Senior Technician - PEQ | Auckland Landcare Research

Job Description

Job title: Senior Technician – PEQ

Role type: Full time, fixed term – six months

Location: Auckland – Tamaki Campus and/or Mt Albert Campus

Salary band & range: General Salary Range G: $66,331 to $88,193 depending on skills and experienc

Kōrero mō te Tūranga - About the Role

This is an exciting role which will embrace your horticultural skills with your passion for biosecurity.

We are looking for a talented and highly motivated Senior Technician to join our Post Entry Quarantine team.

You will assist in caring for various horticultural crop plants in the nation's only PEQ L3B greenhouse facility; and help commission the new greenhouse facility at Mt Albert. You will differentiate plants suffering from biotic stresses (invertebrate pests, bacterial, fungal, phytoplasma and viral) and abiotic stresses (nutrient deficiency and water-stress); address any urgent work/surge capacity, and on rare occasions support biosecurity and compliance investigations and responses by way of technical advice and coordination of identifications as well as carry out audits.

• Opportunity to support the delivery of Post-Entry Quarantine clearance of high-value, high-risk plants
• Working on high-profile projects within a collaborative team structure
• Help New Zealand achieve its goal of keeping harmful organisms from coming into the country

Mōu - About You

Our team is dedicated, diverse and highly supportive and works in a busy and varied environment to deliver our core work programme supporting New Zealand's biosecurity system. This role will offer you the variety and the challenge to develop and enhance your scientific technical skills, whilst driving innovation that will shape our future way of working.

You will bring your relevant skills, initiative, and ability to manage relationships, internal and external to MPI. You will be a high performer, highly productive, articulate, and focused, and you will have the ability to get things done.

You hold at least a tertiary degree in Biology or related discipline or equivalent qualification (e.g., New Zealand Diploma in Applied Science – Level 6) with relevant technical experience proven by GrowSafe accreditation on the use of agrichemicals.

You have skills in:

• Horticultural plant maintenance.
• Working in PEQ.STD accredited facility is desirable.
• Managing complex day-to-day operations combined with professional ability in carrying out biological indexing assays.
• The ability to work independently and continually improve processes and systems while meeting tight deadlines.
• An outgoing personality with a strong desire to engage with internal and external customer and stakeholders across a large, complex business environment.
• Taking initiative and performing in an often rapidly developing environment.

You do not need to meet all of the role requirements to apply. We offer a breadth of development and learning opportunities and will welcome an application if you think you could make a great fit.

Mō tō mātou Rōpū - About the Team 

The MPI Plant Health and Environment Laboratory is the national reference centre for the identification of all suspected exotic, new and emerging pests and diseases of plants, and arthropod pests affecting the environment and also provides diagnostic services to primary industries to facilitate trade. PHEL also runs a high security post-entry quarantine (PEQ) service for New Zealand's horticultural crops under the MPI PEQ for plants standard. Our team is dedicated, diverse and highly supportive and works in a busy and varied environment to deliver our core work programme supporting New Zealand's biosecurity system.

Mō te Manatū Ahu Matua - About MPI

Our role includes seizing export opportunities for our food and fibre sector, improving sector productivity, ensuring the food we produce is safe, increasing sustainable resource use, and protecting New Zealand from biological risk.

Ngā hua o te mahi i te Manatū Ahu Matua - Benefits of working at MPI

• Additional MPI leave days
• Bi-annual paid eye test and contribution to the costs of corrective lenses/frames
• Annual Wellness payment

Whakamātau Whakapōauau me te Waipiro - Drug and Alcohol Screening

Please note, given this position is safety sensitive the preferred applicant/s for the position will be required to undergo a drug and alcohol pre-employment screening test. Further information on this process can be found on our careers site, here.

Kua rite koe mō tēnei mahi whaitake? - Are you ready to make a difference?

We are committed to being a good partner under Te Tiriti o Waitangi which includes working closely with iwi, hapū, whānau and hāpori.

We aspire to reflect the diverse communities we serve, so we welcome applications from individuals of all backgrounds, and identities. As an organisation, we are committed to making Manatū Ahu Matua Ministry for Primary Industries a great place to work for all.

In your cover letter we'd like to know about you, your values; your interest and motivations for this role; the abilities, strengths, personal attributes and diverse perspectives you will bring to the role and this organisation, which may have also been gained outside of the workforce.

To view the position description and/or apply online, please click “APPLY FOR THIS JOB” or visit the MPI Careers Site. To apply, you must hold the right to work in New Zealand or be eligible to obtain it – click here to find out more about work visa eligibility and options.

Applications close at 11:59pm 2 December.

If you have any questions about the role, please email Sophie.Hallett@mpi.govt.nz