Senior scientist and manager (m/f/d) Domestication of Medicinal Plants

Senior scientist and manager (m/f/d) Domestication of Medicinal Plants

About Nutreco

Nutreco is a leading global animal nutrition company offering solutions that go beyond nutrition. We support our customers to produce more feed in a sustainable way to feed the growing population. [www.nutreco.com].

In 2021, Nutreco established the Nutreco Exploration (NutEx) group who develops novel and proprietary ultra-specialty ingredients and empowers development of innovative functional feeds. https://www.nutreco.com/en/innovation-and-investments/Nutreco-Exploration-NutEx/

To discover novel ideas and develop them into exclusive ingredients, NutEx engages in two programs, i.e., phytotechnology and microtechnology.

For the phytotechnology program, Nutreco founded a Competence Center for Medicinal Plant Solutions (Nutreco Garden of the Future = NuGaFu). Located in Switzerland’s phytovalley near the Austrian and German border, the Center commands state-of-the-art infrastructure and facilities allowing the conduct of all activities required for the development of PhytoComplexes used in the feed industry (bioactivity modelling facilities, phytochemistry laboratory, in vitro propagation laboratory, plant breeding greenhouse, medicinal plant exhibition garden, experimental field station for plant domestication work). The Center also builds on an existing, worldwide network of specialty plant growers.

Are you passionate about specialty crops, in particular medicinal plants? Do you have a strong background in plant production accompanied by practical experience in plant propagation, plant breeding and agronomic field experiments? And do you thrive in a collaborative multi-discipline environment? Then this exciting opportunity is right for you!

Your area of activities and responsibilities

You become part of the NutEx team and support our Domestication team in all their activities.

More specifically your activities and responsibilities comprise:

• Global sourcing of plant accessions within a given candidate species.
• Assistance in the development of propagation techniques (in vivo, in vitro), cultivation methods and post-harvest processing technologies for the NutEx plant materials.
• Selection, propagation, and evaluation of plant species and accessions in standardized greenhouse and field trials.
• Application for plant variety registration.
• Contribute to the continuous genetic improvement of NutEx plant materials by extended sourcing and/or crossbreeding with subsequent evaluation of the progeny.
• Compile guidelines for the propagation, cultivation and processing of NutEx plant materials.
• Transfer of the developed production technology and plant material to NutEx’ Plant Production team.
• Management experience and the ability to create and lead a team.
• Willingness to create new activities, procedures, and ways of working.
• Following existing procedures and creating new ones as needed.
• Collaboration with the other NutEx’ teams and individuals such as Discovery, Phytochemistry, Quality Assurance, Quality Control, Supply Chain, Development and Deployment.
• Assistance in training for staff of Nutreco OpCos and Nutreco OpCos’ business partners.
• Take-over of corporate responsibilities and tasks next to the Domestication activities.
• On-site presence at NutEx Headquarter in 9320, Arbon, Switzerland.

Your profile

• BSc or MSc degree in Agronomy or Horticulture, with a minimum of 3-4 years of working experience in relevant industries.
• Practical know-how and experience in the areas of plant domestication and plant production.
• Profound know-how regarding one or more of the following subjects: Plant breeding, conduction and evaluation of agronomic field experiments, or cultivation and processing of specialty crops.
• Hands-on experience regarding the propagation of plants (in vitro and in vivo).
• Proven ability to create new activities, procedures, and ways of working.
• Proven management experience.
• Working in a corporate environment is a plus.
• Excellent communication skills and ability to work effectively in a team environment, collaborating with team members and stakeholders across multiple teams.
• Fluency in English, proficiency in German is a plus.
• High level of initiative, autonomy, reliability, and flexibility in handling multiple tasks and projects simultaneously.
• Willingness to travel, up to 20% of the time, to visit plant breeding, agronomic trial sites, and service contractors in Switzerland and abroad, to attend scientific conferences, write scientific publications, and to participate and hold presentations show-casing the Plant Domestication work in collaborative meetings and meetings with third parties.

Join us in shaping the future of the animal nutrition industry and send your application to:

Dr. B. Büter