Job Description

Assistant Wheat Breeder BISA

The Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA) is a non-profit international research institute dedicated to food, nutrition, and livelihood security as well as environmental rehabilitation in South Asia, which is home to more than 300 million undernourished people. BISA is a collaborative effort involving CIMMYT and the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR). Please refer to this website for more information: http://bisa.org/

The main responsibilities of this position will be:

BISA is seeking a dynamic, innovative, self-motivated, and service-oriented professional for the position of Assistant Wheat Breeder. The position (BISA Grade VII) will be based at BISA Research Station in Ludhiana, Punjab, India.

The main responsibilities of this position will be:

• Manage wheat breeding trials, including field layout, seed preparation, sowing, fertilizer and weed management, harvesting, threshing and seed storage etc.
• Collect, manage and synthesize data on wheat breeding trials and nurseries across the BISA research stations, and conduct on-farm participatory trials across target locations in India, under the guidance of senior CIMMYT-BISA staff.
• Conduct ICAR-IIWBR coordinated yield trials and early sown trials and managed international yield trials, including drought and heat stress tolerance trials, at BISA-Ludhiana.
• Evaluate nurseries for yellow rust resistance and conduct and manage large plot station trials.
• Contribute to the development and harmonization of high-throughput wheat phenotyping protocols and measurements using handheld and remote sensors.
• Conduct molecular breeding research activities to enhance trait selection and validation.
• Analysis of wheat grain samples from different genotypes for nutritional quality parameters.
• Data management, analysis, report writing and scientific publications.
• Distribution of selected wheat lines to the national partners.
• Assist in organizing wheat field day at BISA research stations and managing field staff for day-to-day research trial activities at BISA-Ludhiana.
• Collaborate with government and private sector partners as well as with other staff of CIMMYT-BISA in ongoing wheat breeding research in the region.
• Communicate research results to diverse communities, including scientists, change agents, policy makers and farmers and participate in various meetings representing CIMMYT-BISA in various forms at local as well as national level.
• Support for organization of multistakeholder workshops/events at BISA sites and other project sites in South Asia.
• Travel to other BISA sites in India for trial monitoring and management.
• Any other work assigned by the supervisor in the interest of research and organization.

Requirements

• We are seeking candidates with the following academic qualifications, experience, skills, and attitudes:
• Masters (M.Sc. Agriculture) degree in Genetics and Plant Breeding with at least two years of research experience in wheat crop or Doctoral Degree (Ph.D.) in Genetics and Plant Breeding, preferably in wheat breeding.
• Good understanding of crop management practices, especially in wheat-based systems.
• Experience of working with molecular markers to tag/map genes/QTLs for important traits is desirable.
• Hands-on experience in phenotyping crop germplasm with respect to physiological traits associated with heat tolerance is desirable.
• Experience in handling wheat breeding experiments in the field will be an advantage.
• Ability to manage and statistically analyses data and synthesize and translate research results into peer reviewed publications.
• Good skills/experience in computer applications relevant for genetic analysis and breeding applications.
• Good knowledge of Project Management Tools would be an advantage.
• Good oral and written Communication skills in English.
• Ability to work in multicultural environments and in multidisciplinary teams

Benefits

The position is for an initial fixed term contract of one year, after which further employment is subject to satisfactory performance and continued availability of funds. BISA offers an attractive remuneration package, with a range of benefits including health insurance.

Screening and follow-up of applications will begin on Thursday 9th July 2026. Applications must include a CV with contact details (telephone and email address) of 3 work-related references along with the confirmation that the Recruitment team can contact them, and a cover letter. Incomplete applications will not be taken into consideration.

This position is recruited locally. Applicants must have the legal right to work in the duty station country at the time of application. CIMMYT does not provide visa sponsorship or work permit support for locally recruited staff roles.

Please note that only short-listed candidates will be contacted.