Outreach Specialist

UW–Madison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences; Madison (WI); Hybrid; USD 60,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

UW–Madison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences seeks an Outreach Specialist to develop and lead educational outreach programs for SnapPlus and related tools used by Wisconsin farms. You will work with researchers and software developers to test features, provide user feedback, and lead the user support process.

The role is full-time with partial remote options and standard hours 7:45am–4:30pm, Monday–Friday, with occasional nights or weekends.

Qualifications

• Relevant professional experience in agriculture or a closely related field.
• Experience communicating with farmers, agronomists, researchers, and agency partners.
• Hands-on experience developing, coordinating, and delivering educational programs or curriculum.
• Demonstrated ability to plan, manage multiple tasks, establish priorities, and organize varied tasks in a complex environment.

Responsibilities

• Schedule and secure resources; communicate logistics for outreach programs.
• Facilitate SnapPlus user support and collaborate on responses.
• Assist with monitoring outreach program budgets.
• Develop and evaluate curriculum and programs; provide improvement recommendations.
• Identify, promote, and maintain external partnerships to support outreach.
• Research, develop, and facilitate outreach program content and materials.
• Perform quality control and user testing for SnapPlus and related tools.
• Deliver outreach content and materials to community members.

Skills

Experience in agriculture

Communications to broad audiences

Educational program development

Multitasking and prioritization

Education

Bachelor's degree in Agriculture/Natural Resources/Soil Science or related

Tools

SnapPlus

Nutrient management software

Job description

Current Employees: If you are currently employed at any of the Universities of Wisconsin, log in to Workday to apply through the internal application process.

Job Category

Academic Staff

Employment Type

Regular

Job Profile

Outreach Specialist

Job Summary

The UW Department of Soil and Environmental Sciences is seeking an Outreach Specialist to develop and facilitate educational outreach programs related to the SnapPlus software and related software tools used by the agricultural and conservation community throughout Wisconsin. Come join our team of researchers and software developers building and maintaining software tools used by thousands of farms in the state. Our tools help farms effectively manage crop nutrients while protecting soil and water quality. The outreach specialist will work with the SnapPlus team (https://snapplus.wisc.edu) and have a lead role developing outreach materials and programs to help a wide range of users learn how to effectively use SnapPlus software for nutrient management planning. SnapPlus users include farmers, agronomists, agency staff, and conservation professionals. In addition, the outreach specialist will help to improve SnapPlus by testing new features and facilitating an iterative feedback process between users and the SnapPlus team. The outreach specialist will take a lead role in facilitating the SnapPlus user support process and collaborate with other team members to respond to user support requests via email, phone, and a combination of virtual and in-person meetings. This is a full-time, partial remote, ongoing/renewable position. Normal hours are 7:45am-4:30pm, Monday through Friday. Occasional nights and weekends may be required.

Additional Information

• Criminal Background Check may be required
• Evaluation/Probationary Period may be required
• Driver’s authorization is required for this role.
• Work Authorization:
• The successful applicant will be responsible for ensuring eligibility for employment in the United States by the start of the appointment.

Key Job Responsibilities

• 5% Schedules and secures resources and communicates logistics in support of an outreach program
• 10% Facilitate SnapPlus user support process and collaborate with team to respond to user support requests.
• 5% May assist with the monitoring of outreach program budget spending
• 10% Develops and evaluates curriculum and programs and provides recommendations for improvement
• 10% Identifies, promotes, and maintains external partnerships to support the outreach program
• 25% Researches, develops, and facilitates outreach program content and materials
• 10% Perform quality control and user testing for the SnapPlus software and related software tools.
• 25% Delivers outreach program content and materials to community members

Department

Department of Soil and Environmental Sciences

Compensation

The anticipated salary range for this position is $60,000 - $75,000. However, final salary will depend on experience and qualifications. Employees in this position can expect to receive benefits such as generous vacation, holidays, and paid time off; competitive insurances and savings accounts; retirement benefits. Additional benefits information can be found at: https://www.wisconsin.edu/ohrwd/benefits/download/fasl.pdf

Required Qualifications

• Relevant professional experience in agriculture or a closely related field.
• Experience communicating in both verbal and written formats with a broad audience such as farmers, agronomists, researchers, and government agency partners.
• Hands-on experience developing, coordinating, and delivering educational programs or curriculum.
• Demonstrated ability to plan, manage multiple tasks, establish priorities, and organize varied tasks in a complex environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Certification as a Certified Crop Advisor, Certified Professional Agronomist, or Certified Professional Soil Scientist
• Experience using SnapPlus or other nutrient management software
• Experience writing or reviewing nutrient management plans

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Agriculture, Natural Resources, Soil Science, or related field preferred.

Contact Information

College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS), Human Resources Manager, Erin Cook at [e-mail]

College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS), HR Generalist, Carla Boe at [e-mail]

Institutional Statement on Diversity

Diversity is a source of strength, creativity, and innovation for UW-Madison. We value the contributions of each person and respect the profound ways their identity, culture, background, experience, status, abilities, and opinion enrich the university community. We commit ourselves to the pursuit of excellence in teaching, research, outreach, and diversity as inextricably linked goals.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison fulfills its public mission by creating a welcoming and inclusive community for people from every background - people who as students, faculty, and staff serve Wisconsin and the world.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to, including but not limited to, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, pregnancy, disability, or status as a protected veteran and other bases as defined by federal regulations and UW System policies. We promote excellence by acknowledging skills and expertise from all backgrounds and encourage all qualified individuals to apply. For more information regarding applicant and employee rights and to view federal and state required postings, visit the Human Resources Workplace Poster website.

To request a disability or pregnancy-related accommodation for any step in the hiring process (e.g., application, interview, pre-employment testing, etc.), please contact the Divisional Disability Representative (DDR) in the division you are applying to. Please make your request as soon as possible to help the university respond most effectively to you.

Employment may require a criminal background check. It may also require your references to answer questions regarding misconduct, including sexual violence and sexual harassment.

The University of Wisconsin System will not reveal the identities of applicants who request confidentiality in writing, except that the identity of the successful candidate will be released. See Wis. Stat. sec. 19.36(7).

The Annual Security and Fire Safety Report contains current campus safety and disciplinary policies, crime statistics for the previous 3 calendar years, and on-campus student housing fire safety policies and fire statistics for the previous 3 calendar years. UW-Madison will provide a paper copy upon request; please contact the University of Wisconsin Police Department.