Tomato Breeder

Role purpose: 

The primary purpose of the Tomato Breeder is to lead the development of germplasm, inbred lines and hybrid varieties for Protected Spring crop fresh Tomato production primarily focusing on Türkiye delivering commercially successful varieties. The Tomato Breeder will be focused on implementing strategies that aid in the development of commercially successful lines and hybrids and to ensure that all activities act to enhance genetic gain and the long-term success of the breeding program. 

Responsibilities/main tasks:

• Maintain and develop a product development portfolio in line with market segment requests and business planning, addressing short-, medium-, and   long-term market segment needs.
• Communicate effectively and regularly with peers and supervisors regarding the status of projects and work activities, raise awareness of issues that   could affect meeting project objectives and business goals.
• Develop awareness of market needs for commercial products market segments areas. Interactions with colleagues from other departments 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 the nature of any product performance anomalies. Provide information to these groups to assist   them with their decision-making processes.
• Develop expertise in crop biology, germplasm and critical trait priorities.
• Develop and deploy new breeding technologies and methods. Implement data driven decision in every part of the breeding program.
• Using analytic and data science tools, predictive models for product selection and genomic selection.
• Prepare market introduction of varieties by using imputation and environment modelling to support best growing practices. 
• Prepare nursery and yield trial experiments: Design current and future resource plans with key stake holders. 
• Provide meaningful input on hybrid advancement decisions. Work with market segment teams to ensure appropriate selection criteria and target product   profiles (TPP) are being applied.
• Demonstrate strong customer orientation displaying a thorough understanding of your target markets. 
• Understand farmer view and feedback and seize long term market opportunities
• Plan and coordinate transfer of parental line seeds to Production & Supply to support new product launches in agreement with the parental delivery   process
• Deliver information to secure registration of products in the different markets.
• Ensure freedom to operate by strengthening our intellectual property position, maintain awareness of competitor activity and being a strong steward of   the tomato seed industry
• Responsible for a quantitative assessment of pipeline performance in alignment with market needs: Generate reports/tables/charts to highlight to other   functions and management how product performance is measured over time or in comparison to check hybrids in a current growing season. Determine   rates of genetic gain for different product pipelines in market segments through mining of phenotypic data.
• Collect field notes on agronomic traits on inbred and hybrid materials including pathology traits

Syngenta Seeds is one of the world’s largest developers and producers of seed for farmers, commercial growers, retailers and small seed companies. Syngenta seeds improve the quality and yields of crops. High-quality seeds ensure better and more productive crops, which is why farmers invest in them. Advanced seeds help mitigate risks such as disease and drought and allow farmers to grow food using less land, less water and fewer inputs.
Syngenta Seeds brings farmers more vigorous, stronger, resistant plants, including innovative hybrid varieties and biotech crops that can thrive even in challenging growing conditions. Syngenta Seeds is headquartered in the United States.

Knowledge and experience expected:

• PhD in plant breeding or related area. Breeding experience in a commercial setting is a plus. 
• In-depth knowledge of conventional plant breeding, genetics, statistics and field design, plant biology and marker breeding techniques including genome   wide selection, population genetics and quantitative genetics.
• Project management in a team-oriented atmosphere. 
• Background in two or more of the following areas: plant breeding, genetics, statistics, plant biology/pathology/botany, marker assisted breeding/GWS.
• Ability to generate reports/charts/summary tables to communicate results and progress.
• Ability to lead and motivate others to high performance.
• Excellent computer skills and proficiency with MS Office and corporate software.
• Ability to effectively organize, manage and assign workload of multiple tasks in order to meet project goals and deadlines.  
• Ability to work independently with minimal day-to-day supervision. Adjust workload plans and resource allocations based on new direction in a changing   environment.
• Ability to manage resources to achieve objectives and remain within budget.
• Fluent in English (speech and written); (practical use of Hungarian, Spanish or Turkish in accordance with principal work location is a preference)
• Operates in a team setting, working independently on a section of the breeding project for which they have authority but coordinating activities with other     team members.
• Ability to work under challenging environmental conditions.
• This position requires Regional & international travel.