Molecular Geneticist (m/f/d) (80-100%)
Location: Zürich, Switzerland
Employment: Contract for 3 years with the option to convert to permanent employment based on excellent performance.
The Swiss Plant Breeding Center (SPBC) is seeking an experienced and versatile Molecular Geneticist. In this role, you will establish and optimize lab methodologies for translating genomic data into actionable insights, acting as a vital link between laboratory analyses and breeding decisions at Swiss private and public breeding organizations. Your primary objective will be to leverage genomics to accelerate the development of resilient and high-quality crop varieties that are well-adapted to Switzerland. This is a unique opportunity to contribute to building the SPBC and positively impact the Swiss agriculture and food system.
Key Responsibilities
- Support molecular plant breeding and resistance screenings for biotic and abiotic stresses across multiple crops, driving breeding program success and increasing genetic gain.
- Molecular Marker Development: Design cost-efficient markers and validation experiments with breeders to facilitate routine marker-assisted selection in breeding pipelines.
- Lab Infrastructure: Design and maintain efficient lab workflows, including scoping and acquiring specialized lab equipment.
- Lab Management and Reporting: Design and execute complex experiments, ensuring compliance with stringent quality control (QC) and quality assurance (QA) standards. Prepare detailed technical reports and standard operating procedures.
- Genomic Analysis: Perform high-throughput DNA extraction and sequencing (NGS), PCR, and genotyping analysis with swift turnarounds.
- Bioinformatics: Build and maintain automated bioinformatics pipelines for processing genomic data, including high-throughput genotyping (SNP Chips, KASP) and genome sequencing (targeted approaches, WGS, RNA-Seq), as well as creating genome assemblies.
- Stakeholder Engagement and Training: Communicate effectively with stakeholders and provide training to others.
- Innovation: Stay at the forefront of genetic technology to improve internal methodologies.
- Decision Support: Translate complex genomic data into actionable insights for breeding decisions.
Who You Are
- You enjoy lab work and are adept at developing and optimizing innovative methods and tools to solve practical scientific challenges in diverse plant species within a complex network of breeding organizations.
- You are an effective communicator capable of interacting with a wide variety of stakeholders.
- You are motivated by applying new technologies and methods in practical breeding programs, understanding that publishing papers is not the primary focus of this role.
- You take pleasure in developing efficient lab processes and workflows that can be routinely applied.
- You are keen on sharing your expertise freely and openly.
- You enjoy working in a small team where everyone supports each other.
Technical Requirements
- Education: PhD (or MSc with >6 years of experience) in Molecular Genetics, Molecular Biology, Molecular Plant Breeding, Bioinformatics, or a related field.
- Laboratory Management: Broad knowledge of efficient laboratory workflows and the ability to coordinate lab equipment acquisition. Experience in good laboratory practices, lab information management software (LIMS), and team leadership in a lab setting.
- Genomics: Experience in generating sequencing libraries, genome assembly, alignment, and variant calling. Expertise in molecular cloning, primer design, and cell culture.
- Marker Design: Experience in designing genetic markers to enable marker-assisted selection for significant traits.
- Scientific Computing: Experience with R and high-performance computing (HPC), including Linux environments and cloud computing (AWS/GCP).
- Languages: Proficiency in English and German or French.
The Swiss Plant Breeding Center (SPBC) is the newly founded, independent competence and innovation center for plant breeding in Switzerland, supported by the Federal Office for Agriculture (FOAG). Its aim is to strengthen Swiss plant breeding and increase breeding efficiency. SPBC's primary tasks include networking stakeholders in breeding and research and transferring research results into practical breeding programs. The SPBC provides breeders with technical support, know-how, and expertise, actively participating in the planning and implementation of innovations.
Our competencies encompass molecular genetics, genomics, bioinformatics, quantitative genetics, data analytics, trial design, breeding program design, and digital phenotyping. In all these areas, we focus on helping breeding organizations translate research results into routine applications.
Apply online using the form below. Please note that only applications matching the job profile will be considered.