Job Description

** Please note: this position requires someone who is fluent in English and at least conversational in Spanish**

At Syngenta, we believe every employee has a role to play in safely feeding the world and taking care of our planet. To support that challenge, we are seeking a Breeding Project Lead (Breeder) focused on the development of tomato varieties for targeted markets in Mexico. This position may be located at either our research station in Woodland, CA or in Mexico and involves regular seasonal travel throughout tomato production areas in Mexico.

Role Purpose

• Deliver a market leading commercial pipeline of hybrid tomato varieties for targeted markets in Mexico.
• Lead line development, hybrid creation, early-stage trialing, and product advancement activities to deliver a competitive pipeline of products to the market.
• Implement new breeding technologies, molecular breeding techniques, and variety performance prediction methods to deliver an innovative and successful commercial pipeline for our customers.
• Work closely with breeding operations team, market segment team, commercial sales team, and growers; to develop a successful pipeline of products and a deep working knowledge of the crop and the markets.

Accountabilities

• Develop and maintain a product development portfolio in line with market segment needs and business planning.
• Perform all tasks in compliance with company safety and stewardship policies.
• Communicate effectively and regularly with peers and supervisors about program status, raise awareness of issues that could affect meeting objectives and business goals.
• Develop awareness of market needs for commercial products throughout Mexico market segments. Work closely with Breeding Trial Specialist (BTS) and Product Development Specialist (PDS) colleagues to anticipate product performance gaps and contribute to a research plan to address these gaps. Continuous learning to understand changing market needs. Interaction with Sales/Commercial team to understand product performance.
• Develop expertise in crop biology, germplasm management, and trait priorities.
• Contribute to crop strategy and product profile development in collaboration with market segment and commercial teams.
• Develop and deploy new breeding technologies and methods. Implement data driven decision making throughout the breeding process.
• Implement the use of data science tools and predictive models for product development and selection.
• Planning for nurseries and yield trial experiments.
• Provide meaningful input on hybrid advancement decisions. Work with market segment teams to ensure appropriate selection criteria and target product profiles (TPP) are applied to advancement decisions.
• Responsible for a quantitative assessment of pipeline performance in alignment with market needs: Generate reports/tables to communicate product performance data to other functions and management.
• Participate actively in discovery projects, collaborating with Trait Development Leads and Genetic Scientists to identify and develop marker-trait associations, and lead the commercial deployment of innovative traits to the market.
• Collect data and field notes on agronomic traits in inbred and hybrid nurseries.

Qualifications

• PhD or a M.Sc. with 5+ years post-academia experience managing a successful breeding program in plant breeding or related field.
• Experience in and a passion for applied plant breeding.
• Knowledge of genetics, statistics, phytopathology, plant physiology, molecular markers, and experience with their application in a commercial breeding program.
• Proven success with product development projects in breeding.
• Fluency in English and Spanish.
• Ability and willingness to travel internationally in Mexico, U.S., and Latin America.
• Physical ability to work in challenging environmental conditions (hot, cold, humid).
• A flexible and agile attitude; thriving in a dynamic environment, ability to adapt to new situations.
• Strong communication skills, ability to drive results within a team, and the ability to influence others.

Additional Information

• Full Benefit Package (Medical, Dental & Vision) that starts the same day you do
• 401k plan with company match, Profit Sharing & Retirement Savings Contribution
• Paid Vacation, 9 Paid Holidays, Maternity and Paternity Leave, Education Assistance, Wellness Programs, Corporate Discounts among others
• A culture that promotes work/life balance, celebrates diversity, and offers numerous family-oriented events throughout the year

Syngenta is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate in recruitment, hiring, training, promotion or any other employment practices for reasons of race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, sexual orientation, marital or veteran status, disability, or any other legally protected status.

Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's (EEOC)
Employee Polygraph Protection Act (EPPA)

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