The plant biotechnology Innovation center of Bayer in Gent is part of Bayer CropScience NV in Diegem. The Gent site now has 350 employees and is the most important research and development center of the Seeds division of the Bayer group. Bayer CropScience is a leading international player in the research, development and marketing of agricultural and vegetable seeds with added value traits. The innovation and product development in Gent is focused on agricultural crops such as oilseed rape, cotton, rice and wheat. The Seeds division has more than 2700 employees worldwide. The headquarters of Bayer CropScience are in Monheim, Germany, The company has more than 20.700 employees in more than 120 countries.

In the Gent Innovation center, the innovation and commercialization processes of improved plant varieties are being streamlined by integrating plant biotech research and global business support functions – such as legal, intellectual property, quality analysis & control and regulatory.

Job description

As Molecular Breeding Fellow you...

• advise the Head of Molecular Breeding and its team of experts in molecular genetics, quantitative genetics, biometrics and phenomics with the mission of developing and validating state-of the-art breeding and molecular breeding processes, phenomics tools and algorithms. The overarching goal is to improve selection precision, accelerate genetic gain, and speed-up the discovery and the use of the marker traits associations to deliver superior seeds and trait products.
• are the scientific principal interface to various BCS Research Units in seed biotechnology, crop protection and biologicals in the fields of omics, establishment of enabling technologies and in the technological implementation to deliver on the R&D targets.
• contribute together with the Breeding and Trait Development function heads to the definition of the most efficient strategy to address R&D targets targets. You contribute to adequately balance resources and competencies between breeding, molecular breeding, trait engineering, genomics, field testing and field phenomics capabilities of BCS and other scientific initiatives.
• identify and propose external collaborations with world-class experts in the field of plant breeding, quantitative genetics, molecular breeding, phenomics to maintain and improve competiveness of the company in the field of modern plant breeding.
• ensure that the last advancements in the field of molecular plant breeding, genetic, phenomics and computational life sciences are appropriately incorporated in the molecular strategy of Bayer CropScience. You lead the community of scientific experts internal and external that identify, review and establish the required know-how.
• ensure the roll-out and monitoring of the progress on new breeding processes like the genomic selection, the field precision phenotyping while ensuring a strong buy-in and commitment of the involved molecular breeding and breeding teams. You act as a key mentor, trainer, and coach of the breeders.
• in collaboration with the expert crop teams, you monitor the effectiveness of the new processes and benchmarks against competitor performances by establishing appropriate KPIs.

Your qualifications

The successful candidate...

• holds a PhD in Plant Breeding, Genetics or Molecular Genetics
• 10 to 15 years of experience in the relevant scientific field of Plant Breeding, Molecular Breeding, Plant Genetics or Genomics
• is an acknowledged expert fellow
• has a strong track record in seeds R&D innovation, products, traits and/or process optimization
• has full understanding of breeding methodologies, processes, crop genetics, cell biology, biometrics, field trial execution, agronomy and data analysis
• has in-depth knowledge of GM and Non GM trait discovery and trait development processes and challenges
• has experience in managing external collaborations
• has good communication skills, a collaborative attitude and high persuasion skills
• possesses strong team management competencies in an international and multi-disciplinary environment, the ability to lead virtual development teams across borders as well as high interpersonal skills to guide and motive multi-cultural teams

Your application

We offer a competitive salary with benefits package in an innovative and international environment. Our teams are amongst the best in the industry. Teamwork, entrepreneurship,
drive, a passion to learn and to share knowledge, respect for sustainable development and integrity are our most precious values. Our international and interdisciplinary work
environment offers a range of possibilities to motivated, qualified people with excellent interpersonal and organizational skills.

www.career.bayer.com 
Reference Code: 0000076705

Phone +32 2 535 66 99