Potato Program Coordinator

Location Brown County;

Florence County;

Forest County;

Langlade County;

Marinette County;

Menominee County;

Oconto County;

Shawano County

The Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection ( DATCP )works hard to protect and promote Wisconsin’s agricultural industries and consumers. As an agency, we strive to serve the people of Wisconsin assuring: safe, wholesome food; consumer protection and fair business practices; animal and plant health; a clean environment; and strong agriculture and commerce. To successfully attain these goals, we recognize our success hinges on the high quality, dedicated staff we employ.

DATCP currently has an opening for a Potato Program Coordinator (Plant Pest and Disease Specialist – Senior)position within the Division of Agricultural Resource Management, Bureau of Plant Industry.

This is a field-based position and routine statewide travel is required.
The selected applicant can select a headquarter in one of the following counties :

Brown, Florence, Forest, Langlade, Marinette, Menominee, Oconto, or Shawano

Qualifying candidates are not required to live in a county headquarter location. However, reimbursement for commuting to or from the employee’s assigned headquarters is not provided (e.g., mileage, meals, parking, lodging, etc.). Routine travel within an assigned territory and throughout the state for assigned work and emergency response is required.

When applying please select all counties in which you are willing to be headquartered.

Employee Benefits: This position offers the State of Wisconsin’s excellent benefits package , which includes 19.5 days of paid time off tostart, 9 paid holidays, accrued sick leave, multiple insurance options and an exceptional retirement plan! To help you understand what your benefit package would be worth, please check the Total Rewards Calculator here .

to see what working for the State of Wisconsin is all about!

This posting may be used to fill future similar vacancies.

This is a professional position with responsibilities in the plant sciences, emphasizing plant pest regulatory compliance related to the implementation of the statewide potato program. The position is responsible for technical program direction and coordination of work for assigned areas; the position also provides support to management in assessing program rule or policy modifications. It functions under general supervision working independently with a great deal of autonomy and discretion.

The position works closely with the Northern Unit Supervisor, Plant Protection Section Manager, Pest Survey & Control Section Manager, and the Export Certification Program Coordinator.

The principal duties of the position are to:

• serve as the expert who coordinates and implements the potato program, including inspecting potato fields, conducting annual certified seed potato program audits, and enforcing potato rot nematode, certified seed potato and late blight regulations;
• conduct inspections of nursery plants, Christmas trees, firewood, logs, lumber, seeds, agricultural crops and other plant products for plant health certification;
• manage program area compliance activities, implementing and enforcing plant pest regulations and plant protection laws, particularly pest quarantine, nursery and seed laws;
• coordinate the audit of ginseng for export to Taiwan or other international markets as needed, including inspection of gardens for regulated pests;
• identify and assess insect pests, diseases and weeds on a wide range of agricultural products and crops; and
• provide timely and objective regulatory outreach to the state's plant industry community via one on-one or group trainings, presentations, tradeshow exhibits, phone conversations, email updates, social media, webpages, factsheets, radio, video and print media.

The classification of this position is Plant Pest and Disease Specialist – Senior
, which is in schedule-range 15-03 with a starting pay between $33.00 to $36.50 per hour based on qualifications.

This position is not represented by a collective bargaining unit. A 12-month probationary period is required. Pay for current state employees will be set in accordance…