Job Description
Mō tēnei tūranga mahi | About this role
Job Title: Senior Technician
Role type: Full time, fixed term or secondment until April 2026
Location: Auckland – St Johns Campus
General Salary Range - Band G: $66,331 to $77,226 depending on skills and experience
About the Role - Kōrero mō te Tūranga
The Senior Technician plays a crucial role in maintaining laboratory operations, ensuring the smooth functioning of equipment, and supporting diagnostic processes for exotic and emerging pests and diseases. Work spans surveillance, investigation, and quarantine programs, requiring both technical expertise and critical thinking to address environmental challenges. You'll play a crucial role in maintaining laboratory operations, ensuring the smooth functioning of equipment, and supporting diagnostic processes for exotic and emerging pests and diseases. There's significant potential for technological advancements—how can we refine our methods and enhance efficiency?
- Critical Thinking & Problem Solving – Works in a dynamic, reactive environment, applying analytical skills to help uncover causations and drive innovative solutions beyond routine testing
- Laboratory Operations & Equipment Maintenance – Keeps key machinery, refrigeration, and pipettes running efficiently, conducting tests to ensure optimal lab functionality.
- Diagnostics & Investigation – Processes routine and urgent samples, follows protocols, interprets data, and aids scientists in disease identification and investigations
About You - Mōu
You will bring your relevant skills, initiative, and ability to manage relationships, internal and external to MPI. You will be a high performer, highly productive, articulate, and focused, and you will have the ability to get things done.
A Bachelor's or Master's degree in Biology, or equivalent experience is required. Strong molecular biology skills are highly desirable, including expertise in setting up PCRs, adherence to SOPs and protocols, data interpretation, and familiarity with various diagnostic platforms. Experience with high-throughput sequencing is a plus.
You do not need to meet all of the role requirements to apply. We offer a breadth of development and learning opportunities and will welcome an application if you think you could make a great fit.
About the Team - Mō tō mātou Rōpū
The Virology & Phytoplasmology team consists of eleven members, including a mix of Principal, Senior Scientists, Scientists and Technicians. Collaboration is at the heart of their work, with everyone contributing and communicating openly and constructively. Many team members have worked together for over a decade, fostering a strong, supportive dynamic while remaining welcoming to newcomers. The group brings a wealth of specialised expertise, ensuring high-quality scientific output.
About MPI - Mō te Manatū Ahu Matua
Our role includes seizing export opportunities for our food and fibre sector, improving sector productivity, ensuring the food we produce is safe, increasing sustainable resource use, and protecting New Zealand from biological risk.
Are you ready to make a difference? - Kua rite koe mō tēnei mahi whaitake?
We are committed to being a good partner under Te Tiriti o Waitangi which includes working closely with iwi, hapū, whānau and hāpori.
We aspire to reflect the diverse communities we serve, so we welcome applications from individuals of all backgrounds, and identities. As an organisation, we are committed to making Manatū Ahu Matua Ministry for Primary Industries a great place to work for all.
In your cover letter we'd like to know about you, your values; your interest and motivations for this role; the abilities, strengths, personal attributes and diverse perspectives you will bring to the role and this organisation, which may have also been gained outside of the workforce.
To view the position description and/or apply online, please click “APPLY FOR THIS JOB” or visit the MPI Careers Site. To apply, you must hold the right to work in New Zealand or be eligible to obtain it – click here to find out more about work visa eligibility and options.
Applications close at 11.59 18 June 2025
If you have any questions about the role, please email Melissa.Heaney@mpi.govt.nz
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