Director of Department – 2. Protection of Specific Crops of the Collaborative Lab “...

Main responsibilities

The Director of the Protection of Specific Crops Department reports directly to the Chief Executive Officer of InnovPlantProtect and has the following main responsibilities:

• Lead a team of biologists and biochemists (PhD and MSc)
• Coordinate development of genome editing strategies based on CRISPR/Cas, to mutate specific target genes;
• Coordinate the identification of resistance/tolerance loci to pests and diseases;
• Coordinate development of methods to protect seeds, reducing the loads of fungi and bacteria, and to increase seed viability and vigour;
• Coordinate the production of Plant metabolites;
• Daily management of the activities of the members of department;
• Cooperate with the Executive Director in defining the annual activity plan of InnovPlantProtect
• Interact with the other Department Directors to further the overall objectives of InnovPlantProtect.

Specific requirements

• PhD researcher with at least 10 years of experience in Plant Biology/Biotechnology/Plant Molecular Biology;
• Experience in Plant Bioreactor systems;
• Multidisciplinary profile focusing on Plant Biotechnology;
• Recognized h-Index of scientific publications (ISI Web of Science);
• Proven experience in team leading and coordination;
• Proven interaction with IberoAmerican networks
• Proven experience in participating in international projects;
• Experience in preparing project proposals;
• Fluency in the use of Portuguese and English, both spoken and written;
• Excellent communication skills.

InnovPlantProtect is a private non-profit association

InnovPlantProtect aims to create innovation for the protection of crops, seeds, and post-harvest products, in particular through:

• Development of new technologies and knowledge, as well as the improvement of previously developed technologies, to protect crops, seeds and post-harvest products, as well as their intellectual protection and availability;
• Development of applied scientific research to introduce the developed technologies in the market, and to develop processes and products;
• Provide technical support to companies and entities, public or private, assisting them in the introduction of biotechnological strategies, methods and processes, and in the orientation and implementation of industrial research and development, directed towards the protection of crops, seeds and post-harvest products;
• Collaboration with public or private institutions, national or foreign in their areas of activity.

Workplace

The place of work will be the headquarters of InnovPlantProtect, at the INIAV Elvas, in the former National Plant Breeding Station.

 Salary and contract

A full-time contract will be offered, starting March 1st , 2022. The contract will last until December 31, 2022, and will be renewed past 2022 depending on further financial support. All the activities to be developed will be subject to confidentiality clauses.

The gross value of the remuneration will be €3 851,50 (14 month, with 4,77€ for meal allowance.

 Financial Support

This contract is co-financed by the European Social Fund and Alentejo 2020, under the Operation: Highly qualified employment in companies - Hiring Highly Qualified Human Resources (PME or CoLAB, project reference: ALT20-59-2018-49

To apply for this position, the following documents should be sent in a single PDF document:

• Curriculum vitae (CV)
• Motivation letter
• Statement of honour on how the data declared in the CV are true.

Where to send the application

To the care of the CEO of InnovPlantProtect Collaborative Lab, Professor Doctor Pedro Fevereiro ([email protected] )

 Deadlines

This call is open from January 17th  to 31th , 2022, with a decision expected by February 28th .

General rules of data protection (GDPR)

With the entry into force of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 April 2016, commonly known as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and in order to ensure a fair and transparent treatment of the holder of the data, InnovPlantProtect informs that by applying for this position you are authorizing InnovPlantProtect to (1) collect and process your personal data deemed necessary and relevant to this recruitment process, (2) to disclose the results of the evaluation in accordance with the legislation in force.