Principal Scientist – I - Cell and Molecular Biology and Trait Engineering

ICRISAT is a non-profit, non-political organization that conducts agricultural research for development in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa with a wide array of partners throughout the world. Covering 6.5 million square kilometers of land in 55 countries, the semi- arid or dryland tropics has over 2 billion people and 644 million of these are the poorest of the poor. ICRISAT and its partners help empower these disadvantaged populations to overcome poverty, hunger and a degraded environment through better agricultural production systems.

ICRISAT is headquartered at Patancheru near Hyderabad, India, with two regional hubs and eight country offices in sub-Saharan Africa. ICRISAT envisions a prosperous, food-secure and resilient dryland tropics. Its mission is to reduce poverty, hunger, malnutrition and environmental degradation in the dryland tropics. ICRISAT conducts research on its mandate crops of chickpea, pigeonpea, groundnut, sorghum, pearl millet and finger millet in the arid and semi-arid tropics. The Institute focuses its work on the drylands and in protecting the environment. Tropical dryland areas are usually seen as resource-poor and perennially beset by shocks such as drought, thereby trapping dryland communities in poverty and hunger and making them dependent on external aid. Please visit – www.icrisat.org

Aspirational Targets and Development Outcomes:

ICRISAT has set four bold targets in the next ten years that will enormously benefit the well-being of the drylands’ poorest people:

• Help halve rural poverty by increasing farm incomes through more productive, stable, diverse and profitable crops and crop products
• Help halve hunger by contributing innovations that increase yields by 30% on a wide scale and through policy advice that stabilizes food prices and availability
• Help halve childhood malnutrition by enhancing the nutrient content of staple food crops and helping the poor diversify their crops, delivering more nutritious and safer food; and
• Increase the resilience of dryland farming through innovations that stabilize, safeguard, and enhance natural resource capital, biological and systems diversity, and land

ICRISAT, with an annual budget of over USD 40 Million, has a global workforce of over 3000 individuals in Asia and Africa.

Position Overview:

ICRISAT has a compelling mission to fight poverty and improve the lives of people living in the drylands around the world. The drylands are harsh environments with some of the highest levels of poverty and malnutrition, impacted strongly by climate change and battling water shortages and environmental degradation. The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) cannot be met unless we are persistent in escalating efforts towards finding solutions in these most challenged landscapes.

This is an exceptional opportunity to become a part of a modern and innovative agricultural research team. ICRISAT has three global research programs which are implemented in its international centres in Asia and Africa. To implement its research for the development agenda, ICRISAT is looking for a dynamic, experienced, exceptional, multi-talented candidate for the position of ‘Principal Scientist-1 who would lead ICRISAT effort on cell biology and transformation with a particular focus on gene editing as part of the Trait Discovery and Delivery Theme in the Global Research Program “Accelerated Crop Improvement”.

70% Research and 30% Administrative responsibilities, the incumbent will lead a vibrant multi-disciplinary team and provide scientific leadership by combining multiple platforms to develop and test new biotechnological approaches to develop ICRISAT mandate crops to support the demand for increased yield and overall agricultural productivity.

The position will report to the Head of Trait Discovery and Delivery, within the ACI program. This position will be hired through a Globally Competitive Recruitment process on a contract for a period of three years with an attractive compensation and benefits package payable in US dollars. A new contract may be offered at the end of the present tenure based on the performance of the incumbent, funding availability and the lnstitute’s continuing need for the position. The suitable candidate will need to be able to act fast, engage professionally and build relationships across multiple cultures, besides working closely with the lnstitute’s Leadership Team and scientists across all our locations in Asia and Africa.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Lead contributions to the organizational strategy by innovatively identifying, prioritizing, and managing key research issues of cell and molecular biology and trait engineering.
• Secure, sustain and manage the necessary human, financial, and material support, by reaching their assigned resource mobilization targets and play a lead role in ensuring that ICRISAT attains corporate annual resource mobilization targets.
• Lead collaborations with CGIAR colleagues, research institutes and industry in the area of cell biology and trait engineering
• Contribute regularly and significantly to top quality international scientific literature and demonstrate the impact of research and delivery activities.
• Lead the development of a high performing and impactful global team of researchers.
• Collaborate with national and international partners and stakeholders to achieve the required impact of the institute’s research agenda in the Trait Discovery and Delivery Theme
• Disseminate the strategic agenda and policy brief to international partners and stakeholders.
• Engage with ICRISAT management, donors and partners to better position ICRISAT’s research portfolio internationally.
• Design and ensure execution of ICRISAT’s research agenda related to the cell and molecular biology and trait engineering component of Trait Discovery and Delivery in adherence to the defined schedules and timeline, in compliance with the institute SOPs/policies.
• Ensure timely utilization of the financial resources allocated for the implementation of the project activities.
• Prioritizing and targeting constraints in grain legumes (Groundnut, Pigeonpea and Chickpea) and dryland cereals (Sorghum, Pearl Millet, Finger millet and small millets) for which no genetic traits are available in conventional plant breeding applications
• Developing biotechnological tools for gene validation, genetic and genome engineering as well as translational research activities
• Genetic engineering and gene editing of grain legumes and functional genomics approaches aimed at integrating useful traits including enhanced diseases and pest resistance, abiotic stress tolerance and nutritional enhancement
• Translational research activities including biosafety assessment of transgenic products, and building the capacities of stakeholders in different target countries of Asia and sub-Saharan Africa to comply with the internationally and nationally laid out biosafety regulations and stewardship aspects in the public sector transgenic crops
• Integrate scientific innovations to design and build new biological functions and systems to generate robust breeding pipelines with special focus on ICRISAT mandate crops

Qualifications and Core Competencies:

The ideal candidate will have most, if not all, of the following skills, knowledge, experience, and personal characteristics:

• The candidate must have agricultural experience and should hold a PhD in Biotechnology or related discipline of Cell and Molecular Biology and Trait Engineering (Agriculture/ Biological Sciences)
• A Minimum of 10 years of Post-PhD experience is required in the area of Cell and Molecular Biology and Trait Engineering with high quality research outputs including an excellent record of publication in high impact journals with minimum 3-4 years as a Senior Scientist or an equivalent role.
• Demonstrated ability to write proposals and for resource mobilization in the area of Cell and Molecular Biology and Trait Engineering or similar areas.
• Well connected with institutions, organization in the relevant areas of research.
• Experience of leading multicultural, multi-disciplinary scientific teams and ability to work across diverse environments and cultures.
• Excellent written and oral skills in English. Knowledge of other international languages, especially French, will be an advantage

Skills and Knowledge:

• Demonstrated leadership abilities, commitment towards organizational goals and strong interpersonal skills.
• A deep understanding of agricultural science in Biotechnology and allied sciences.
• Specialized technical skills in Gene editing, Genetic Engineering, Crop Improvement, Molecular Biology, etc.
• Proactive and achievement oriented.
• Collaborate with all ICRISAT research units across all locations and various NARS and international research institutions in providing Biotechnology science support and provide reliable backstopping to multidisciplinary teams of researchers during the research cycle.
• Contribute to research publications of scientists and research scholars
• Track record of peer reviewed publications in agricultural research and allied sciences.
• Proactive and independent problem solver, and an excellent team player.

General:

This is a contractual role for a period of 36 months (3 years).

How to apply:

The position will remain open until a suitable candidate is identified. Shortlisting will start from 28 October 2025. All Applicants should apply with their latest Resume, and the names and contact information of three references that are knowledgeable about their professional qualifications and work experience. All applications will be acknowledged; however, only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

ICRISAT is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to increasing diversity and maintaining a progressive and inclusive workplace. We welcome applications from all qualified candidates regardless of their ethnicity, race, gender, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, age, marital status or whether they have a disability.