Research Scientist Bioinformatics

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.

We are seeking a motivated and detail-oriented individual to join our dynamic, fast-growing, and diverse team in a high-throughput genotyping and molecular lab. This role supports the crop breeding program at Advanta Seeds and is ideal for recent PhD graduates passionate about molecular genetics and its application in trait discovery and genotyping. The successful candidate will contribute to the optimization of molecular markers using KASP and TaqMan technologies and play a key role in the discovery and validation of allelic variations associated with important traits.

Key Responsibilities:
•    Identify and validate genome-wide and trait-associated molecular markers for core crops in Advanta Seeds. 
•    Evaluate and improve performance of molecular markers (KASP and TaqMan) that show reduced efficiency during high-throughput genotyping workflows.
•    Participate in trait discovery projects, including marker-trait association studies and validation workflows.
•    Perform bioinformatics tasks such as standalone BLAST searches to support primer design, marker development, and gene annotation, including alignment and comparison across multiple reference genomes.
•    Maintain and curate the molecular markers database. 
•    Accurately document experiments and results, prepare reports, and present findings to internal and external audiences. 
•    Support senior scientists in managing projects and laboratory operations.
•    Ensure compliance with workplace safety protocols and proactively communicate project or lab-related issues to senior scientists. 
•    Train temporary workers and lab technicians as needed. 

Qualifications:
•    PhD in Bioinformatics, Molecular Biology, Genetics, Plant Biology, Biotechnology, or a related field.
•    Strong foundation in molecular marker technologies (KASP, TaqMan) and assay design.
•    Basic bioinformatics and statistical analysis skills, including familiarity with BLAST and sequence analysis tools.
•    Proficiency in R, Python, or other programming languages; ability to use command-line tools. Familiarity with accessing and querying relational databases using SQL.
•    Exposure to DNA extraction, PCR, sequencing, and other routine molecular biology techniques.
•    Strong organizational skills and ability to manage multiple tasks independently.
•    Excellent communication skills and a collaborative mindset.
•    Cultural sensitivity and ability to work in a diverse team environment.

Preferred but Not Required:
•    Experience with trait discovery or molecular breeding.
•    Familiarity with high-throughput genotyping workflows (training will be provided).
•    Exposure to next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies and their application in marker development or variant discovery.

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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