Requirements

• The candidate should have a Ph.D. in Plant Breeding, Genetics or any other related field.
  

• At least 10 years of experience in plant breeding programs
  
• Evidence of significant management skills including change management and management of successful breeding teams
  
• Ability to work well in a diverse multicultural environment
  
• Excellent interpersonal and organizational skills
  
• Proven track record in resource mobilization.
  
• Excellent written and oral communication skills
  
• Ability to build consensus/function as part of a team
  
• Problem solving and decision-making skills
  
• Resilience under pressure along with sound risk judgment
  
• Experience of managing staff and budgets
  

• Leadership: Lead and coordinate interdisciplinary research initiatives to advance and drive impact in banana and plantain crop improvement across IITA’s focus countries.
  
• Product Design and Development: Implement an effective breeding strategy to develop elite breeding material and a product advancement process to identify new candidate varieties for targeted market segments and product profiles.
  
• Modernization: Lead the modernization of banana and plantain crop improvement at IITA, with support from the Breeding Innovation Services (EiB) team and the Bayer Crop Science team.
  
• Alignment: Ensure that the banana strategy is fully aligned with the Breeding for Tomorrow (B4T) framework, reflecting its priorities, objectives, and long-term vision.
  
• Quality of Research: Foster high-quality breeding research by strengthening and integrating molecular and metabolomic tools, as well as bioassays, to accelerate selection efficiency.
  
• Germplasm Development: Working with NARS and selected partners, obtain, identify and develop appropriate germplasm to sustain the breeding program. Also, support and initiate germplasm distribution to collaborating partners for varietal evaluation.
  
• Coordination: Coordinate the development of stage gate multilocation product performance testing strategy, data analysis and advancement process, which is aligned with target market segments, TPEs or Agro-ecologies.
  
• Optimization of Breeding Processes and Operations: Ensure cost effective breeding operations, and standard operating procedures that deliver agreed quality and performance indicators
  
• Infrastructural Development: Contribute to infrastructural development of: (i) the plantain breeding program at the IITA, Ibadan (ii) the Mchare Breeding program at the Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and technology, Arusha, Tanzania and (iii) the Matoke Breeding Program in Sendusu, Uganda.
  
• Integration: Foster the integration of the IITA highland breeding program in Sendusu-Namulonge with the banana breeding program of NARO, Kawanda, Uganda
  
• Collaboration and Partnerships:
  
• Develop strong partnerships with national public breeding programs to collaboratively identify critical germplasm, product needs and define complementary breeding objectives.
  
• Work in partnership with scientists from other disciplines and interact with industry partners and end users (farmers, extension agents, traders, consumers, etc.) from different organizations to design well defined and clearly prioritized Target Product Profiles in the Target Population of Environments.
  
• Enable and actively support the regional crop network to collaboratively plan and implement breeding activities that optimize the development of individual and shared network germplasm products and builds capacity to share knowledge, best practices, training etc.