Hours: Work shift 7:30AM - 4:00PM, M-F with rotational weekend work/holiday (approximately every 6th weekend, 7:30AM - 4:00PM) required.
Description: We are looking for a responsible and highly motivated Research Assistant to join the Controlled Environments Team. Here, you will help us grow what’s next. No matter what your role, you will be part of a team that is building the future of agriculture – solving the world’s food problems through innovation, technology, and putting people first. We have an exciting opportunity to join our team at our Johnston, Iowa four-acre, smoke-free research facility. This position will primarily assist with preparation and execution of routine duties such as seeding, pollinating, transplanting plants, watering, harvesting, tissue sampling, and data collection while maintaining a professional, clean, and safe work environment and meeting all compliance standards. We are looking for candidates who take initiative, love to learn, work hard, and have a stable work history.
Duties/Responsibilities: •Daily greenhouse plant care, including seeding, pollinating, transplanting, watering, harvesting, and seed handling for corn, soybean, wheat, canola and other crops. •Punch or cut and store small samples of plant tissue and delivery for laboratory analysis. Carefully maintain sample identity for thousands of samples at a time while maintaining proper storage conditions. •Assisting with experiments, collecting data, and maintaining records. •Perform routine greenhouse sanitation tasks like discarding regulated material and removing waste.
Job Qualifications: • High school diploma/GED required. Bachelor's degree in an agriculture, horticulture, plant physiology, molecular biology, entomology, plant pathology is preferred. Three or more years of related experience/equivalent amounts of relevant education and experience is preferred. • Ability to pay close attention to detail and follow standard operating and safety/ergonomics protocols is essential. • Excellent communication and organizational skills, a high degree of self-motivation, a positive attitude, and the ability to work well independently as well as a team member with minimal supervision. • Basic computer skills preferred, including MS Office programs (Word, Excel, Outlook), and ability to gain competency with internally-developed research software. • Must be able to stand and sit for long periods of time and lift up to 30 lbs. Must be able to tolerate hours of repetitive work in a warm, humid greenhouse with pollen present year-round. • Must be able to walk the whole facility multiple times a day. • Must be willing to work around common chemicals and comply with safety measures with said chemicals. • Here we have a very strong safety culture and implement safety in everything that we do. You must follow all safety procedures.
Bonus Structure: $500 paid after 6 months, $1,000 paid after 12 months (repeats every year worker stays onsite)
About Us: Established in 2004, SPECTRAFORCE® is one of the largest and fastest-growing diversity-owned staffing firms in the US. The growth of our company is a direct result of our global client service delivery model that is powered by our state-of-the-art A.I. proprietary talent acquisition platform, robust ISO 9001:2015/ISO 27001 certified processes, and strong and passionate client engaged teams. We have built our business by providing talent and project-based solutions, including Contingent, Permanent, and Statement of Work (SOW) services to over 140 clients in the US, Canada, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, and India. Key industries that we service include Technology, Financial Services, Life Sciences, Healthcare, Telecom, Retail, Utilities and Transportation. SPECTRAFORCE is built on a concept of “human connection,” defined by our branding attitude of NEWJOBPHORIA®, which is the excitement of bringing joy and freedom to the work lifestyle so our people and clients can reach their highest potential. Learn more at: http://www.spectraforce.com
Benefits: SPECTRAFORCE offers ACA compliant health benefits as well as dental, vision, accident, critical illness, voluntary life, and hospital indemnity insurances to eligible employees. Additional benefits offered to eligible employees include commuter benefits, 401K plan with matching, and a referral bonus program. SPECTRAFORCE provides unpaid leave as well as paid sick leave when required by law.
Equal Opportunity Employer: SPECTRAFORCE is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, religion, color, sex, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, disability or veteran status, or any other category protected by applicable federal, state, or local laws. Please contact Human Resources at LOA@spectraforce.com if you require reasonable accommodation. At SPECTRAFORCE, we are committed to maintaining a workplace that ensures fair compensation and wage transparency in adherence with all applicable state and local laws. This position’s starting pay is: $20.00/hr.
