Temporary Soil Sampling Technician
The new Soil Nutrient Health Scheme (SNHS) was officially launched. The SNHS is a four year, £45m significant new initiative aimed at improving soil nutrient health and estimating farm carbon stocks, right across Northern Ireland. The scheme will be delivered by AFBI and will see collection of soil samples taken from approximately 700,000 of Northern Ireland’s agricultural fields. RPS has been hired by AFBI to undertake the soil sampling over the next four years with peak soil sampling to be undertaken during winter months November to January. Approximately 200 people will be recruited by RPS in the coming months to be soil samplers, with the main sampling period to commencing in November 2023.
We’re seeking soil sampling technicians on a full or part-time basis to support Zone 2 of this exciting scheme to enable efficient and sustainable crop production. The sampling period will be approximately 16-18 weeks (mid-October 2023 up to the end of February 2024).
To apply for a role you must be available to work a minimum of three days per week.
You will be working as a member of a large RPS team collecting soil samples in farms throughout Zone 2 (refer to enclosed map for location detail). The soil samples will be taken with a soil corer and you will also use a smart mobile device with GPS to record spatial data. Work will be site based in rural agricultural environments. Full training, support and personal protective equipment will be provided for the right candidates.
Brief Job Description – Each soil sampling technician will be part of a soil sampling team led by an experienced field team leader and will be provided with a ruggedised mobile device which will be loaded with Arc Field Maps, base mapping and their field sample allocations. On site, the sampler will navigate to their fields for sampling using Arc Field Maps on their mobile device. The sampler will be required to take a minimum of 25 shallow soil samples at equal distances across a W transect with a supplied soil corer in each field whilst recording their GPS track on the mobile device.
