Per CCR 249.3, this job control may be used to fill subsequent vacancies.
Under the general supervision of the Agricultural Pest Control Supervisor (APCS), the Pest Prevention Assistant II will plan, organize, and direct the work of a small crew for various pest delimitation programs, maintain pest trapping routes, coordinate the application of pesticides, maintain pesticide inventory and vehicle fleet, oversee pesticide applications performed by outside vendors, lead fruit removal and tree removal, communicate with the public at educational public meetings, coordinate with other agencies, and perform various insect/disease surveys for the emergency eradication of targeted pests. These activities include overseeing treatment activities, preparing written reports, performing quality control inspections for treatment-survey-trapping programs, training new employees, and acting as the back-up trapper/applicator. The incumbent will act as lead in preparing detection, delimitation, and eradication assignments and reports according to action plans or program recommendations.
• Safely operate and maintain a State-owned and State-rented vehicles to travel to designated work areas.
• Follow established protocols for visual survey, larval survey, eradication treatment, host removal, and detection/delimitation trapping. Service various insect traps, perform visual surveys and insect sweeps, visually inspect for target pest damage on local plant hosts, and conduct eradication treatments (mixing and application of pesticide materials).
• Direct and lead a small crew of seasonal employees to deploy traps, perform visual surveys, or apply control measures for target pests such as, but not limited to various fruit flies, Japanese beetle, and Spongy moth.
• Train seasonal employees on proper host identification, drawing property diagrams, correct trap placement, baiting and application procedures, the biological aspects of the target pest, etc.
• Train seasonal employees on ground bait application using the solo backpack sprayer, truck mounted ground treatment equipment, soil drench application using the Hudson sprayer, and the use of a pressure gun and other equipment as needed.
• Screen wet and dry traps for target pests (plant and insect). Examine contents of traps, which may contain hundreds of plant samples, insects and debris to make preliminary identifications of specimens, which resemble target pests. Collect target pest from plants and collect plant samples.
• Once a suspect target pest is preliminarily identified, follow prescribed action, which may include phone contact and/or return of the suspect target pest to the field office for official identification.
Candidates may perform these essential functions with or without reasonable accommodation.
You will find additional information about the job in the Duty Statement.
The duties of this position are primarily conducted outdoors and may be exposed to extreme temperatures and weather, uneven terrain, and various noise levels. The incumbent may work within an office/warehouse environment furnished with a variety of office equipment, which normally consists of desks, tables, chairs, filing cabinets, storage cabinets, filing bins, computers, computer peripherals, phones, answering machines, photocopiers, and fax machines.
The incumbent will be required to drive and must have a safe driving record as documented by the Department of Motor Vehicles (a safe driving record is one free from convictions in the past two years for repeated moving violations, or a single serious violation, such as drunk driving or reckless driving).
Travel by State-issued vehicle, aircraft, or other public transportation system to various locations throughout the state.
The incumbent must be able to apply pesticides, haul loads of fruit and/or removed trees, perform survey work, and work well under extreme time constraints, exercise good judgment, determine priorities, make appropriate well-thought- out decisions, allocate staff and resources to achieve maximum results, maintain focus under conditions of duress, and provide accurate assessment of rapidly changing situations (ex: multiple exotic pest detections requiring multiple operations).
The incumbent may be required to work overtime, weekends, and holidays.
The incumbent must be able to establish and maintain effective working relationships with those contacted during the course of work, cooperate with other staff members and leads in completing assigned work, communicate effectively verbally and in writing, with other agencies and the public, and be able to meet required deadlines.
