Research Scientist (Molecular Breeding)

Advanta is a global seed business adapting to rapidly increasing food insecurity and climate change by providing farmers with innovation and new technologies. As part of UPL Group, Advanta aims to deliver high quality seeds with excellent agronomic practices and crop protection solutions. Advanta operates in over 80 countries under global brands of Advanta, Alta and Pacific Seeds. Advanta holds a leadership position in tropical and sub-tropical geographies in corn, grain and forage sorghum, sunflower, canola, rice, and a variety of vegetables. With over 60 years' experience in plant genetics, Advanta provides seeds technology that ensures crop performance and farmers prosperity.

Primary responsibilities

Successful person will be an integral part of the molecular breeding team. The person will work closely with plant molecular breeding scientists and plant breeders in different geographies and crops to deploy molecular breeding techniques with emphasis on genomic selection to breeding programs of Advanta.

Major Job Responsibilities:

• Deploy genomic selection to the plant breeding programs by executing and optimizing the prediction pipelines, with ultimate goal to accelerate the genetic gain and improve product delivery time to the market.
• Provide strong technical expertise and support to the plant molecular breeders and plant breeders for optimizing design and analysis of multi-environment trials for deploying genomic selection.
• Evaluate genomic data from the genotyping laboratory and/or external service providers for quality, store the data in appropriate databases and prepare it for implementing molecular breeding to different breeding programs.
• Perform exploratory analyses from genomic data to explore and track germplasm diversity of the breeding programs.
• Collaborate with plant breeders and genotyping laboratory to ensure timely genotyping of the samples at different stages of the breeding programs to enable molecular breeding techniques including genomic prediction.
• Coordinate phenotypic data collection by following up with plant molecular breeders and/or plant breeders in different geographies to ensure successful implementation of genomic prediction and other molecular breeding techniques.
• Provide logistical support whenever needed to the breeding programs and genotyping laboratory for smooth genotyping of the germplasm needed to implement molecular breeding strategies.

Job Skills & Requirements:

• Experience in applying genomic selection into plant breeding pipeline.
• Experience in genomic data analysis.
• Being able to use proprietary company software for analyses of genomic and phenotypic data.
• Proficiency in a programming language R and/or Python.

• Experience in developing scripts, workflows, and analytics pipelines using R and/or Python.
• Experience is using high-performance computing clusters to manage and analyze large datasets.
• Excellent knowledge of statistical genetics and genomics research methods is required.
• Able to work well independently and with team members in a professional and respectful manner.
• Excellent attention to detail and problem solving.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills.

Education & Experience:

• PhD (or MS with 3+ years experience) in plant or animal quantitative genetics and breeding, statistical genomics, or a related field of study.
• 2-3 years of experience in quantitative genetics, preferably in seed industry.
• Agriculture - Knowledge of agriculture industry - Preferred.
• Teamwork - Ability and willingness to work cooperatively with others.
• Multicultural Approach - Ability to work in a corporation with global network (global company).

Physical Demands:

This position requires normal, everyday use of standard lab and office equipment. There may be long periods of standing.  This person may be required to use small tools and must be able to climb steps and ladders.

The successful candidate must have a valid U.S. driver's license and be insurable by the company.

Work Environment:

This position is located at a genotyping laboratory with everyday exposure to plant tissue, mild chemicals and other materials. A pre-employment physical/drug screen will be required for this position.

 Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

We are one team, for maximum impact. One team with shared goals. We all play for the team and no one plays against the team. We have a laser-like focus on what our customers need and want, on anticipating their future needs and on how we can create innovative solutions and experiences for them.

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