Research Trials Co-ordinator

Location: Cambridgeshire
Closing date: 13 Mar 2024
Reference number: SV/A1371

Job details

Location: NIAB Park Farm, Histon, Cambridge, CB24 9NZ
Closing date: 13 March 2024 with interviews being held on 27 March 2024
Salary: £23,000 to £25,000 per annum, depending on experience
Contract: Permanent
Working hours: 37 hours per week, Monday-Friday

ABOUT THE JOB
Join us and use your skills as part of a team taking crop science into farming practice

We are recruiting a Research Trials co-ordinator to work in our friendly NIAB Farming Systems and Agronomy team. The role will support variety evaluation programmes for sugar beet and pulses together with co-ordination and delivery of research-led field and glasshouse trials, as well as liaison with farmer hosts and customers from government and industry. We are looking for a good team worker with an interest in agriculture/plant sciences who is willing to learn and develop new skills. A good eye for detail is essential, along with the ability to handle confidential information.

As a Research Trials Co-ordinator, your key duties include:
• providing technical support to the NIAB Farming Systems team and other NIAB teams as required. 
• supporting research and consultancy services, especially those linked to IPM (weeds, pests and diseases) by developing and piloting protocols and processing data
• supporting delivery of variety evaluation for sugar beet and pulses within levy-funded and statutory programmes
• providing trial co-ordination and contract management support.

The role offers an opportunity to develop a range of practical and professional skills in team working, time management, communication and practical problem solving. Please note that the work is sometimes physically demanding with a range of daily physical activity required – walking, standing, bending and manual handling of items up to 20 kg. It will be necessary to work flexibly in response to fluctuations in workload.

We are happy to discuss flexible hours (e.g. to fit around caring roles) and/or to explore the opportunity for the role to support apprenticeship training at Level 4 or 5.

Location
The role is based at NIAB Park Farm, Histon, Cambridge, CB24 9NZ, 4 miles from Cambridge city centre. Free on-site parking and linked by cycle ways and regular buses to Cambridge city centre and railway station. Close to Junction 32 of A14, with easy access to M11, A10 and A11.

Informal enquiries are welcome, please contact Elizabeth Stockdale, Head of NIAB Farming Systems ()

Benefits include 25 days’ holiday plus public holidays and 3 days off during the Christmas period, some opportunity for flexible working, generous sick pay, attractive pension scheme, income protection, life assurance, employee discount scheme, free on-site parking.

ABOUT YOU

Essential requirements
Ideally you have :
• A levels in science subjects or equivalent qualifications/experience
• Experience of practical work, preferably related to agriculture or environmental sciences
• Good verbal and written communication skills
• IT skills – MS Word, Excel, Sharepoint and Email
• Good organisational and planning skills, able to prioritise and organise time and work tasks
• Understanding of the approaches needed to handle confidential information
• Flexibility – able to work alone and as part of a small team 

Ideally you will also have :
• Good numeracy and data handling skills
• Experience of field experimentation or ecological monitoring
• Experience in a customer-facing role (employment or voluntary position)
• A driving licence or access to independent means of traveling; NIAB have a pool of vehicles for use.

If you want to take up Apprenticeship funding, you must meet eligibility criteria, including valid residency status.

NIAB is a dynamic, research led and market driven plant bioscience organisation, with an emphasis on innovative applications for end-users in the agricultural, horticultural and food sectors. With over 100 years’ experience of research and knowledge exchange, NIAB is a leading research centre for crop agronomy and also provides a range of statutory and technical services for the plant breeding industry. The Farming Systems and Agronomy Research team generates, collates and provides specialist technical and scientific knowledge, internally to NIAB and externally to a range of clients, on the agronomy of arable rotations involving cereals, sugar beet, pulses, maize, short-term leys, potatoes and field vegetables, together with the wider environmental and social impacts of farming systems.

Further information.
About agronomy research at NIAB:

Cambridge Park Farm site

NIAB actively promotes equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society. As a Disability Confident Employer we have a positive approach to employing people living with a disability.

TO APPLY

Click the ‘Apply’ button for further details and to apply directly. In your application, please indicate whether you are interested in undertaking an Apprenticeship programme. Any questions? Email or call Human Resources on