Employee Profiles
We are a vertically integrated company, with a diverse range of opportunities available across a wide variety of fields including marine operations (freshwater and saltwater), legal, human resources, sales, communications and community engagement, quality, processing, accounts and finance, work health and safety, environment and sustainability, payroll, maintenance, purchasing, retail, hospitality, research and development and marketing. Within Tassal there are opportunities to progress careers both horizontally and vertically. We encourage movement of our people into fields which may not be traditionally within their skill sets. Here are some of our employees’ stories:
Heidi Smith
Senior Manager - ESG & Communities
Heidi always dreamt of a career in fisheries and aquaculture and kicked that dream off back in 2009 when she secured a role working with Tassal as a lab technician in our QA lab at Huonville. Eager to learn and connect across our diverse business sectors, Heidi has held roles with various departments including a stint in the logistics team before securing a role responsible for the implementation of third-party sustainability certifications across the business, giving her an extensive understanding of both the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) and Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) standards and their compliance requirements.
In her most recent role as National Manager – Responsible Business, Heidi’s team oversaw the development of Tassal’s annual Sustainability Report and other ESG disclosure activities and run the implementation of key business projects focused on responsible business practices including marine debris reduction, waste management, responsible sourcing and climate action. The team also look after Tassal’s community engagement program and love getting out to community events and participating in local beach clean-ups. In 2022 Heidi was promoted to the role of Senior Manager – ESG and Communities.
Out of the office, Heidi is a self-proclaimed crazy dog lady who loves being outdoors with her golden retrievers.
“One of the best parts of working at Tassal is getting to travel across the country to visit our operations and spending time on the water. I love the fast-paced working environment, the people I work with and the fact that my job is never boring.”
Tim Stephens
Senior Manager - Central Operations
Tim arrived at the company with a drive and vision beyond his years and rose through the ranks at a young age, making the most of the career opportunities Tassal offered. Starting out in Marine Operations, Tim quickly slotted into a management role, completing not only his Master 4 skippers ticket but also qualifications in business management. During his fourteen years with the company Tim has also worked with the Environment and Sustainability team as well as the Engineering division.
Tim was heavily involved with the introduction of waste capture technology at Macquarie Harbour together with Tassal’s Eco Aquaculture site at Okehampton Bay.
Tim is currently Senior Manager – Central Operations. Tim currently oversees the Aqua Spa vessel and its crew, Feeding and Remote Operations together with Central Infrastructure
Technical Support.
In 2019, Tassal purchased its first well boat – Aqua Spa. A crew of 72 existing employees of Tassal at various sites joined Tim in the endeavour for smooth sailing towards Aqua Spa’s introduction.
“Tassal has encouraged and provided me with the opportunity to develop, with a focus on innovation and continuous improvement. Leading a new site which also features Tasmania’s first trial into multi-trophic farming has been incredibly rewarding and provides scope for future innovation in environmentally beneficial eco-aquaculture programs statewide”
Aidan Robinson
Maintenance Manager – Channel Zone
Aidan joined Tassal in October 2017 starting as a Maintenance Officer at our Channel Marine site at Electrona and within two years Aidan moved into his current role as the Maintenance Manager through his hard work and dedication to his role at Tassal. Aidan’s favourite thing about his job is that every day is a little different with lots of variety. A Typical day for Aidan involves fixing boats, generators, barges, compressors, pumps and keeping the Channel site running! When Aidan first moved to Tassie from WA fish farming was a foreign concept until one day when Aidan was driving a tractor in the Huon Valley and saw a salmon pen for the first time and was instantly intrigued about the industry, and the rest is history!
“Every day is a bit different, there is a constant variety of tasks that keeps things interesting. The Channel site is a great site to work at with an amazing group of people.”.
Gavin McAuliffe
Dive Team Leader – Channel Zone
Gavin began his career with Tassal in January 2010 as a casual Diver at our Channel marine site, quickly moving into a full-time position within the team in a month. Just under two years later Gavin was promoted to Dive Team Leader after showing that he is a passionate and proven Diver who can inspire others to follow. Gavin loves the diversity of the role and getting to work with a wide variety of people. A typical day for Gavin could involve being called to rescue a boat, overseeing daily operations of his team, or implementing strategy to improve day to day operations. Gavin has been a Diver for around 20 years, prior to starting his career at Tassal Gavin was working as a Diver in Stewart Island, New Zealand. Gavin joined Tassal not long after relocating to Tasmania and has been part of the Tassal family ever since!
“There are many good parts of my job, but my favourite part is the early starts. I like getting out and getting into it early, best part of the day!”.
Jenny Martin
WHS Co-ordinator Huonville Factory
Jenny joined the Tassal family in October 2010 at our Huonville processing facility as a Processing Attendant in the skin trim area. Not long after, Jenny became a Health & Safety Representative for skin trim and continued in this role for nine years.
At the start of the Covid-19 pandemic the Workplace Health & Safety Co-ordinator for Huonville could not attend the workplace, so Jenny was asked to assist with this role until they were able to return to site. Jenny was asked to help given her experience being a Health & Safety Representative in the skin trim area. Jenny took this opportunity and ran with it, proving that she was made for the role. By 2021, the current Workplace Health & Safety Coordinator had retired, and the role was advertised, which Jenny eagerly applied for before being given the opportunity to take on the role full-time.
Jenny’s favourite part of her role is the fantastic people she gets to work with each day and she loves the commitment Tassal has to making the workplace as safe as possible. During Jenny’s journey with Tassal she has been constantly learning and gaining new skills which has made her into the awesome employee she is today.
“I love my role and working alongside a great supportive team at Huonville Processing and our WHS Department, but mostly I love interacting with people and discussing safety topics. Every day is different and very much rewarding.”