The union used to have a person in this position but when Todd Pullar left more than a year ago, he was not replaced, as the union was struggling with its finances.
But with those on a more even keel, union general manager Richard Kinley said it needed to have someone to school up referees and attract them to the game and keep it strong.
He said the union had a commitment to have referees for all games from the under-14 grade up.
Last year, the union struggled to get enough referees for games after some top referees left the province or retired.
Kinley said the union had enough referees at this stage but it was something they had to continuously work on.
''If we do not put enough resource into that now, then we will get into trouble down the line,'' he said.
''The numbers are OK at the moment but we need someone to train, retain and grow the numbers.''
Kinley said the full-time position would cover the whole of Otago and was needed to support the referees throughout the year. It was tough in country areas, where referees had to cover a lot of kilometres to get to games.
''The game here needs someone who can tell people about the game and get them to know all about safety. A lot can go wrong if people are not officiating properly.''
Applications close on April 22 and Kinley said interest was strong, with applications coming from overseas. The position will be funded by the ORFU and the NZRFU.
