Field Research Technician - Christensen Farms

Christensen Farms is one of the largest, family-owned pork producers in the United States, marketing approximately 3 million hogs per year. Headquartered in Sleepy Eye, Minnesota, the company operates throughout the Midwest with facilities in Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Illinois and South Dakota.  Christensen Farms owns four feed mills, manages 145,000 sows on 44 farms, and oversees more than 350 nurseries and grow-finish sites.  The company employees nearly 1,000 people and maintains 1,500 contract partnerships.

The company is vertically integrated with a strong presence across the pork value chain from farm to fork. Christensen Farms is the largest shareholder of Triumph Foods LLC, a producer-owned primary pork processing plant in St. Joseph, Missouri. In turn, Triumph Foods members own 50 percent of Daily's Premium Meats, a specialty pork processor of bacon and other premium pork products.  Triumph Foods also holds a 50 percent partnership in Seaboard Triumph Foods, LLC of Sioux City, Iowa, a primary pork processing plant.

Position Overview & Responsibilities:                           The Field Research Technician has immediate responsibility for the implementation of field research protocols and management of Christensen Farms' research equipment. Research and development is a critical area of the Christensen Farms organization in our continuous strove for excellence.

This position will be focused on health research. However, other topic areas may include nursery grow finish production, sow production, management and marketing. Drive, determination and a self-disciplined approach to achieving results that meet these established criteria are a necessity for successful job performance. The field research technician is expected to represent Christensen Farms at a highly professional level when interacting with all employees and site visitors.

At times, the work will require technical problem solving while working within approved organizational systems and technology. New ideas and concepts are important but will be carefully analyzed and tested before communication and adoption

Key areas of Responsibility:

• Lead setup of health designated triels that would include but to be limited to collecting, cleaning and setting up required equipment (scales, wands, EID, EID readers, etc...), preparing barn for the research trial (clothes,boots, sort boards)
• Troubleshoot and resolve equipment and technology issues as they arise
• Coordinate people required for data collection days
• Own data collection and training of barn staff on data collection for field trials
• Validate data accuracy on a weekly basis
• At end of each trial, provide a complete and accurate data sheet to research manager and statistician to complete statistics and summary
• Complete summaries on in progress trials on a monthly basis
• Work closely with veterinarians as it relates to health research
• Training of support staff for each of the specific trials, this may include but not limited to: blood collection of pigs of all ages, applying treatments through either oral syringe, injection or other, weighing of pigs and ear tagging pigs.
• Participate in data sharing in routine meetings to help create consistency of applying research results
• Participate in monthly research meetings while owning and providing updates to current and future trials to the research team
• Participate and support other needs of the department when extra staff is needed, which may include, but is not limited to: additional data analysis, research tasks, normal swine production tasks, or feed analysis

Competencies and Personal Requirements:

• Process Oriented Requires the ability to recognize process improvement opportunities collaborate to define and implement process enhancements to achieve consistent, standardized results
• Follow Through Must possess the drive and ability to see work through to the point of completion without prompting
• Analytical ability Requires the ability to gather and summarize data/ information for reports, present findings and suggest mode of action.
• Problem Solving Must be able to gather and analyze information skillfully and identify and resolve problems/ improve process in a timely manner
• Planning/Organizing Must be able to manage and prioritize multiple competing tasks and demands, and plan work activities to ensure most efficient use of time.
• Oral Communiation Must speak clearly and persuasively in positive or negative situations and demonstrate group presentation skills. Must be able to interact and communicate with individuals at all levels of the organization to yield desired outcome.
• Written Communication- Must deliver quality work free of spelling and grammatical errors, present numerical data effectively and read and interpret written information.
• Quality Control Must demonstrate accuracy and thoroughness and monitor own work to ensure quality
• Flexibility- Must excel in a fast paced, dynamic environment, perform well under pressure and respond to change without significant stress.
• Confidentiality- Requires demonstrated tact and diplomacy in handling confidential and sensitive information.
• Self Awareness- Recognize boundaries of decision making as well as recognizing perspective and knowledge base
• Appearance Must Maintain a profession, well groomed appearance

Supervision of Others:

• None

Reports to:

• Research Manager

Education, Training, and Experience Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree preferred but not required
• Previous swine or livestock production experience preferred.
• Prior research knowledge preferred
• Specialized Training requirements: Basic computer proficiency, especially in Microsoft Excel and Word. PowerPoint preferred.
• Basic understanding of statistical methods and models

Specialized or Motorized Equipment and/or Tools:

This position will require occasionally operating a company vehicle. Any employment offer extended for this position will be is contingent upon the review of the candidate's motor vehicle record (MVR). The MVR will be reviewed to determine insurability based on CFF's insurance carrier and company policy.

Vehicle Licensing Requirements: Class D