Plant Breeding

Key skills

• Plant genetics; Genomics and marker assisted breeding; Seed Systems; Legume breeding especially groundnut;

• Lead or co-contribute evidenced impacts, globally;

• Demonstrated experience in resource mobilization and knowledge sharing;

• Strong project management ability and interpersonal skills;

Additional/Preferred Skills

• Fluency in spoken and written English and excellent publication record in international peer- reviewed journals;

• Communication and Networking;

Preferred Qualifications

• PhD degree in Genetics and/ or Plant Breeding from a reputed institute;

• Experience: Minimum 10 years Post-PhD relevant work experience and minimum 3-4 years as a Senior Scientist or an equivalent role;

• International work experience in Groundnut breeding research for development with track-record of variety development and release of improved products, including genomics -assisted breeding (GAB), and effective seed dissemination;

• Strong publication record and evidenced fund raising capabilities;

Principal Scientist-I, Plant Breeding (Groundnut, Asia)

Job Description:

The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) is currently seeking applications from dynamic and highly innovative candidates for the position of "Principal Scientist I - Plant Breeding" to manage the Groundnut Breeding Program in Asia under the Global Research Program - Accelerated Crop Improvement as follows:

• Lead groundnut breeding program under Global Research Program-Accelerated Crop Improvement to improve Groundnut productivity and income generation for smallholders in semi-arid regions.
• Lead deployment of genomic tools, rapid generation advancement, robust phenotyping tools and process innovations in groundnut breeding and testing to enhance the rate of genetic gain and operational efficiency.
• Optimize the groundnut breeding program to deliver higher rates of genetic gain by use of effective breeding methods, tools and technologies.
• Apply advanced plant breeding techniques to create a solid and sound groundnut breeding pipeline that should include development of product profiles, breeding scheme optimization, use of genomics and phenomics, automation, mechanization, use of appropriate breeding software, and other innovations.
• Participate in a multi-disciplinary design team along with other ICRISAT research and regional programmes, to develop target product profiles that deliver added value based on customer demands and collaborating with internal and external stakeholders and key players in seed systems to ensure impact.
• Lead the development of a strategic direction and substantially contribute to the strategic thinking and planning of the research agenda, future directions and seed delivery systems especially of groundnut.
• Work with an interdisciplinary team of scientists, including molecular geneticists, genomics, physiologist, pathologists, entomologists, agronomists, data scientists, socio-economists, seed system specialists and technology transfer experts from ICRISAT Headquarter and other regional operations, to develop a world class groundnut breeding program.
• Engage with National Agricultural Research Institutes and private sector partners to deliver desired breeding material with required groundnut product profile features.
• Analyze, summarize and interpret the data of the multi-environment trials/experiments for data-driven product advancement.
• Prepare reports and research papers for publication in the reputed journals.
• Lead project development, manage the budget, time management and resource mobilization for ICRISAT and partners involved in groundnut improvement.
• Contribute to resource mobilization and work with multi-disciplinary teams to develop research proposals and follow-through for successful funding.
• Lead to the groundnut research for development agenda and the development of strategic partnerships with public and private partners from seed and food processing sector.
• Mentoring through degree and non-degree training, and knowledge sharing with the partners, and external and internal stakeholders.
• Supervise the staff working in groundnut breeding and facilitate planning and execution of their work plans.
• Deliver high quality research outputs for development outcomes that contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The position will be based at ICRISAT?s headquarters in Patancheru, near Hyderabad, Telangana State, India. Hyderabad is the largest city and capital of the Telangana State; and also the de jure capital of the state of Andhra Pradesh. It is India's fourth largest city; and is a fascinating combination of the ancient and the modern India.