFF - VA - 27118

For questions regarding this position, please contact:

This position is located at the MSU Eastern Agricultural Research Center, in Sidney, MT. MSU EARC has a nice research facility with modern research labs, greenhouses, and irrigated and dryland research farms. The research farms are equipped with three linear irrigation systems and modern planting and harvesting equipment, conducting agronomic and plant pathology research on cereal, pulse, and oilseed crops. This position is to support the field, greenhouse, and lab research activities for cereal variety trials and other projects as needed.

Position Number 4M0879

Department AES EARC

Division College of Agriculture/MAES

Appointment Type Classified

Contract Term Fiscal Year

If other, specify From date

If other, specify End date

FLSA Exempt

Union Affiliation FOCUS-MFPE

FTE 1.0

Salary $20.00 per hour, commensurate with experience, education, and qualifications.

If other, please specify

Recruitment Type Open

This position is under the supervision of the superintendent to support the variety testing team on the on- and off-station cereal and pulse variety trials and other duties as needed.

Job duties include but not limit to:

• Packaging and organizing seeds;
• Planting field plots (driving tractor or operating planter);
• Applying fertilizer and controlling weeds;
• Collecting soil and plant samples;
• Processing soil and plant samples in the lab;
• Measuring grain quality parameters in the lab
• Recording and entering data into a computer.
• This person will also clean and maintain EARC ground and facilities and help in other projects as needed.

• High school diploma or B.S. in related fields.
• Knowledge and experience in organizing field and greenhouse experiments.
• Knowledge and experience in processing soil and plant samples in the lab.
• Experience in using Microsoft Word and Excel.

• Knowledge in statistical analysis.
• Experience in operating small farm equipment.

• Have great communication skills.
• Work as part of a team.
• Exercise initiative and independent judgement in day to day activities.
• Have the ability to prioritize duties, and possess time management skills.

Occasional in and out of state overnight travels are required. This job description should not be construed as an exhaustive statement of duties, responsibilities or requirements, but a general description of the job. Nothing contained herein restricts Montana State University’s rights to assign or reassign duties and responsibilities to this job at any time.

• Ability to work in Montana’s climate and field environment.
• Occasional moving of seeds and samples in bags weighing up to 50 pounds, ability to tolerate dust, insects, fungus, stationary position for extended periods of time and excellent manual dexterity.

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily with or without reasonable accommodations. The requirements listed above are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required.

Number of Vacancies 1

Screening of applications will begin on October 13, 2026
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