Technical employees in the field of aquaculture and restoration ecology (f/m/d)

• Plan and coordinate the technical implementation of the oyster reproduction and production season, including hatchery, quarantine, production systems, and trial needs into annual and seasonal operational plans.
• Monitor production data, adjust plans in response to bottlenecks, and calculate and organize marine microalgae production and feeding requirements to ensure continuous feed availability.
• Organize broodstock quarantine, including import coordination, oyster handling, and post-season broodstock care.
• Design, set up, adapt, and dismantle reproduction, rearing, quarantine, and biosecurity systems in line with biological, technical, and operational requirements.
• Inspect, maintain, overhaul, and troubleshoot infrastructure challenges, tanks, filtration units, and rearing equipment, and convert system and process requirements into operational production procedures.
• Prepare and supervise seasonal shutdown and post-season maintenance activities.
• Perform daily hatchery and production operations, including protocol development, validation, and adaptation under changing biological or technical conditions.
• Scale marine microalgae production from laboratory to large-scale volumes and carry out or supervise feeding routines for broodstock, larvae, and nursery systems.
• Conduct key technical steps in oyster reproduction and larval rearing, including larvae collection, quality assessment, larval cohort monitoring, tank maintenance, water changes, size grading, and the transition from larvae to settlement.
• Monitor, document, and evaluate biological, physical, and production data, define standards for critical oyster production protocols, ensure sterile working conditions, and maintain full production traceability across breeding steps.
• Assess system failures, process deviations, and production bottlenecks independently and develop practical solutions.
• Carry out technical aspects of experiments and work weekend shifts as required.
• Represent the project during visits and business trips, present project objectives and results, and exchange technical methods and expertise with research institutes and industry partners.
• Support training activities and collaborative work with project partners, and prepare technical protocols and knowledge-transfer reports.

Professional profile:

• Completed university degree (Bachelor’s degree or equivalent) in aquaculture, marine biology, biology, fisheries science, environmental science, or a comparable field.
• Knowledge of aquaculture systems and hatchery operations, particularly in marine environments.
• Experience in handling and culturing live aquatic organisms, including microorganisms.
• Knowledge of oyster farming, larval rearing, broodstock maintenance, and marine microalgae production.
• Experience in planning, setting up, and conducting experiments.
• Basic knowledge of statistical analysis and the use of relevant software.
• Knowledge of the preparation, operation, monitoring, and maintenance of technical systems and culture infrastructure.
• Proficiency in English and German, both written and spoken.
• Knowledge of documentation and data collection, as well as proficiency in standard office software.
• Willingness to undertake multi-day business trips in support of fieldwork and sampling activities.
• Willingness to take on on-call duties and weekend work.

Personal profile:

• Knowledge of oyster reproduction and marine shellfish culture, including larval and spat-on-shell production, broodstock management, marine microalgae production and feed calculations, as well as the design, operation, monitoring, and maintenance of aquaculture and quarantine systems, with experience in biosecurity, hygiene, traceability, documentation, and the planning, execution, and validation of experimental and production protocols.
• Analytical skills in evaluating biological and technical process data, monitoring key biological and physical parameters, and assessing system failures, process deviations, and production bottlenecks in order to define appropriate corrective actions.
• Knowledge of statistical analysis and the use of relevant software for evaluating biological and technical data.
• Knowledge of project-specific work plans, operating procedures, technical specifications, safety, hygiene, biosecurity, quarantine, and documentation requirements
• Good written and spoken English and German for reviewing scientific information, presenting project content, and coordinating with international suppliers, partner institutions, and collaborators.
• Knowledge of project objectives, results, aquaculture methods used in the project, documentation standards for technical protocols and reports, and organizational requirements for project-related travel and cooperative work.

• Responsibility and a sense of purpose: responsible work in a dedicated team, involvement in a dynamic, interdisciplinary research institute and proximity to current policy and practice-relevant topics
• Flexibility and work-life balance: flexible working time models, fundamental possibility of part-time employment as well as mobile working and teleworking, certified employer berufundfamilie audit with a wide range of offers for reconciling work and life phases
• Prospects: further training opportunities for the area of responsibility and individual development
• Benefits: employment based on collective agreements with attractive social benefits (e.g. company pension scheme, one-off annual payment, capital-forming benefits)
• Health: company health management and preventative healthcare programmes
• Mobility: JobTicket, public transport connections, free parking spaces and the option of using e-charging stations

The Thünen Institute promotes professional equality between women and men and therefore expressly welcomes applications from women. 

We live a diverse and cosmopolitan coexistence. The Johann Heinrich von Thünen Institute is committed to inclusion. Applications from people with severe disabilities are therefore expressly encouraged. They will be given preferential consideration in the selection process. Please enclose proof of severe disability or equal status with your application.

If you have an international degree, please also enclose a certificate evaluation from the Central Office for Foreign Education (ZAB) with your application. If you do not yet have a certificate evaluation, you must apply for one if your application is successful. You can find further information at  https://zab.kmk.org/de/zeugnisbewertung

If you have any questions, please contact Bérenger Colsul (berenger.colsul@thuenen.de).

We are looking forward to receiving your application by May 27th, 2026.