[Hiring] Seed Field Supervisor @State of Washington

Role Description

The Washington State Department of Agriculture's Commodity Inspection Division provides unbiased third-party inspections for a wide variety of Washington State agricultural products and assists agricultural companies in the movement and exporting of their products. The division is made up of roughly 365 FTEs through four statewide programs:

• Fruit and Vegetable inspection
• Grain inspection
• Grain Warehouse Audit
• Seed inspection and Certification

• Seed certification
• Seed testing
• Phytosanitary visual seed inspection
• Seed inspection and official seed sampling

This position directly supports the mission of the program by overseeing quality phytosanitary and certification field inspections, drawing official samples while enforcing federal and state regulations and maintaining positive relations with stakeholders. The Seed Field Supervisor is a specialist who supervises the field component of the program, directing inspection activity and assisting operations by supervising inspection staff.

This position is required to be in the field at least 50% of the time.

Qualifications

• One (1) year of experience leading or supervising within an agricultural environment.
• Five (5) years of experience in seed industry production, processing, marketing and testing or within an agricultural environment where the candidate interprets and applies state and federal regulations.
• Must maintain specific licensure, such as International Seed Testing Association sampling certification, USDA authorized Sampling and USDA Authorized Certification Officer credentials.
• Must acquire and maintain all specialized licenses and certifications required by the United States Department of Agriculture for all commodities of the area to which assigned prior to appointment.

Requirements

• Determine priorities, set objectives, coordinate field activities and supervise the daily activities of full-time and seasonal field inspectors.
• Create a healthy and safe work environment that fosters empowered team members to exceed customer and team expectations within budget.
• Maintain a neutral supervisory relationship with staff.
• Read, interpret, comprehend and follow inspections and methodology in policies, procedures, directives, notices, rules and regulations relating to the position and the industry.
• Exercise full technical and administrative supervision over all field inspection staff; plan, assign, and review the work of up to 5 permanent and approximately 14 seasonal field inspectors.
• Track the progress of field inspections to be aware of each inspector's progress of assigned work.
• Assess workload and adjust assignments to meet industry needs.
• Perform certification and phytosanitary field inspections and provide staff training.
• Officially sample seed lots at warehouse as requested.
• Monitor maintenance and repairs of state-issued vehicles and equipment.
• Ensure vehicles and other necessary equipment are maintained according to schedules in working order.
• Issue a phytosanitary certificate as a licensed USDA ACO according to current rules and regulations.
• Supervise the work of other field staff and identify gaps in training or performance.
• Communicate effectively with growers and seed companies and respond to questions regarding certification from the general public.
• Responsible for regulatory assignments by checking the licensing labeling and shipping for truth in seed labeling requirements and responding to complaints.
• Obtain and maintain licenses with USDA as an authorized official sampler and ACO accreditation.
• Develop appropriate training resources for professional development and skill building for permanent and seasonal field staff.

Benefits

• A healthy work/life balance, which may include flexible work schedules and teleworking.
• WSDA provides an excellent benefits package beyond traditional benefits.
• Dependent Care Assistance, Flexible Spending Accounts, Public Service Loan Forgiveness, Tuition Waiver, Deferred Compensation, Employee Recognition Leave.
• 12 paid Holidays & Vacation and Leave Accruals.
• All Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) required will be provided by the agency.