(Aquaculture) Technician for the European Oyster Hatchery on Helgoland (f/m/d)

Laborkräfte

(Aquaculture) Technician for the European Oyster Hatchery on Helgoland (f/m/d)

Because of their high ecological value, native oyster beds are a focus of European conservation efforts. Against the background of ongoing and future restoration measures, the PROCEED project establishes an innovative and sustainable seed oyster production of the European oyster Ostrea edulis to support long-term restoration measures in the North Sea. The hatchery facility was installed within the existing AWI infrastructure on Helgoland in 2019. The associated research supports the technical optimization of oyster production and also includes topics such as genetic diversity and effects/control of pathogens.

The main duties include the technical management and supervision of all components involved in the outdoor hatchery infrastructure (offshore and on site). These tasks require a close collaboration with the scientific diver group and the technical department at the AWI Helgoland. In addition, the tasks require the willingness to go on one-day boat trips, e.g. to deploy nursery structures and ideally the capability to drive a small motorboat (boating license). You will also support processes within the hatchery production as needed, coordinate with the test and development project RESTORE within the group and set up research experiments, if needed.

• Cleaning, maintenance and management of the field nursery off Helgoland
• Design, installation and management of additional nursery structures
• Coordinating the arrival and transport of juvenile oysters to and from the Helgoland facilities, traceability and supervision of these processes
• During hatchery production: support in the daily hatchery tasks within the team of the Helgoland Oyster Hatchery, e.g. microalgae production, maintenance tasks

• Culture and monitoring of seed oysters (field nursery)
• During hatchery production: e.g. oversee feeding of broodstock oysters and oyster spat, maintaining broodstock conditioning and/or larval rearing (standard hatchery production protocols)

• Deputy tasks within the multidisciplinary team

The position requires an education as an aquaculture technician, marine-technical assistant or equivalent education. We are looking for a motivated (aquaculture) technician, ideally with experience in oyster/shellfish farming who is able to adapt to the multidisciplinary tasks of this position. It offers many possibilities to include own ideas and professional backgrounds. The possession of a boating license is desired.

The applicant should have good English language skills (B2). The ability to speak the German language (B2) is desired, as a lot of the coordination is only possible in German. The readiness to work & communicate in an international team as well as good coordination skills are required. The position includes on-call and weekend duty at the hatchery.

The AWI is characterized by:

• our scientific success - excellent research
• collaboration and cooperation - intra-institute, national and international, interdisciplinary
• opportunities to develop – on the job and towards other positions
• an international environment – everyday contact with people from all over the world
• flexible working hours
• health promotion
• support services and a culture of reconciling work and family
• occupational pension provision (VBL)

AWI values diversity and actively promotes gender parity, as well as an open, inclusive environment that provides equal opportunities. We are convinced that diverse teams and a variety of perspectives enrich our work and our daily collaboration. In a continuous process of learning and reflection, we aim to ensure that all our employees can be themselves and feel a sense of belonging. We welcome applications from qualified people regardless of binary and non-binary genders, race and nationality, ethnic and social background, religion, age, physical abilities, neurodivergence, sexual orientation, and other identities.

Applicants with disabilities will be given preference when equal qualifications are present.

We strongly encourage qualified women to apply for the advertised position at AWI to reduce the underrepresentation of women.

AWI fosters work-family compatibility in various ways and has received several awards as a result of this commitment. And as a new international member of our team, you can be sure that we will help you settle in. Our Family Office and International Office will be glad to support you, even before you start at AWI.

This research center is part of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers. With more than 42,000 employees and an annual budget of over € 5 billion, the Helmholtz Association is Germany's largest scientific organisation.