Fish Pathologist

The Fish Pathologist will demonstrate a strong commitment to the principles of biosecurity, pro-active fish health management, legal and judicious use of therapeutants, and standard diagnostic methods in the identification and resolution of environmental or infectious disease in trout and salmon. Responsibilities include conducting farm inspections, diagnosing disease and recom-mending treatments or other interventions, working with farm staff to develop and implement biosecurity and fish health improvement plans, supervising of fish health technicians, and coordi-nating diagnostic cases and associated reporting with laboratory staff.

Essential Functions

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Conducting necropsies on fish, collecting tissue and other samples relevant to determining causes of morbidity or mortality in trout and salmon

• Coordinating with laboratory staff to submit samples for pathogen testing, interpret re-sults, and document/communicate of findings

• Completing annual biosecurity audits of all farms in support of fish health, setting goals and objectives for improved fish performance and health outcomes

• Monitoring farm performance data (e.g., survival rates) to identify emerging fish health threats and opportunities for improvement

• Supervising the activities of fish health technicians responsible for field assessments of fish health, treatment applications, and other daily on-farm fish health functions

• Coordinating with cooperating veterinarian(s) and/or U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser-vice/Aquatic Animal Drug Approval Partnership Program to access aquaculture drugs and ensure legal and judicious use at all farms.

• Designing and conducting research to address fish health concerns, improve understand-ing and methods of fish health management, and advance the field of fisheries science.

• Representing Riverence in professional forums related to fish health, including internal and external meetings/conferences, working groups, etc.

• Always working to produce products people can trust by recognizing poor quality and communicating with management.

• Providing prompt, friendly and courteous service to internal and external customers.

• Continually pursuing sustainability of our natural resources with every decision, decreas-ing waste and being conscious of individual choices

• Advocating positive change within our team, empowering one another

Completing other duties as requiredCompetencies

• Experience identifying fish pathogens and diseases

• Familiarity with principles of animal welfare, fish health management, and biosecurity in aquaculture

• Familiarity with necropsy procedures, aseptic collection of tissue samples, and standard diagnostic methods (e.g., AFS Fish Health Section ‘Blue Book' or OIE methods of fish pathogen identification)

• Competency with Microsoft Office program suite, including Word, Excel, and Power-Point

• Attention to detail, critical thinking, safety, and continual improvement

Requirements

Supervisory Responsibility

This position supervises the Fish Health Technicians.

This job occasionally involves work in an outdoor environment and may involve exposure to in-clement weather conditions

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employ-ee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.

• This job is occasionally physically demanding and requires the ability to lift 50 pounds.

• Alternately walking and sitting for long periods of time is required.

• The ability to bend, squat, kneel, step, reach, lift, push, pull, see, hear and talk are re quired.

• Fine motor skills associated with laboratory work (e.g., necropsy procedures, chemical handling, operation of analytical equipment) are required.

Position Type/Expected Hours of Work

This is a full-time position, which could include occasional work on Saturdays or Sundays

Travel

Local travel between company locations is required.

Required Education and Experience

• The ability to speak, read, understand and follow directions with or without reasonable accommodations

• Knowledge of fish husbandry and aquaculture practices

• Use of standard methods in identifying infectious agents and other causes of morbidi-ty/mortality in fish; preventing and treating fish diseases

• Certified by the American Fisheries Society Fish Health Section as a Certified Aquatic Animal Health Inspector or Certified Fishery Pathologist or able to achieve certifica-tion within a 6 month probationary period

• Valid driver's license and good driving record

Preferred Education and Experience

Master's degree in fisheries, aquaculture, or a related field or comparable training in veterinary medicine

Work Authorization/Security Clearance (if applicable)

Must be authorized to work in the U.S.

Other Duties

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of ac-tivities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsi-bilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.