Job Description:

Role Purpose/Accountabilities	Role purpose: We are inviting a talented scientist to join a team to work on discovering gene leads for the control of the plant parasitic nematodes. The responsibility are: • Maintaining and optimizing a pipeline for soybean cyst nematode bioassay on transgenic tissues. • Discovering new gene leads for the purpose of nematode control. • Design and conduct experiments to test nematode trait delivery strategies • Explore technology that could better enable nematode trait delivery Accountabilities • Maintain nematode cultures on plant hosts and provide nematodes to the bioassay pipeline • Transform plants and generate transgenic tissues • Conduct nematode bioassays on the transgenic tissues and report the results • Constantly explore and implement new methodology to improve the data quality and throughput of the nematode bioassay pipeline • Identify genes leads and develop novel strategies for nematode control
Knowledge, Skills & Experience	Knowledge, experience & capabilities Critical knowledge • A Ph.D. or M.S. degree in plant nematology • Experience in plant transformation, tissue culture • Knowledge in plant and nematode genomics • Broad knowledge in agricultural biotechnology in addition to accomplishments in all aspects of transgenic work Critical experience • Agrobacterium-mediated plant transformation • Plant parasitic nematode maintenance and bioassay on in vitro plant tissues • Experience in functional genomic research towards the discovery of gene leads for nematode control • Experience with any other types of GM nematode control research is a plus • Industrial experience is a plus • Working in a team environment Critical technical, professional and personal capabilities • Plant transformation and tissue culture • Nematology lab and greenhouse skills • Molecular biology and basic bioinformatics skills • Detail oriented, with strong troubleshooting abilities • Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written
Critical Success Factors & Key Challenges	Critical success factors & key challenges • Able to work proficiently in a team and project environment • A good communicator • Has a can-do attitude