Trait Integration Research Associate

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, the NA Trait Introgression and Delivery; Applied Genetics; NA Seeds Development team is currently seeking a Trait Introgression Research Associate 2 located in Stanton, MN.

Role purpose

The Stanton Trait Introgression Team is responsible for planting, trait screening, cycling, and plant tissue sampling for molecular analyses, supporting the North America (NA) Crop Market Segments, and the Trait Introgression (TI) and Trait Delivery (TD) functions within the Applied Genetics (AG) Organization. The NA Trait Introgression Research Associate will support trait introgression, screening, and evaluation efforts, contributing to the generation of key information that drives product advancement decisions in the NA Corn Pipeline.

Accountabilities:

• Work as a member of the North America Trait Introgression and Delivery (NA TID) Team, contributing to the generation of high-quality traited elite genetics with competitive performance, supporting the accelerated rate of genetic gain in product development. The focus of the role will be corn sterility systems.
• Active involvement in greenhouse plant production, collaborating in greenhouse cycling activities related to the development of corn inbred donors for sterility. Actively participate in associated activities including planting, fertigation, sterile culture techniques, transplanting, pollination, tissue-sampling, and harvesting, executing protocols outlined by NA TI.
• Implement and execute greenhouse protocols for the screening of corn inbreds and hybrids to inform product advancement decisions. Participate in associated activities, including planting, trial scouting, note-taking, data collection, documentation, and reporting.
• Accountable for sample processing including automated quality control procedures, lyophilization, and shipping. Ensure on-time delivery of high-quality sample submissions to genotyping labs. Meet all scheduled KPI targets.
• Manage the Integrated Pest Management program, including on-going continuous improvement efforts to reduce pesticide use through cultural practices and implementation of biological controls.
• Contribute to the ongoing digitization and automation efforts of the NA TID Team, by assisting in demo of developing platforms. Collect high quality, accurate data. Provide feedback to the development team on functionality and efficiency improvements.
• Active involvement in chemical hygiene, maintaining chemical inventories and scheduling chemical disposal as required. Maintain site Safety Data Sheet e-binder for NA TI. Ensure compliance in chemical storage.
• Assist in proof-of-concept testing supporting NA AG, and collaborate with colleagues to execute critical TI pilot studies for improved efficiencies across sites. Actively support current focus on projects related to accelerated plant growth cycle, innovative phenotyping technologies, testing of biologicals for pest control, and standardization/optimization efforts in global genotyping techniques.
• Maintain greenhouse plant production and daily inspection records, and timely communicate plant production challenges to theStanton TI team. Schedule work orders with Facilities Management team to promptly resolve operational issues resulting from daily inspection.
• Continuous improvement: Contribute to devising processes, protocols, techniques, and/or equipment to optimize plant tissue-sampling, trait screening in greenhouse and in the field, and associated activities.
• Assist in the organization of seed and tissue storage activities associated with Stanton Greenhouse TI products.
• Participate in field nursery tissue-sampling, data collection, and pollinating activities, as required during peak season(s), supporting NA TID Team.
• Supervise third-party labor to execute projects, achieve deliverables, and meet project deadlines as required.
• Effectively communicate with peers and supervisors regarding the status of projects and related work activities.
• Perform all tasks and responsibilities in a manner compliant with and in support of all health and safety (HSE) and stewardship-based company policies and practices.

Critical success factors & key challenges:

• Ability to supervise multiple and diverse third-party employees.
• Must be willing to accommodate new research initiatives on a regular basis.
• Must be willing to collaborate across teams/functions to accomplish team project goals and objectives.
• Ability to complete objectives and tasks on time.
• Must be detail-oriented, with focus on quality and accuracy.
• Effective communication skills.

Requirements

Knowledge, experience & capabilities:

• B.S. degree in a plant-related science (Crop Science, Horticulture, Agronomy, Botany).
• A basic understanding of plant genetics, breeding, and data analysis is desirable.
• A basic understanding of project management principles.
• Ability to work in a team setting and communicate with individuals of different backgrounds and levels of expertise throughout the Product, Trait Introgression, and Trait Delivery Teams.
• Ability to work in laboratory, greenhouse, and field conditions.
• Ability to organize and manage workload of multiple tasks in an effective manner.
• Good verbal and written communication skills are required.
• Experience in people supervision and/or management preferred.

Critical knowledge/experience:

• Knowledge of biological systems.
• Knowledge and experience managing, processing, and analyzing datasets.
• Experience in greenhouse management, plant propagation, tissue culture, plant growth cycle, and/or trait introgression.
• Ability to obtain a Commercial Pesticide Applicator’s License.