The Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) works hard to protect and promote Wisconsin’s agricultural industries and consumers. As an agency, we strive to serve the people of Wisconsin assuring: safe, wholesome food; consumer protection and fair business practices; animal and plant health; a clean environment; and strong agriculture and commerce. To successfully attain these goals, we recognize our success hinges on the diverse, high quality, dedicated staff we employ.

DATCP currently has an opening for two Nursery Inspectors (Northwestern region and Southeastern region) positions within the Division of Agricultural Resource Management, Bureau of Plant Industry. The work hours for these positions are typically 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM Monday through Friday with occasional evenings or weekends.

These are field-based positions and may be assigned a fleet vehicle for work-related travel. 

The selected applicants can select a headquarter in one of the following counties: 

Northwestern position counties: Barron, Bayfield, Burnett, Chippewa, Douglas, Dunn, Eau Claire, Pepin, Pierce, Polk, Rusk, Sawyer, St. Croix, Taylor or Washburn 

Southeastern position counties: Jefferson, Kenosha, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Rock, Sheboygan, Walworth, Washington or Waukesha

Qualifying candidates are not required to live in a county headquarter location. However, reimbursement for commuting to or from the employee’s assigned headquarters is not provided (e.g., mileage, meals, parking, lodging, etc.). Routine travel within an assigned territory and throughout the state for assigned work and emergency response is required.

When applying please select all counties in which you are willing to be headquartered.

Employee Benefits: This position offers the State of Wisconsin’s excellent benefits package, which includes 19.5 days of paid time off to start, 9 paid holidays, accrued sick leave, multiple insurance options and an exceptional retirement plan! To help you understand what your benefit package would be worth, please check the Total Rewards Calculator here.

By working for Wisconsin State Government, you may also be eligible for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. Please click the link for details. 

Click here to see what working for the State of Wisconsin is all about!

This posting may be used to fill future similar vacancies.

Duties of these positions are inspecting nursery plants, Christmas trees, logs, seed, sod, firewood, and other forest and agricultural commodities for plant health and export certification, collecting regulatory samples for laboratory analysis and diagnosis as necessary; enforcing plant pest regulations to achieve compliance, particularly those involving plant pest quarantines, nursery and seed laws; identifying and assessing plant pests diseases and invasive species on a wide range of horticultural, forest and agricultural products; and providing timely and objective regulatory outreach to the state's plant industry community via one-on-one or group trainings and presentations, tradeshow exhibits, phone conversations, personal communications, social media, webpages, radio, TV and print media. 

Duties also include assessment of plant pest risk and plant pest response activities. This position may serve as a department representative on committees or as a liaison with external organizations, functioning as a technical expert and resource. Interactions with federal and state agency partners, plant industry groups and independent researchers will be used to provide recommendations to managers on policies, administrative rules and/or program direction.

Northwestern Nursery Inspector Full Position Description

Southeastern Nursery Inspector Full Position Description

The classification of this position is Plant Pest and Disease Specialist - Senior, which is in schedule-range 15-03 with starting pay between $32.00 to $36.00 per hour ($66,560 to $74,880 annually) based on qualifications.

This position is not represented by a collective bargaining unit. A 12-month probationary period is required. Pay for current state employees will be set in accordance with the State Compensation Plan at the time of hire.

At DATCP, we strive to deliver efficient and effective programs and services to Wisconsin agriculture, consumers, and businesses.  The Department has numerous on-the-job training (OJT) opportunities, unique to each Bureau. 

These OJT opportunities include direct experience and practice through collaboration with co-workers/supervisor, peer mentoring, and job-specific training modules. This position may attend nationwide trainings and webinars related to auditing, systems approach to nursery certifications, compliance & plant pest and disease webinars. This position will also have safety trainings opportunities including CPR, First Aid, Active Shooter & Defensive Driving.

Conditions of Employment:

DATCP does not sponsor work visas. Any appointment made will be contingent on the selected applicant being able to provide documentation of eligibility to work in the United States.

A criminal background check will be performed on the selected applicant prior to an offer of employment.

Possession of a valid driver's license or the ability to provide one’s own transportation for work purposes, is required.

A valid driver’s license and the eligibility to drive a State of Wisconsin Fleet Vehicle* is required.

*In order to be authorized to drive a State vehicle the candidate must meet the requirements of the State of Wisconsin Fleet Vehicle Policy, which are:

• Must have a valid driver’s license;

• Must have a minimum of two years of licensed driving experience;

• Must be 18 years of age.

Additionally, your driving record MUST NOT reflect any of the following conditions:

• Three or more moving violations and/or at-fault accidents in the past two years;

• Operating While Intoxicated (OWI)/Driving Under the Influence (DUI) citation within the past 12 months;

• Suspension or revocation of driver’s license.

Travel is required for approximately 60% of this position’s duties with occasional overnight stay.

Ability to walk in rough terrain and work outdoors in potentially inclement and adverse weather conditions, including heat, humidity, rain, wind and cold.

Minimally qualified candidates will have each of the following:

• Education, training, or experience in a natural science field (i.e., some coursework, training or experience in biology, entomology, horticulture, botany or similar).

• Experience conducting plant pest surveys, plant/plant product inspections, or pest scouting or implementing a pest or disease management program (i.e., integrated pest management, invasive species, or forest insect and disease management).

• Experience or education related to invasive species or natural sciences or key forest pests (i.e., ecology, invasive species, pollinators, or endangered species, or specific experience conducting outreach on spongy moth, emerald ash borer, hemlock woolly adelgid, Asian Longhorned beetle, spotted lanternfly, sudden oak death, beech leaf disease etc.).

In addition to the minimum qualifications above, highly qualified candidates will have one or more of the following:

• Advanced education in the Natural Sciences (BS/MS/PhD in biology, horticulture, entomology, plant pathology, botany, or equivalent).

• Experience with plant regulation such as interpreting, following, or enforcing quarantines, invasive species laws, export requirements or other federal, state, or local statutes related to noxious weed laws, organic certification, pesticide laws, export rules, etc. 

• Experience with geographic information systems (GIS) or electronic data collection or analysis using ArcGIS/Survey 123 or similar systems.

If viewing this posting on an external site (such as indeed.com, etc.), please visit Wisc.Jobs and search for this Job ID: # 20212 to complete your application for this posting.

DATCP is an Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action employer. We provide reasonable accommodations to qualified applicants and employees with disabilities.

The State of Wisconsin offers a special program for qualified veterans with a 30% or greater service-connected disability. If you are a qualified veteran, please visit the Veterans Employment page for application instructions to be considered for the Veterans Non-Competitive Appointment program. For complete information on veterans hiring programs that may benefit you, please visit the Employment page on WDVA's website. 

To be considered for this position, you will need to create an account (if you don’t already have one) and apply online via the “Apply for Job” button listed on the top right of the job posting page. You will be required to upload a current resume and a letter of qualifications that clearly describes your qualifications and experience as they relate to the qualifications listed in this job posting. Review the applicant resources, including tips on how to write a resume and letter of qualifications. 

Submitted application materials will be evaluated by one or more job experts. Candidates who are deemed eligible will be invited to participate in the next step of the selection process, starting with those candidates who are deemed most qualified. 

For general Wisc.Jobs user information and technical assistance, please check the Frequently Asked Questions.  Please address questions regarding the application process to Varinderjit Kaur at varinderjit.kaur1@wisconsin.gov.

The deadline to apply for this position is 11:59 p.m. on Monday, March 16th, 2026.