Scientist (20-10) at International Potato Center

Job Description

The International Potato Center (CIP) is seeking an innovative Scientist to contribute with the CIP’s program objectives.

About the position:

This position will partner with expert teams both within and outside of CIP from disciplines such as plant breeding, genomics and bioinformatics, plant physiology, phenomics and crop modelling. The Scientist will support the deployment in breeding programs of genetic and genomic resources, populations and varieties to enhance productivity in diverse tropical, subtropical and temperate environments and cropping systems. The Scientist will be based in Uganda or Kenya and will report to the Crop Improvement Global Leader, with frequent international travel to the geographies where CIP research programs operate, namely sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Latin America.

Key responsibilities:

• Exerts independent, state of the art management, scientific leadership and creativity when initiating, designing, executing and documenting research.
• Conducts research in potato and sweetpotato to design molecular breeding and quantitative genetic strategies.
• Serves as a Principal Investigator and establishes collaborative research initiatives to identify traits of interest at the field level, establish marker-trait associations, and improve understanding of the genetic basis of such traits.
• Designs, executes and publishes in scientific journals research for QTL/association mapping, marker-assisted breeding and genomic selection, including collection of large phenotypic and molecular data, statistical analyses and data interpretation, in close collaboration with CIP’s global and regional breeding teams and external collaborators.
• Remains current on molecular breeding approaches amenable to plant breeding by participating in professional meetings and career development activities. Active engagement in fund raising activities.

Requirements

• PhD in quantitative genetics, molecular genetics or plant breeding plus at least five years of professional or post-doctoral experience.
• Familiarity with large-scale field phenotyping, plant response to environment and G x E interactions.
• Understanding of and experience with current molecular breeding approaches Understanding of and experience with bioinformatics, database development and electronic data capture techniques related to applied plant breeding/molecular breeding.
• Experience and knowledge of clonal, polyploid crops is preferred. Excellent statistical skills, including proficiency with linear mixed models.
• Strong communication, organizational skills and experience managing staff.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English; knowledge of Spanish is a plus.
• Demonstrated experience in grant/research proposals formulation.
• Ability to build and lead research teams and collaborate across institutions and continents.
• Commitment to work in a multi-partner, multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural environment.
• Track record of relevant scientific publications.
• Strong team player, self-motivated, goal-oriented and committed to shared goals.

Benefits

• Exciting career opportunity in an international organization.
• Internationally competitive salary, paid in US dollars, and commensurate with experience.
• Comprehensive international insurance coverage.
• Attractive retirement plan.
• Three-year term contract with the possibility of renewal.
• Work in an equal and diverse workplace.