Senior Scientist I

Company Description

About Syngenta 

At Syngenta Seeds Field Crops, we're shaping the future of agriculture and empowering farmers to meet the ever-growing demand for food and fuel. We’re a global Ag Tech powerhouse, headquartered in the United States, with passionate, local experts collaborating with farmers to deliver solutions that create market opportunities.  We unite precision breeding, advanced biotechnology trait choice, and digital platforms for unmatched in-field performance.  Our seeds help mitigate risks such as disease, insect, weed, and extreme weather pressures, all while promoting sustainable farming practices that protect and enhance our planet. Join our mission of revolutionizing food security and transforming agriculture. 

Job Description

At Syngenta, our goal is to build the most collaborative and trustworthy team in agriculture, providing top-quality seeds and innovative crop protection solutions that improve farmers' success. To support this mission, Syngenta is seeking a Senior Scientist in Durham, NC. This role will be responsible for establishing multiple plant nematode species: cyst nematode, root-knot nematode, and lesion nematode, using soil and sterile cultures. Lead and support trait discovery and validation projects by conducting hands-on experiments, collaborating with key experts and functions both within and outside of Syngenta.

Accountabilities:

• Design and implement experiments to evaluate lead performance against Soybean cyst nematode, root-knot nematodes and lesion nematodes.
• Execute experiments with high quality and precision.
• Possess deep knowledge and extensive experience through training and work in conducting crop pathology experiments, such as collecting inoculum, culturing inoculum at appropriate scales, inoculation, and disease susceptibility/tolerance/resistance ratings in lab, greenhouse (GH), and field environments.
• Develop correlations of disease susceptibility/tolerance/resistance ratings in different environments, as required by the project.
• Create and test hypotheses and make recommendations as a crop pathology expert.
• Be the focal point of creating, internalizing, and implementing plant pathology techniques and knowledge that enable the organization to meet the needs of growers.
• Seek out, identify, communicate, and encourage examples of best practice from internal and external sources of information.

Qualifications

• Ph.D. or equivalent in Plant Nematology, Genetics, Genomics, or a related field, and 4+ years of professional experience working in improving crop resistance against plant-parasitic nematodes.
• 4+ years of hands-on experience applying general and modern pathology skills in dissecting genetic resistance/tolerance in crops.
• At least 5+ years of laboratory work experience, such as:
• Daily work with plant nematodes.
• Expertise in large-scale nematode production, infection, rating, and reporting.
• Proficiency in the use of standard software and familiarity with databases.
• Ability to perform plant studies independently or as part of a team.
• Strong interest in plant biotechnology and agricultural research.
• Strong desire to deliver solutions to meet the unmet needs faced by farmers both locally and globally.
• Ability to solve complex and varied problems based on available data to create working hypotheses, design and execute scientific experiments leading to conclusions, solutions, or new hypotheses.
• Effective communication skills to convey the appropriate level of detail to the right audience verbally, in writing, or by presentation, and the ability to judge when and who to communicate key information.

Additional Information

What We Offer: 

• A culture that celebrates belonging and collaboration, promotes professional development and strives for a work-life balance that supports the team members. Offers flexible work options to support your work and personal needs. 
• Full Benefit Package (Medical, Dental & Vision) that starts your first day. 
• 401k plan with company match, Profit Sharing & Retirement Savings Contribution. 
• Paid Vacation, Paid Holidays, Maternity and Paternity Leave, Education Assistance, Wellness Programs, Corporate Discounts, among other benefits. 

Syngenta has been ranked as a top employer by Science Journal. Learn more about our team and our mission here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVCN_51GbNI 

Syngenta is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate in recruitment, hiring, training, promotion or any other employment practices for reasons of race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, sexual orientation, marital or veteran status, disability, or any other legally protected status. 

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