IRS25111 Plant Breeder - Grain Legumes, East and Southern Africa

Description

CIMMYT is a cutting edge, non-profit, international organization dedicated to solving tomorrow's problems today. It is entrusted with fostering improved quantity, quality, and dependability of production systems and basic cereals such as maize, wheat, triticale, sorghum, millets, and associated crops through applied agricultural science, particularly in the Global South, through building strong partnerships. This combination enhances the livelihood trajectories and resilience of millions of resource-poor farmers, while working towards a more productive, inclusive, and resilient agrifood system within planetary boundaries.

For more information, visit cimmyt.org.

CIMMYT is looking for an outstanding, self-motivated, and result-oriented professional for the position of Plant Breeder - Grain Legumes, East and Southern Africa, to work as part of the Dryland Crops Program.

The scientist will work with NARS, CGIAR initiatives and other stakeholders to develop modern and effective breeding and variety deployment strategies. The successful candidate must be committed to developing and enabling CGIAR-NARS coordinated breeding networks, which will include other value chain partners and collaborators.

The location of this position will be Nairobi, Kenya.

Specific duties:

• Establish and lead the breeding activities for the CGIAR component of the CGIAR-NARS network.
• Design and implement an effective collaborative breeding strategy to develop elite breeding material, and a product advancement process to identify candidate new varieties for targeted market segments and product profiles.
• With NARS and selected other partners, identify, obtain, and develop appropriate germplasm to sustain breeding programs.
• In association with multidisciplinary network scientist & staff, EiB, and partners, develop modern population improvement and testing strategies.
• Co-ordinate the development of a stage-wise multi-environment product performance testing strategy, data analysis and advancement process, which is aligned with crop market segments, TPEs or agroecologies.
• Ensure cost effective breeding operations, and standard operating procedures that deliver agreed quality and performance indicators.
• Develop strong partnerships with national public breeding programs to collaboratively identify germplasm, product needs and define complementary breeding objectives.
• Enable and actively support the regional crop network to collaboratively plan and implement breeding activities that balance the development of individual and shared network germplasm products and builds capacity to share knowledge, best practices, training, etc.
• Support and contribute to seed system activities in the region.
• Lead or contribute to develop research proposals and other fundraising initiatives.
• Lead or contribute to publication of research results in international, refereed journals.

Requirements

• PhD in Plant Breeding/ Genetics/ Quantitative genetics.
• Minimum of 5 years of public or private experience in sector breeding.
• Experience in applying quantitative genetics principles to breeding.
• Demonstrated successful experience as a pigeon pea breeder.
• Knowledge and experience using genomics and the latest breeding technologies is highly desired.
• Strong networking and facilitating skills, with focus on enabling and empowering others to succeed.
• Demonstrated ability to work in multicultural and diverse environments.
• Successful experience and commitment to inclusive research design and implementation.
• Fluency in oral and written English is essential.
• Must be willing to travel frequently both internationally and locally.
• Experience of managing staff and budget is desirable.
• The selected candidate should exhibit the following competencies: Client Orientation, Critical and Creative Thinking, Teamwork, and Communication.

Benefits

The position is for an initial fixed term of three (3) years, after which further employment is subject to performance and the continued availability of funds. CIMMYT’s internationally competitive salary and benefits include housing allowance, car, comprehensive health and life insurance, assistance for children’s education, paid vacation, annual home travel airfare, contribution to a retirement plan, and generous assistance with relocation shipment.

Candidates must apply online for IRS25111, Plant Breeder - Grain Legumes, East and Southern Africa.

Screening and follow up of applications will begin on February 13, 2025.

Applications must include a CV with contact details (telephone and email address) of 3 work-related references along with the confirmation that Recruitment can contact them) and a cover letter.

Incomplete applications will not be taken into consideration.

Please note that only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

This position will remain open until filled.

CIMMYT is an equal opportunity employer. It fosters a multicultural work environment that values gender equality, teamwork, and respect for diversity. Women are encouraged to apply.