Potato Program Coordinator

State of Wisconsin; Wisconsin; On-site; USD 69,000 - 76,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Benefits package

Job summary

The State of Wisconsin’s Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection seeks a Potato Program Coordinator (Plant Pest and Disease Specialist – Senior) for the Division of Agricultural Resource Management, Bureau of Plant Industry. This field-based role requires travel across the state and headquarters selection in multiple counties.

The position leads technical direction for the statewide potato program, inspections, audits, and compliance with pest regulations while collaborating

Qualifications

• Education, training, or experience in a natural science field (i.e., biology, agronomy, entomology, horticulture, plant pathology, botany, or equivalent field)
• Experience with plant pest surveys, inspections, crop pest scouting or implementing a pest or disease management program (IPM)
• Experience with written or verbal communications to external stakeholders (presentations, factsheets, social media, etc.)

Responsibilities

• Coordinate and implement the potato program, including inspections of fields and audits for pest regulations.
• Inspect nursery plants, Christmas trees, firewood, seeds, crops and other products for health certification.
• Enforce plant pest regulations and related nursery/seed laws.
• Provide regulatory outreach through trainings, presentations, and communications to the state's plant industry.

Skills

Pest surveys

Field inspections

Public outreach

Technical writing

Education

Natural science degree

Advanced degree in natural sciences

Tools

ArcGIS

Survey123

Job description

Location Brown County;Florence County;Forest County;Langlade County;Marinette County;Menominee County;Oconto County;Shawano County

The Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection ( DATCP )works hard to protect and promote Wisconsin’s agricultural industries and consumers. As an agency, we strive to serve the people of Wisconsin assuring: safe, wholesome food; consumer protection and fair business practices; animal and plant health; a clean environment; and strong agriculture and commerce. To successfully attain these goals, we recognize our success hinges on the high quality, dedicated staff we employ.

DATCP currently has an opening for a Potato Program Coordinator (Plant Pest and Disease Specialist – Senior)position within the Division of Agricultural Resource Management, Bureau of Plant Industry.

This is a field-based position and routine statewide travel is required. The selected applicant can select a headquarter in one of the following counties :

Brown, Florence, Forest, Langlade, Marinette, Menominee, Oconto, or Shawano

Qualifying candidates are not required to live in a county headquarter location. However, reimbursement for commuting to or from the employee’s assigned headquarters is not provided (e.g., mileage, meals, parking, lodging, etc.). Routine travel within an assigned territory and throughout the state for assigned work and emergency response is required.

When applying please select all counties in which you are willing to be headquartered.

Employee Benefits: This position offers the State of Wisconsin’s excellent benefits package , which includes 19.5 days of paid time off tostart, 9 paid holidays, accrued sick leave, multiple insurance options and an exceptional retirement plan! To help you understand what your benefit package would be worth, please check the Total Rewards Calculator here .

Click here to see what working for the State of Wisconsin is all about!

This posting may be used to fill future similar vacancies.

Position Summary

This is a professional position with responsibilities in the plant sciences, emphasizing plant pest regulatory compliance related to the implementation of the statewide potato program. The position is responsible for technical program direction and coordination of work for assigned areas; the position also provides support to management in assessing program rule or policy modifications. It functions under general supervision working independently with a great deal of autonomy and discretion. The position works closely with the Northern Unit Supervisor, Plant Protection Section Manager, Pest Survey & Control Section Manager, and the Export Certification Program Coordinator.

The principal duties of the position are to:

• serve as the expert who coordinates and implements the potato program, including inspecting potato fields, conducting annual certified seed potato program audits, and enforcing potato rot nematode, certified seed potato and late blight regulations;
• conduct inspections of nursery plants, Christmas trees, firewood, logs, lumber, seeds, agricultural crops and other plant products for plant health certification;
• manage program area compliance activities, implementing and enforcing plant pest regulations and plant protection laws, particularly pest quarantine, nursery and seed laws;
• coordinate the audit of ginseng for export to Taiwan or other international markets as needed, including inspection of gardens for regulated pests;
• identify and assess insect pests, diseases and weeds on a wide range of agricultural products and crops; and
• provide timely and objective regulatory outreach to the state's plant industry community via one on-one or group trainings, presentations, tradeshow exhibits, phone conversations, email updates, social media, webpages, factsheets, radio, video and print media.

The classification of this position is Plant Pest and Disease Specialist – Senior, which is in schedule-range 15-03 with a starting pay between $33.00 to $36.50 per hour based on qualifications.

This position is not represented by a collective bargaining unit. A 12-month probationary period is required. Pay for current state employees will be set in accordance with the State Compensation Plan at the time of hire.

At DATCP, we strive to deliver efficient and effective programs and services to Wisconsin agriculture, consumers, and businesses. The Department has numerous on-the-job training (OJT) opportunities and transferable skills, unique to each Bureau and position.

These OJT opportunities and transferable skills include direct experience and practice through collaboration with co-workers/supervisor, peer mentoring, and job-specific training modules. This position will have access to training on potato program procedures, including Potato Rot Nematode field inspections, UW Seed Certification Program Audits, and evaluation of certified seed potato waiver requests, within the first 12 months. Online webinars and conferences will occasionally offer CEUs in pest, disease and plant identification and other topics

A criminal background check will be performed on the selected applicant prior to an offer of employment.

Possession of a valid driver's license or the ability to provide one’s own transportation for work purposes, is required.

A valid driver’s license and the eligibility to drive a State of Wisconsin Fleet Vehicle
is required.

*

In order to be authorized to drive a State vehicle the candidate must meet the requirements of the State of Wisconsin Fleet Vehicle Policy, which are:

Must have a valid driver’s license;

Must have a minimum of two years of licensed driving experience;

Must be 18 years of age.

Additionally, your driving record MUST NOT reflect any of the following conditions:

Three or more moving violations and/or at-fault accidents in the past two years;

Operating While Intoxicated (OWI)/Driving Under the Influence (DUI) citation within the past 12 months;

Suspension or revocation of driver’s license.

Travel for approximately 50% of this position’s duties with occasional overnight stays required.

Ability to walk in rough terrain and work outdoors in potentially inclement and adverse weather conditions, including heat, humidity, rain, wind and cold.

Qualifications

Minimally qualified candidates will have each of the following:

• Education, training, or experience in a natural science field (i.e., biology, agronomy, entomology, horticulture, plant pathology, botany, or equivalent field
• Experience or training conducting plant pest surveys, inspections, crop pest scouting or implementing a pest or disease management program (i.e. integrated pest management, invasive species, agronomy, or forest insect and disease management)
• Experience with written or verbal communications to external stakeholders (i.e. conducting presentations, creating factsheets, social media posts, etc.)

In addition to the minimum qualifications above, highly qualified candidates will have one or more of the following:

• Advanced education in the Natural Sciences (i.e., BS/MS/PhD in biology, agronomy, horticulture, entomology, plant pathology, botany, or equivalent)
• Experience with local, state or federal plant regulations such as interpreting, following, or enforcing quarantines, invasive species laws, export requirements, seed potato certification rules, noxious weed rules, pesticide laws, etc.
• Experience providing outreach related to invasive species or natural sciences or key plant pests and diseases (i.e., spongy moth, emerald ash borer, hemlock woolly adelgid, Asian Longhorned beetle, spotted lanternfly, sudden oak death, beech leaf disease, potato rot nematode, late blight, other invasive species or pollinators, etc.)
• Experience with geographic information systems (GIS) or electronic data collection using ArcGIS/Survey 123 or similar systems.

How To Apply

If viewing this posting on an external site (such as indeed.com, etc.), please visit Wisc.Jobs and search for this Job ID: 21703 to complete your application for this posting.

DATCP is an Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action employer. We provide reasonable accommodations to qualified applicants and employees with disabilities.

The State of Wisconsin offers a special program for qualified veterans with a 30% or greater service-connected disability.If you are a qualified veteran, please visit the Veterans Employment page for application instructions to be considered for the Veterans Non-Competitive Appointment program.For complete information on veterans hiring programs that may benefit you, please visit the Employment page on WDVA's website.

To be considered for this position, you will need to create an account (if you don’t already have one) and apply online via the “Apply for Job” button listed on the top right of the job posting page. You will be required to upload a current resume and a letter of qualifications that clearly describes your qualifications and experience as they relate to the qualifications listed in this job posting. Review the applicant resources , including tips on how to write a resume and letter of qualifications.

Submitted application materials will be evaluated by one or more job experts. Candidates who are deemed eligible will be invited to participate in the next step of the selection process, starting with those candidates who are deemed most qualified.

The deadline to apply for this position is 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, August 19th,2026.