Research Supervisor at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture

The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is a not-for-profit institution that generates agricultural innovations to meet Africa’s most pressing challenges of hunger, malnutrition, poverty, and natural resource degradation. Working with various partners across sub-Saharan Africa, we improve livelihoods, enhance food and nutrition security, increase employment, and preserve natural resource integrity. IITA is a member of CGIAR, a global agriculture research partnership for a food secure future.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Research Supervisor

Location: Ibadan, Oyo
Job type: Full time
Contract: 3-year renewable contract

Duties

• Assist in implementing field and screen house yam breeding trials such as planting, managing, harvesting on field and screen house trials, perform post-harvest operation including managing yam barn storage, food quality testing, and end-user preference capturing.
• Supervise daily casual laborers and other subordinate staff.
• Prepare with the research associate the weekly activities for the technicians and field workers.
• Support in the publication of yam breeding research findings in top-quality and high impact journals.
• Assist breeder with the establishment and management of seedling nursery and tuber, family nurseries, crossing block, and pollination activities.
• Support identification of traits in yam breeding lines and germplasm that are desirable for recycling as parent and advancement, such as disease resistance, increased yield, or improved food quality.
• Assist in preparing field books and collect data from field and screen house trials with appropriate e-data capturing tools.
• Assist in implementing and sustain automation of hybridization data using yam cross-app.
• Maintain and increase breeder working collections, parents, and test clones and released cultivars for trialing and delivery.
• Coordinate distribution of germplasm for testing networks, retrieving data, and ensure data entry to the database.
• Ensure timely availability of germplasm inventory reports, analyze the data and report to the Supervisor on time.
• Perform any other job-related duties as may be assigned by the Supervisor.

Qualifications

• B.Sc/HND in Plant Breeding, Genetics, Plant Science or related field with a minimum of three (3) years’ experience performing a similar role in a well-structured environment.
• Possession of valid drivers’ license is an added advantage.

Competencies
The ideal candidate must:

• Be experienced in crop breeding program, preferably yam/vegetative propagated crops.
• Have in-depth knowledge of yam breeding principles, techniques, and methodologies.
• Be a team player and have the ability to work with staff of diverse ethnic backgrounds, culture, belief, and nationalities.
• Be able to work in field, screen house and on-farm conditions for long time.
• Be proficient in designing and implementing field and screen house.
• Have excellent verbal and written English/communication skill to convey complex scientific concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Be experienced in the analysis of genetic and breeding data, using statistical tools to derive meaningful insights.

Benefits
We offer highly competitive salaries with equally attractive benefits and excellent working conditions in a pleasant campus environment.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply

Application Deadline 15th December, 2023.