Now’s the time to join the globally-renowned CSD team

It’s no secret that Wee Waa is known as the cotton capital.

Agriculture means a lot to the local region, but it’s especially famous for its cotton.

With this reputation, it’s only fitting that Wee Waa is home to the globally-renowned, industry leader, Cotton Seed Distributors (CSD).

CSD is the country’s only supplier of elite cotton varieties, providing the industry with the best seed, germplasm, treatments and biotechnology traits needed to achieve world-leading crops.

The organisation is proudly industry-owned, so it reaps the benefits of dedication to cotton and collaborations with the very best in agricultural science.

That’s why CSD and CSIRO have been working together since 1971, with over 116 cotton varieties shared with the Australian market in that time.

And now’s your chance to join the cutting-edge CSD team.

The business is currently looking to fill a number of roles, ahead of the industry’s busy season.

“I recently joined the team at CSD and have been blown away by both the world leading work being done here as well as the organisational culture that has been built,” CSD’s group chief financial officer and HR lead, Kelly Christianson, said.

“CSD is an exciting and unique company and was even voted as a Kincentric Best Employer last year.”

“We’re on the look out for operations assistants, and we’re after as many new team members, to fill those roles, as we can get.

“From April next year, things will ramp up for us because we’ll start getting cotton seed ready for planting.

“Around mid-autumn, CSD will start receiving fuzzy seed for the team to delint and treat, before dispatching those batches of seed ready for planting.”

While things are set to ramp up in April, that doesn’t mean these new team members will lose hours once the busy season finishes around October – CSD assures the new operations assistants will be kept busy with full-time maintenance work in the off-season, if they’re interested.

In fact, Ms Christianson says there’s ample opportunity for internal progression for these new workers.

“There’s room to move up the ranks, or even sideways into other departments, for the right sort of people,” she said.

“Or you can just work through the season in the operational role – it all depends on what you want to get out of your time with CSD.”

Ms Christianson says the business offers a competitive lifestyle roster, to further entice applicants.

“We’re looking at alternative shift arrangements, to offer those applying greater flexibility and work-life balance, since we’ll be operating 24/7 in that busy season,” she said.

“So, we hope that will encourage more local people to consider joining the team.”

When it comes to criteria for the operations assistant positions, Ms Christianson says experience isn’t as important as the right attitude.

“We’re looking for people who are highly-motivated,” she said.

“Ideally, some industrial or agricultural operating experience would be preferrable, but it’s not essential.

“Forklift tickets and other high-risk licenses will be well-regarded but, if we find the right people, we’re more than willing to help them get those qualifications while employed by CSD.

“We’re also hoping for workers that are computer literate, but again these skills can be taught between now and April.

“CSD is more than happy to invest the time and training into new operations assistance, provided we see that keen attitude and motivation to work.”

And the same goes for the other job vacancy currently on offer with the local business. “We’re also on the look out for a new finance manager to join the team,” Ms Christianson said.

“Again, that highly-motivated attitude is desirable. This role will be working closely with CSD’s team leaders and there will be opportunity to stand in for the CFO as required.

“As well as the finance function, there is also opportunity to get involved in the WHS and HR space.

“It really is an exciting and dynamic role for someone with the right attitude to get involved in many aspects of the business.”

The new finance manager will take on a range of accounting responsibilities, reporting to CSD’s chief financial officer.

“You’ll be preparing monthly financial and management reports, assisting with annual budget preparations and cash flow reporting, attending to compliance tasks such as BAS and annual FBT return, auditing, annual statutory reporting, managing a range of departments, as well as monitoring day-to-day financial operations,” Ms Christianson said.

“With a high-ranking position like this, we are looking for a team player with the right skills and experience, to ensure they can keep up with a workload of this kind.

“Ideally, the new finance manager will have a CA/CPA qualification, a relevant bachelor’s degree, at least three years in a similar role, strong Microsoft Excel skills, excellent written and verbal skills, a capacity for establishing and managing relationships and the ability to prioritise and manage multiple deadlines.

“Experience in Pronto and exceptional attention to detail are also highly-regarded among applicant submissions.”

If you think you may be suited to either the operations assistant or finance manager roles, CSD encourages you to submit your interest as soon as possible.

Ms Christianson can be contacted on (02) 6795 0000 for initial enquiries, with applications (including a resume) to be emailed to her via [email protected]