Temporary Livestock Maintenance Technician

This is a part-time or temporary non-benefited position.

This position is located in Mandan, ND.

Description & Details:

This position is for a livestock maintenance technician located within the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) division of the Natural Resource Management Research unit of the USDA and is an in- person job located at Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory in Mandan, ND. This is a temporary, part-time position, up to 19 hours a week.

In this position, you will assist with feeding, cleaning, and maintaining cattle for various grazing and feedlot research projects. Assist with Calving season May to July which will require outside work during weekends and evenings during calving and outside maintenance and feeding work all seasons of the year, as well as some forage sample preparation tasks. The livestock maintenance technician works with forage and crop sampling while livestock are fed during maintenance or in research studies. The livestock – mainly cattle, though possibly sheep and goats – graze the numerous crop and rangeland projects lined out by our research mission.

Responsibilities include:

• Conducting daily livestock observations, when requested, documenting livestock care, access to water, adequate forage, and minerals, and identify any health concerns to refer to the Attending Veterinarian (AV). Follow accepted SOPs (standard operating procedures) for daily observations and report deviations to supervisor, IACUC chair and Institutional Official.
• Documenting any livestock health concerns, and contacting the AV with any concerns. Keeping detailed records of contact with AV, treatment recommendations, and any treatments administered under the direction of the AV. Ensure routine treatments are conducted following approved SOPs. Also monitor and update veterinary medical supplies as necessary.
• Completing necessary training on safety, sample handling procedures, animal handling, personal protective equipment use and equipment function.
• Monitoring, recording and weighing calves from successful calving and assist with difficult calving when needed. May require some evening and weekend work as scheduled by supervisor and working with other technicians.
• Preparing feed for use by cattle in the feedlot, field, or supplementing grazing trials.
• Maintaining pens, barns, water troughs, and keeping livestock secure, fed and warm.
• Keeping detailed records of feed mixed and fed, updating inventory information.
• Some minimal collecting, preparing for analysis, and verifying samples and supporting records from feedlot, crop, rangeland, livestock metabolism trials. Samples are mostly crops, forage and feed, but may also include assisting with and handling manure, urine, blood, and other tissues that will be sampled from research livestock.
• Maintaining the equipment which must be cleaned, maintained and synchronized to work properly and receive scheduled maintenance. Examples include but not limited to skid steer, tractor, lawn mowers, ATV ‘s.
• Work with other technicians and supervisors on livestock movement on and off research trials.

Work Schedule:

Up to 19 hours a week. Flexibility for schedule as needed when working weekends.

Assist with Calving season May to July which will require outside work during weekends and evenings during calving and outside maintenance and feeding work all seasons of the year.

Advertised Pay:

Commensurate with experience and education.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Must be at least 18 years old
• Ability to perform basic livestock husbandry tasks such as feeding, animal health, and calving/kidding
• Demonstrated ability to communicate appropriately and work willingly with staff and faculty on various tasks
• Ability to accomplish vital tasks while working alone
• Ability to perform various duties that require heavy lifting (50 lbs)
• Valid Driver’s license

Preferred Qualifications:

• Demonstrated ability to operate farm equipment such as pickups, livestock trailers, tractors, skid steer loaders, manure spreaders, feed wagons, and haying equipment

Direct Questions to:

Rachael Christianson

racheal.christianson2@usda.gov

701-516-2862

To Apply - Applications must include the following materials:

Please attach a cover letter and resume.

Please include within application if you are currently or have in the past 12 months been employed with NDSU, the North Dakota University System or any other North Dakota State agency. If so, include which agency/department, as well as your how many hours you work a week and in the past 12 months.

About Us:

North Dakota State University is distinctive as a student focused, land-grant, research university. We educate leaders who solve national and global challenges by providing affordable access to an excellent education that combines teaching and research in a rich learning environment.

NDSU is in the highest Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, R1, granted to the top research institutions in the country.

NDSU has offices across the state of North Dakota, and the main campus is in Fargo, on the Minnesota border. Along with Moorhead, Minnesota, Fargo forms one of the largest metropolitan centers between Minneapolis and Seattle. The community is consistently ranked as one of the best places to live.

Employment Eligibility:

NDSU determines employment eligibility through the E-Verify system: What is E-Verify? New employees to NDSU must present specific identification to determine their employment eligibility no later than their first day of work. To view the identification required, please see the List of Acceptable Documents. You will be required to have one item from List A OR one item from List B and List C.

No Smoking Notice:

As an employer, the State of North Dakota prohibits smoking in all places of state employment in accordance with N.D.C.C. § 23-12-10.

EO/AA Statement:

North Dakota State University is an Equal Opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, color, gender expression/identity, genetic information, marital status, national origin, participation in lawful off-campus activity, physical or mental disability, pregnancy, public assistance status, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, spousal relationship to current employee, or veteran status, as applicable.

Diversity Statement:

NDSU strives to be a community of belonging, recognizing unique differences as strengths of our university. We seek to recruit and retain a diverse workforce that supports a community in which diverse populations and perspectives will know and learn from one another. NDSU values candidates who are committed to our core values of respect, inclusivity, community, creativity, excellence, impact, innovation, integrity, resilience, responsiveness, and transformation. Successful candidates will be committed to and help advance our strategic goal to create and maintain an open and respectful environment to promote inclusivity and diversity as a cornerstone of education, research, and outreach.

Veteran’s Preference Notice:

This position is subject to North Dakota Veteran’s Preference requirements.

Reasonable Accommodation Information

North Dakota State University is committed to providing access and reasonable accommodation in its services, programs, activities, education, and employment for individuals with disabilities. To request disability accommodation in the application process, please contact Human Resources at 701-231-8961 or ndsu.hr@ndsu.edu.