Purity and Breakdown Seed Laboratory Supervisor

About the role

The Washington State Department of Agriculture's Commodity Inspection Division provides unbiased third‑party inspections for a wide variety of Washington agricultural products and assists companies in moving and exporting their products. The Seed Program within this division conducts pre‑harvest seed field inspections and laboratory seed testing of agricultural, vegetable, native plants, rangeland grasses and flower seeds grown under certification and phytosanitary programs. The program is responsible for seed certification, testing, phytosanitary visual inspection, official seed sampling, and serves as the state seed regulatory agent, monitoring two seed quarantines to help producers maintain disease‑ and pest‑free commodities. This position reports to the Program Manager and directs laboratory activity in the Purity and Breakdown and filing sections of the Seed Laboratory, supervising technicians and assistants, performing complex tests, and ensuring compliance with laws, regulations, and standards.

Responsibilities

• Supervise laboratory technicians and assistants within the Purity and Breakdown sections of the Seed Laboratory.
• Plan, schedule, assign and review the daily work of staff.
• Conduct quality control on samples performed by direct reports.
• Adjust assignments and schedules to maintain adequate staffing levels.
• Respond to fluctuating workloads.
• Communicate schedule changes to staff and industry.
• Evaluate employee performance levels.
• Assess training needs, coaching, and mentoring of staff; assign qualified trainers.
• Provide information and instruction on marketplace changes using program‑approved training material.
• Evaluate trainee progress via interviews, knowledge assessments and tests; recommend AOSA accreditation for qualified trainees.
• Serve as a liaison between lab staff and management to ensure lab procedures are followed.
• Exercise technical and administrative supervision over all laboratory staff within Purity and Breakdown and filing.
• Review, audit and approve staff’s daily timesheets and TEMS vouchers for accuracy and completeness.
• Oversee samples being checked in and processed according to receipt and special services (rush, super rush, service samples, customized stakeholder requests).
• Verify that procedures are followed, including ISO 9001:2015, USDA ASL, AOSA, ISTA, Canadian, phytosanitary, safety, and any other specialized procedures or stakeholder requests.
• Participate in leadership and all staff meetings.
• Review and vote on AOSA Rules Proposals that may impact Washington State seed industry.
• Contact and communicate with stakeholders about laboratory results as needed.
• Perform complex technical laboratory work, research, routine and advanced testing and analysis.
• Perform the work of lower‑level laboratory positions when needed.
• Assist with additional laboratory data entry in Pure Harvest in the absence of office staff.
• Apply certification standards according to Chapter 16‑301 and 16‑302 WAC, Canadian Seed Testing, ISTA, or other certification standards and stakeholder requests.
• Enter and retrieve data from specialized Seed Laboratory testing programs.
• Review and sign completed laboratory reports before release to stakeholders.
• Provide RST seal