Job opportunities

The South Arican Sugarcane Research Institute has a vacancy for an Assistant Plant Breeder. The successful candidate will be working closely with the Plant Breeding Project Manager focusing on the management of the Midlands Breeding programmes which is part of the four regional breeding programmes.

The primary responsibility of this position is to assist the Plant Breeding project Manager with Selecting parents, making crosses, selecting crosses, trial designs, planting field evaluation populations, glasshouse and field trials evaluations, data collection, data analysis, creating results summaries, interpreting trials results, making field selections and advancements across the Midlands sugarcane breeding pipeline.

The job offers participation in a wide range of activities including field and glasshouse work, data capture and analysis and participation in research projects. The job requires a lot of field work. The incumbent will also be expected to write reports and publications and make presentations at conferences. The incumbent will participate in grower days on a regular basis where Plant Breeding results are presented to farmers.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Minimum Requirements:

Education and Experience:

• MSc in Plant Breeding
• Minimum of 2 years working experience in a Plant Breeding environment

Knowledge and Skills:

• Knowledge of quantitative genetics and applications in Plant Breeding
• Knowledge of statistics and applications in Plant Breeding data analysis
• Knowledge of statistical software such as SAS, GENSTAT, R and others
• Experience with Plant Breeding data analysis will be an added advantage
• Experience with working in Plant Breeding programme pipelines
• Knowledge of the principles of breeding for pest and diseases resistance
• Ability to recognise existing pests and diseases associated with crops
• Ability and experience in setting weekly and monthly work programmes
• Ability to work long hours in the field
• A strong background in data capture and working with complex databases
• Ability and aptitude to work with and supervise diverse team of support staff
• Be able to work in diverse teams
• Good writing and verbal communication skills
• A valid code 8 driver's license

PLEASE NOTE:

SASA reserves the right to consider applications received after this date but will not be obliged to do so.