Banana Breeding Lead (Re-advertisement)

About the role

The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is recruiting an internationally recruited Banana Breeding Lead for a re-advertisement. The post provides strategic leadership, coordination and oversight of banana breeding activities mainly in East and West Africa, with additional responsibilities in Central and Southern Africa. The incumbent leads a team developing productive, climate-resilient and nutritionally enhanced banana varieties that match farmer needs and market preferences.

Key responsibilities

• Lead and coordinate interdisciplinary research initiatives for banana and plantain crop improvement across IITA's focus countries
• Implement a breeding strategy to develop elite breeding material and a product advancement process for candidate varieties
• Modernize banana and plantain crop improvement with support from the Breeding Innovation Services (EiB) and Bayer Crop Science teams, and align the strategy with the Breeding for Tomorrow (B4T) framework
• Strengthen breeding research by integrating molecular and metabolomic tools and bioassays, and obtain, identify and develop germplasm with NARS and partners
• Coordinate stage-gate multilocation testing, data analysis and advancement processes, and ensure cost-effective breeding operations
• Contribute to infrastructure development of the plantain breeding program in Ibadan, the Mchare program in Arusha, Tanzania and the Matoke program in Sendusu, Uganda, and integrate the highland breeding program with NARO, Kawanda
• Build partnerships with national breeding programs, scientists, industry partners and farmers to define Target Product Profiles, and support the regional crop network
• Manage breeding systems (pedigree, nurseries, trials, seed inventory) and use Bioflow to analyse data
• Train and mentor staff, partners and scholars, and lead or contribute to research proposals, publications and reporting

Required profile

• Ph.D. in Plant Breeding, Genetics or a related field
• At least 10 years of experience in plant breeding programs
• Significant management skills, including managing breeding teams, staff and budgets
• Proven track record in resource mobilization
• Experience working in a multicultural environment and excellent communication skills

What we offer

• Duty station: Sendusu, Uganda
• Initial three-year contract
• Remuneration package paid in US dollars

Applications include a cover letter, CV and three professional referees, submitted through the online application form. The closing date is 26 October 2026.