Working closely with in-country NARES partners, IRRI’ Rice Breeding Innovations platform develops improved rice varieties that yield more grain and better withstand pests and disease as well as flooding, drought, and other harmful effects of climate change. In line with the platform’s recently adopted OneRice breeding strategy, and while working closely with IRRI teams engaging on breeding, pre-breeding, host plant resistance, and seed delivery systems and broadly to meet the biometric and breeding analytical needs of various research groups and stakeholders of IRRI, this position will lead:
Development and application of quantitative genetic and statistical methods/tools for breeding and seed systems
Breeding analytics and efficient management of data and information
Integration of IRRI breeding analytics with the CGIAR-wide breeding analytics/biometrics team
Roles and Responsibilities:
Develop and lead the IRRI biometrics and quantitative genetics group in providing high-quality, timely and relevant support for experimental design, analysis, and stochastic simulations particularly for rice breeding programs
Provide leadership, guidance and support to research teams across platforms and of the NARES partners on breeding program and multi-location testing design, design of experiments, data analysis and data management
Proactively evaluate analysis routines being used in the Enterprise Breeding System, identify shortcomings and develop new routines to improve the range of applications, usability and reliability of these analyses
Promote the use of appropriate statistical design and analysis tools and data management platforms, in order to empower researchers to independently manage and analyze their data
Ensure that best practices and policies for data collection, transmission and analysis are followed
Ensure delivery of outcomes aligned with the IRRI’s vision, mission, values, target goals, policies and procedures
Manage performance and mentor scientists and staff in biometrics group
Coordinate closely with research teams and partners to provide support and guidance for design of breeding trials, data management, data analyses and interpretation
Promote the adoption/use of the Enterprise Breeding System in IRRI breeding programs
Lead the integration of the IRRI breeding analytics team with the Excellence in Breeding shared analytics service, negotiating terms of reference and providing input to shape the EiB service
Collaborate with government, donors, rice R&D partners, private enterprise to align with client and donor expectation
Maintain and proactively develop network and partnerships with potential donors
Actively contribute to the design, development and implementation of standardized analysis routines in the Enterprise Breeding System in collaboration with the Excellence in Breeding staff, and promote the implementation of improved routines wherever needed
Contribute to optimize the breeding frameworks with the Excellence in Breeding staff, and promote the implementation of improved deigns
Provide statistical guidance across clusters and Platforms at IRRI, and to NARES partners, and promote the use of modern statistical methods especially for complex data sets from national and regional trials
Lead the maintenance and improvement of centralized databases to ensure efficient management of research and breeding program information and data
Supervise, coach and mentor scientific professional and support staff including PhD students, Postdoctoral Fellows, and Scientists on research projects and contribution to collaborations with NARES and ARI
Develop training curricula and manuals and implement systematic training programs on statistical design, data analysis, and data management
Publish and actively contribute to articles in peer-reviewed journals/digests that highlight findings from research and experiment activities showcasing the Institute's scientific leadership
Actively seek external funds and secure partnerships for research and development
Qualifications:
PhD in relevant discipline with at least 8 to 10 years post-PhD experience in biometrics and statistical designs or relevant areas
Skills Required:
Mandatory:
Demonstrated skills in modern quantitative and statistical methods including breeding value estimation, estimation of quantitative genetic parameters, partially replicated statistical designs, spatial and stability analyses, and simulations
Has excellent research and data management experience
Demonstrated contribution to the delivery of strategies and plans of multiple projects
Has outstanding leadership and organizational skills
Demonstrated experience in managing a team, especially as related to developing and providing quantitative genetics support
Preferred:
Experience with breeding informatics
Work experience in providing services to diverse teams and working with large historical datasets
