Research Technician – Sorghum Breeding

The World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) is seeking a Research Technician – Sorghum Breeding to support breeding operations and ensure the efficient movement of genetic materials through successive breeding stages.

Role Overview

The Research Technician will assist with the preparation, logistics, and documentation of breeding materials, support early-generation cycling, coordinate trial kits, and collaborate with scientists to implement rapid cycle genomic selection workflows.

Key Responsibilities

Breeding Operations Support

• Support breeding activities by helping coordinate the movement of genetic material through successive breeding stages.
• Assist with preparation, labeling, storage, and dispatch of materials for rapid-cycle advancement.
• Maintain accurate records of breeding materials.
• Support timely transfer of selected material between greenhouse, nursery, and breeding pipeline stages.

Cross and Seed Logistics

• Prepare and organize seed packets, crossing kits, envelopes, labels, and other materials required for breeding operations.
• Assist with seed sorting, packaging, reconciliation, and dispatch for crossing and advancement activities.
• Support tracking of parental lines, cross progenies, and advanced breeding materials to ensure identity and traceability.
• Help maintain orderly seed stores and breeding operation supplies.

Support Rapid Early-Generation Cycling

• Assist in handling materials from rapid cycling crosses, including progenies from early-generation crosses and related advancement materials.
• Ensure breeding materials are moved quickly and accurately between activities to minimize delays in the pipeline.
• Support preparation of materials for recurrent crossing and advancement under the RCGS workflow.
• Help maintain continuity of materials across breeding cycles and breeding generation transitions.

Coordination of Trial Kits

• Work with Trialing Research Associate in preparing trial kits, labels, materials, and documentation required for multi-location sparse testing.
• Ensure that all items needed for field trials (seeds, plot QR code labels) are packed and dispatched correctly and on time.
• Coordinate with field teams, breeders, and logistics staff to ensure smooth delivery of trial kits to partners.
• Keep checklists and inventories for all kits and dispatched materials.

Data Recording and Documentation

• Record breeding operation details accurately, including dates of crossing, dispatch, and sparse testing location details such as trial planting harvesting and data return, and material movement.
• Ensure all genetic materials and experiments are recorded in EBS.
• Assist with basic data entry and file organization related to breeding operations.
• Support documentation needed for quality assurance, traceability, and reporting.

Collaboration with Scientists

• Work closely with the Plant Breeder and other scientists to implement operational aspects of RCGS.
• Support the conversion of genomic selection decisions into practical breeding actions.
• Coordinate with breeders to ensure selected materials are prepared and moved efficiently through the pipeline.
• Provide operational feedback on bottlenecks, delays, losses, or material-handling issues.