Research Specialist in Agriculture (Meat Science Laboratory)

Duties & ResponsibilitiesOperation and Maintenance Coordinate slaughter and production schedule for the Meat Science Laboratory including: Arrange and interface with USDA inspection service to ensure coverage and maintain compliance.Procurement of animals, ingredients, supplies, and resources needed. Interaction with other farm units to obtain animals and plan for future needs. Lead operations including the slaughter of animals, fabrication of carcasses, production, and further processed products. Setup the facility for operations days. Develop and implement SSOPs for operation. Oversee the sales room operations including pricing, customer service, hours of operation, staffing, and advertisement. Provide day-to-day supervision of personnel of academic and non-academic staff working in the facility.Research, Teaching, Outreach, and Support Coordinate facility use and availability for educational needs of faculty, graduate students, and others at the Meat Science Lab. Coordinate teaching laboratory sections at the unit. Interact with meats and other evaluation coaches to schedule practices, contests, and other activities to support evaluation teams. Oversee the procurement of animals and production of needed products for educational needs.Establish and reinforce consistent practices to produce high-quality research results. Provide ongoing training of research personnel in slaughter techniques, carcass fabrication, further processing of meat products, and retail meat merchandising. Establish written research targets, develop "Standard Operating Procedures", and enforce consistent research methodology associated with the unit.Regulatory and Financial Oversight Maintain fiscal responsibility at the facility including management of facility expenses, development of budgets and reports, recovery of teaching and research costs, and maintenance of accounting records for budgetary and compliance purposes. Maintain current and develop new avenues for retail and wholesale of meat products. Hire and supervise needed staff to maintain operations and optimize staff costs. Promote and maintain a work environment with the highest standards of worker safety. Attend departmental operational, safety, and development meetings. Establish and maintain professional and safe standards for facility appearance. Supervise maintenance of facilities to ensure competence and integrity of research efforts. Provide training on and reinforcement of safe working standards including lock-out, tag-out, use of PPE, and electrical and chemical safety. Maintain records of safety inspections and accident reports.Other duties as assigned to support the unit and department.