Overview: The Resource Director is responsible for the administration and execution of AMSA’s role as a Technical Assistance Provider (TAP) for the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) who has established cooperative agreements with non-profit organizations to coordinate and provide technical assistance utilizing a wide range of expertise and outreach strategies called Meat and Poultry Processing Capacity Technical Assistance Program (MPPTA).

Job posting will close April 29, 2022! 

These organizations will also establish a national network of support for meat and poultry grant applicants to navigate the application process, and to assist grant recipients throughout their project. AMSA is supporting the following TAP Scopes:

Scope III
1. Food safety, inspection, HACCP, and quality assurance
2. Animal handling and welfare

Scope II
1. Business planning and related consultation needs:
     a. Technical support for the assessment of need and/or feasibility study
     b. Information on meat and/or poultry processing operations and processing arrangements
     c. Supply chain development and market strategy
2. Financial Planning and related consultation
     a. Financial feasibility and cash flow
     b. Small business financial management, budgeting, and economics

Scope IV
Professional support for small and mid-sized facilities for market development

This position is a full time, contract position and will last the duration of the program and its funding (~2 years, but possibly longer). This position reports to the CEO of AMSA.

Job Functions: Our approach as a TA Provider will be to establish robust resources on a national basis for technical assistance and expertise for meat and poultry processing projects. Our experts will cover red meat, poultry, and some of the alternative species listed for the project (small ruminant and alternative meat sources--bison, ostrich--etc.).

Specific responsibilities include, but may not be limited to the following:
1. Serve as the primary contact for the project for AMSA, USDA, and the coordinator, Flower Hill Institute (FHI) through in person meetings and regular Zoom and phone calls.
2. Serve both as a Technical Provider and the coordinator of TAPs to provide the depth and capacity needed for meat and poultry projects nationwide. The initial group of TAPs has been identified to support the following areas of expertise: food safety, inspection, HACCP, quality assurance, animal handling and welfare, business and financial planning, and market development, but the Resource Director will grow the pool of AMSA TAPs as needed.
3. Develop and continually update the webpage to support AMSA’s initiative and provide technical access.
4. Schedule, coordinate, and communicate with processing facilities and AMSA TAPs.
5. Create a library of resources for all processing facilities on key meat science topics, especially those within our scope.
6. Provide education and outreach in our program areas.
7. Capacity to stay engaged with program participants for up to five years after awards to evaluate progress, document challenges, and assess program impacts.
8. Capacity to work with AMS and the TA Coordinator to collaborate on outreach and reduce transaction barriers for applicants, particularly small and mid-sized applicants.

Minimum Qualifications:
Education: MS or PhD in meat science, ag business, or related field.

The Resource Director must:
• Have at least 5 years of demonstrable project and/or personnel management.
• Experience with governmental led programs whether that is through grant writing, experience, or regulatory management.
• A working knowledge of the areas within our scopes (food safety, inspection, HACCP, quality assurance, animal handling and welfare, business and financial planning, and market development).
• Experience working in or with processing facilities.
• Have a sound knowledge of budgets and financial statements and impact.
• The ability to learn QuickBooks and facilitation of business agreements and relationships with the project, processors, and TAP.

Key Attributes:
• A passion for the meat industry and helping processing facilities.
• A strong team player who possesses maturity, confidence, a strong work ethic, and enjoys working collaboratively.
• A high energy, motivated individual who is task and goal-oriented, creative, and self-directed with exceptional attention to detail and the ability to bring projects to closure.
• Enjoys interacting with people with a customer service mentality and team mindset.
• A desire and interest to broaden existing knowledge and to continually learn new ideas and concepts.
• Proven organizational and project management skills, including the ability to build and lead effective work teams and manage a diverse array of projects/tasks. Multitasking is a critical skill to accomplish the variety of goals with varying timelines, budgets, and staffing resources.
• Accessible and able to perform at a high level from a distance, on calls, by email, and electronically.

Flexible location. Must have access to reliable, high-speed internet. Travel will be required at a level yet to be determined.

To learn more about the MPPTA program, or to initiate a request for technical assistance under this program, visit the AMS webpage www.ams.usda.gov/services/grants/mppta. For information on MPIRG, MPPEP, and USDA’s other Meat and Poultry Supply Chain Initiatives, visit www.usda.gov/meat.

For questions please contact: Collette Kaster, CEO
ckaster@meatscience.org
660-748-5602