KWS is one of the most innovative and long established plant breeding and seed companies worldwide. For more than 150 years we have been breeding and marketing high performance varieties for the modern farmer. Our key crops are sugar beet, corn and cereals as well as oil seed crops and potatoes. Our core markets are in the temperate climate zones of Europe, North and South America as well as China.

In the cereals breeding division of KWS we have invested strongly in our existing and new breeding programs and due to rapid growth, we are now looking to fill 4 positions in Rye, Wheat and Barley. These positions are generally expected to be based in Germany, but locations in the UK or elsewhere are being considered as well.

To support this growth we would like to welcome new colleagues as:
(Lead) Breeder (m/f)
You will work on a full time basis in one of our Cereals breeding teams in Germany or elsewhere.

We offer permanent positions and depending on your knowhow, experience, preference and personality we intend to make the best match to one of the opportunities. Our strategic initiatives have increased both our line and hybrid activities in cereals. So, if you have been studying plant breeding and show a great interest for a job in the area of scientifically based product development we would like you to consider this opportunity. The core activity will be the development of new varieties. However, further scientific breeding approaches and breeding management are part of the job.

We offer:

• The possibility to translate market opportunities into our product development
• The opportunity to work in an open, future oriented research environment closely connected to our well organized and state of the art technology platforms in Cereals Biotech and Stations Management
• Highly motivated and qualified colleagues to carry out our ambitious breeding roadmap

Your responsibilities:

• Development of a breeding program strategy for variety development
• Organization and implementation of breeding experiments, from crosses to variety registration
• Development of breeding material/populations to support breeding research
• Application of modern breeding technologies like DH, SSD, MAS, GS and others
• Application of modern quantitative genetic analysis
• (International) team leadership

Your profile:

• MSc or Ph.D. in plant breeding or related fields like biology or genetics
• Strong bases in breeding methods and particular quantitative genetics
• Good bases in molecular breeding
• Good bases in agronomy, especially cereals
• Good understanding of population-, line- and hybrid breeding
• Skills and ability to work in multidisciplinary teams
• Excellent communication skill, especially in oral and written communication
• Good English language skills; German language skills would be useful for positions in Germany
• Flexibility to travel

Have we caught your attention? If so, we are looking forward to receiving your application in English (cover letter, CV, relevant references), preferably via e-mail to jobs@kws.com, stating reference number 107 C.