Research Technician -DCP - CIMMYT at World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF)

Duties and responsibilities

Management of phenotyping nurseries and trials.

• Work closely with CIMMYT scientists and NARS implementing partners to ensure timely land preparation, seed assembly and planting of trials/nurseries according to the experimental design.
• Ensure proper agronomic management of trials like application of fertilizer, timely irrigation, weed and pest control
• Ensure disease/striga screening trials are artificially inoculated according to laid down procedures
• Ensure seeds for checks are available in sufficient quantities and when necessary increased in a timely manner
• Ensure pure pathogen cultures and striga seed are maintained in a viable state and available for artificial inoculation when needed.

Data Collection and Organization.

• Manage accurate and timely data collection at different stages of the trials in the field, nurseries using the relevant tools and software
• Ensure accuracy of data entry and consolidation in preparation for analysis by the Scientists
• Learn and operate Enterprise Breeding System (EBS) for routine operations, data upload, data curation and preliminary analysis; basic familiarity with Breeding Management System (BMS) may be helpful.

Supervise casual Labor.

• Develop budgets, and monitor budget utilization.

Other Responsibilities.

• Assist partners based on their needs in coordination with the supervisor
• Establish and maintain contact with collaborating /implementing organizations and partners
• Any other task assigned by the supervisor.

Requirements

• BSc or MSc in Crop protection, agronomy or related Agricultural Sciences with at least 3 years accumulated practical experience in field trialing and management.
• Knowledge in managing agricultural field activities or research projects in a dynamic and fast paced organization.
• Thorough knowledge of field trials management, and field identification of biotic stresses affecting dryland crops.
• Familiarity with application of pest and disease evaluation scales especially of dryland crops.
• Ability to provide supervision and training to field staff to manage research activities
• Basic supervisory skills and experience are a must.
• Ability to communicate orally day-to-day matters and to prepare brief but accurate reports or complete forms without assistance.
• Ability to analyze situations or problems and timely propose or evaluate possible resolution mechanisms.
• Competency to use the standard Windows-based software for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, and email used at CIMMYT.
• The selected candidate must exhibit the following competencies: Problem-solving and decision-making, negotiation and conflict resolution, communication, and teamwork.