Soltis is a research company, joint venture of Limagrain and Lidea, dedicated to sunflower breeding for the european markets.

We are looking for a Breeding Program Lead for the agroclimatic conditions of the northern part of Europe. The role of a Breeding Program Lead is to define the right breeding strategy to develop the best sunflower products for the targeted geographical area.

As Breeding Program Lead you are a member of the Soltis leadership team, and you are reporting to Soltis head of research.

The position is based in France, Mondonville (31700).

Your main tasks will be:

• Definition and implementation of the strategy for geographical area :
  • trialling network definition
  • trialling volume
  • genetics understanding and genetic proposal
  • definition of hybrid/product ideotype
• Manage the allocated budget , for a maximized efficiency of the program
• Field scoring of advanced hybrids
• Data synthesis and hybrid/product characterization
• Active participation to line breeding steps: selection of starting crosses, line advancement decision and coding
• Active participation to hybrid breeding steps: new hybrids making plan, hybrid advancement meeting and allocation plan
• Anticipate conversion need for the geographical area
• Responsible for candidate selection (review of results, presentation preparation) and presentation to shareholders
• In charge of defining KPI to monitor the performance of our line breeding program

• Qualification: Master in Agronomy or related field (Msc)
• Experience:
  • Min 5 years of experience in agricultural research
  • Min 5 years of experience in a leadership role

• Knowledge:

  • Strong communication skills is required for effective collaboration with other teams
  • Broad knowledge on plant breeding, preferably sunflower genetics knowledge
  • Broad knowledge on crop production, crop protection, trialling and farming practices
  • Strong decision making, prioritization and problem solving skills
  • Data analysis and reporting skills, basic statistics skills
  • Knowledge of the sunflower market for the geographical area
  • Understanding of new breeding technologies

This position of Sunflower Breeding Program Lead is to be filled as soon as possible on a permanent contract at our Mondonville site, 20 km north of Toulouse (France, Occitanie, Haute-Garonne).