Leading Food Safety Officer

The Leading Food Safety Officer is responsible for the delivery of regulatory services relating to the implementation of Primary Production and Processing Standards (the Standards) for horticulture producers. From February 2025, leafy vegetable, melon, and berry producers are required to register with Agriculture Victoria and demonstrate compliance with the new food safety standards. The Standards will provide baseline food safety requirements for all berry, leafy vegetable, and melon businesses. Agriculture Victoria will regulate the Standards which contain specific requirements including notifying authorities, product traceability, managing safety of inputs, and worker and premises hygiene.

The position will play a key role in assessing and confirming that primary production food safety activities, including risk identification and management and control processes, address the requirements of the Standards. This will extend to verification activities such as conducting on-farm audits.

As this is a regulatory position, you may be required to conduct investigations and appear in court. This position has responsibilities under the Food Act 1984.

Specialist/Technical Expertise/Qualifications

• Tertiary degree in Agricultural Science, Science, or an equivalent science qualification. Candidates must have these qualifications to be considered eligible and verification is required prior to appointment. 
• Demonstrated technical expertise in horticulture and/or primary production and processing food safety. Demonstrated experience in an auditing regulatory environment.

This is a fixed term position available until 30 September 2026. The work location for this position is Attwood with hybrid work arrangements available.

To be considered for this position, applicants are encouraged to submit a resume and cover letter (no longer than 2 pages) summarising their skills and relevant experience.

Please refer to the Key Selection Criteria provided in the Position Description, including the mandatory requirements.

How to Apply:

If you are a current DEECA employee, please apply via DEECA Careers. 

Click the ‘Apply’ button and you'll be redirected to a new platform and create an account.

Applications close 11.59pm on Wednesday, 21 October 2026.

All applications must be submitted through the online portal. We are unable to consider email or manual applications at this time.

Other relevant information:

Preferred candidates will be required to undertake pre-employment screening, including a Declaration and Consent form and a Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check.

To be eligible for appointment to this role, applicants will possess corresponding work rights for the advertised employment period. Appointment to an ongoing position is only available to an Australian/New Zealand citizen or an Australian Permanent Resident.

An inclusive, culturally safe and flexible workplace

DEECA fosters an inclusive workplace culture and is committed to a fair, accessible, and equitable recruitment process.

We strongly encourage Aboriginal and or Torres Strait Islander people to apply.  We recognise the strengths, knowledge and perspectives First Nations people bring and DEECA is committed to a culturally safe and respectful workplace.  If you need support to participate, please contact aboriginal.employment@deeca.vic.gov.au.

We support flexible working arrangements, including hybrid work, varied hours, part-time work and job sharing.  For more information about our recruitment processes, visit applying for a role with us.