Deputy Farm Manager - Edinburgh

We are currently seeking applications for a Deputy Farm Manager within the SASA : Agricultural Science Delivery based in Edinburgh. This is a permanent and pensionable appointment and new entrants will normally start on the minimum of the pay range. Candidates with a disability who meet the essential criteria below will be invited to the assessments.

The Agriculture and Rural Economy Directorate(ARE) is the largest in the Scottish Government, with over 1,300 staff based in Saughton House, SASA and Area Offices across Scotland. SASA provides advice and scientific services to the Agriculture and Rural Economy (ARE) Directorate and the rest of the Scottish Government in relation to crops and the environment.

The Deputy Farm Manager/Senior Tractor Operator will be part of a team responsible for delivering farm services in support of the certification and scientific work at SASA and for operating a small commercial arable farming operation within the farm rotation, the farm extends to 135 Ha or thereby. The post holder will also work closely with colleagues in other areas including horticulture to help ensure that services are delivered across the section in the most efficient manner.

This post requires the holder to be a skilled tractor operator with recent experience in field operations including ploughing, cultivating, sowing, spraying, fertiliser application and harvesting a range of agricultural crops. The post-holder should also have experience of supervising staff. Much of the work of the team is cyclical in nature though volumes can vary from year to year, this requires good self-management, organisational skills and flexibility.

Essential Criteria
1. Recent practical experience and proven track record of working in an arable farming operation in a lead tractorman/supervisory or management role in the UK, preferably one linked to a research or trials operation.
2. Good communication skills and an ability to develop and maintain strong effective working relationships with a range of internal and external stakeholders.
3. Experience and knowledge of routine agricultural machinery and small tools maintenance.
4. Experience of record keeping or maintaining documentation in support of quality assurance or similar accreditation schemes.

Nationality requirements
This job is broadly open to the following groups:
• UK nationals
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals from the EU, EEA or Switzerland with settled or pre-settled status or who apply for either status by the deadline of the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals working in the Civil Service
• relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals who have built up the right to work in the Civil Service
• certain family members of the relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals

Further Information
For further information on this vacancy please download and review the “Person Specification and Further Information for Job Applicants” which you will find below. To apply, you must fully complete and submit an online application via this website before the closing date.

To learn more about this opportunity, please contact Thomas Veitch at thomas.veitch@sasa.gov.scot.

Possession of PA1, PA2 and PA6 Pesticide Certificates Required
This post will entail field work and as such will be based at SASA, Roddinglaw Road, Edinburgh. As the post requires out of hours work and attendance at short notice on occasion it is expected that the Deputy Farm Manager would live on the site, a house is available at Gogarbank farm.

Important Information Regarding Interviews
In recognition of the Scottish Government’s ongoing measures and guidance in its response to Covid-19 (Coronavirus), we would like to advise applicants that a decision has been taken that all interviews must be conducted in a virtual/remote setting.

In order to facilitate this new way of working, we are asking all applicants to ensure that they have a suitable space to complete the virtual interview. In addition, a personal device of choice, which has the interview application downloaded. This could be MS Teams or Webex for example. This will allow candidates to undertake the interview/assessment if selected. We are also asking you to ensure that your personal Wi-Fi/Broadband capacity will be sufficient to carry both audio and video feeds.

The Scottish Government is a diverse and inclusive workplace and we want to help you demonstrate your full potential whatever type of assessment is used. If you require any adjustments to our recruitment process, please let us know via recruitment@gov.scot.

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