AGRICULTURE SCIENTIST-SUPERVISOR - 02182025-65599

Job Information

LOCATION OF (1) POSITION(S) TO BE FILLED: DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, TECHNICAL SERVICES DIVISION, DAVIDSON COUNTY

Working Title: Food Microbiology Supervisor

Qualifications

Education and Experience: Graduation from an accredited college or university with a bachelors degree in physical sciences (e.g., physics, chemistry), life sciences (e.g., biology, microbiology, health physics or biophysics), pre-medicine, engineering or other acceptable science related field and experience equivalent to five years of increasingly responsible professional laboratory work.

Substitution of Graduate Education for Experience: Graduate course work received from an accredited college or university in a related field may substitute for the required experience on a year-to-year basis to a maximum of one year (e.g., 24 graduate semester hours or 36 graduate quarter hours in a related field may substitute for one year of the required experience).

OR

Substitution of Education for Education: A terminal degree (e.g., PhD) in physical sciences (e.g., physics, chemistry), life sciences (e.g., biology, microbiology, health physics or biophysics), pre-medicine, engineering or other acceptable science related field and one year of increasingly responsible professional laboratory work experience.

Necessary Special Qualifications: N/A

Overview

Under general supervision, is responsible for supervising the performance of chemical and/or microbiological analyses on a variety of food products, agricultural commodities, environmental samples, and/or veterinary diagnostic specimens. This is the supervisory class in the Agricultural Scientist job series. This class differs from that of the Agricultural Scientist - Advanced in that incumbents of the latter perform do not supervise staff but have increased responsibilities for conducting analyses.

Responsibilities

1. Identifies, develops, and/or provides all the training, documentation, and hands-on tools for staff to develop full functional competency. Conducts benchmark meetings with individual direct reports to provide guidance, direction, motivation, accolades, and suggestions for improvement. Makes recommendations on hiring, promotion, and retention.
2. Supervises laboratory staff and assigns their job responsibilities. Uses team building, leadership skills, and effective communication skills to encourage and instruct others in their work activities. Conducts regularly held unit meetings to discuss work status, to plan for future work, to solve problems in daily work, and to inform the manager and staff of any organizational changes.
3. Communicates with internal and external customers regarding laboratory services, sample submissions, and test results.
4. Implements the laboratory's quality management system within the assigned section to meet accreditation requirements. Collaborates with Laboratory Quality Manager to improve the quality system.
5. Implements the laboratory's safety program within the assigned section to ensure occupational safety and health are maintained. Collaborates with Laboratory Safety Manager to improve the safety program.
6. Manages laboratory resources (e.g., equipment, materials, reagents) through inventory management and procurement. Collaborates with Laboratory Instrument Manager to ensure laboratory scientists have the necessary tools and training to perform their job duties.
7. Collaborates with TDA grants team to secure external funding and to ensure requirements of cooperative agreements are satisfied. Assists in the implementation, monitoring, and review of TDA cooperative agreements.
8. Develops, performs, and supervises qualitative and quantitative scientific analyses on a variety of sample types (e.g., food, feed, fertilizer, soil, water, vegetation, pesticides, and animal tissues) in support of consumer protection and veterinary diagnostics.
9. Participates in professional development opportunities such as technical workshops, conferences, online classes, and reading scientific literature to stay abreast of current science.

Competencies (KSA's)

1. Working knowledge of the basic principles of laboratory administration and management; mastery of the principles of biology and chemistry.
2. Demonstrates monitoring, complex problem solving, and quality control analysis skills.
3. Possesses strong conflict management, customer focus, and effective team building competencies.
4. Applies judgement and decision making, inductive and deductive reasoning, and time management when leading a professional team of agricultural laboratory scientists.
5. Demonstrates ethics and values, integrity and trust, patience and professional peer relationships in the workplace.

Tools & Equipment

1. Office equipment (e.g., computers and various software packages).
2. General laboratory equipment (e.g., pipettes, balances, centrifuges, microscopes, and ovens /incubators).
3. Specialized equipment (e.g., chromatographs, mass spectrometers, thermocyclers, plate readers, combustion analyzers, and spectrophotometers).
4. Personal protective equipment: gloves, lab coats, safety glasses/goggles, respirators, and chemical fume hoods.

TN Driver Standards

State of Tennessee positions that may involve driving responsibilities require candidates to meet the following minimum driver qualifications:

• A valid driver's license
• For the past five years, the candidate's driver record must not have record of the following violations: driving under the influence (DUI), reckless driving, license suspension for moving violations, more than 4 moving violations.

Please include your Driver's License Information under the Licenses and Certifications section of your application.

**Agencies may allow an exception based on other factors.