Research Officer II - Animal Genetics and Breeding - Internal/External

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) seeks to recruit a Research Officer II – Animal Genetics and Breeding  to play a supportive role in designing and implementing performance comparisons of chicken strains and support in chicken breed improvement programs and ILRI’s Tropical Poultry Genetic Solutions (TPGS)  research activities stretched across several African (e.g., Ghana, Kenya, Zimbabwe, South Sudan, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Nigeria) and South-eastern Asian (e.g., Cambodia and Vietnam) countries with support from the national teams and the core research team ILRI.

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) works to improve food and nutritional security and reduce poverty in developing countries through research for efficient, safe and sustainable use of livestock. It is the only one of 15 CGIAR research centers dedicated entirely to animal agriculture research for the developing world. Co-hosted by Kenya and Ethiopia, it has regional or country offices and projects in East, South and Southeast Asia as well as Central, East, Southern and West Africa. www.ilri.org.

Key Responsibilities:

• Apply statistical models appropriate for evaluation of on-farm and on-station chicken performance (e.g., growth, egg productivity, and survival) of breeds (strains);
• Monitors on-farm and on-station chicken performance data;
• Contributes to the development of scientific manuscripts and publish in high impact scientific journals;
• Supports the development of animal performance evaluation systems /work plans / guidelines; leads and coordinates research activities along with National partners in the TPGS project countries in Africa and Southeastern Asia;
• Design and conduct on-farm experiments, supports capacity building on research, data collection, and implementation for country teams.
• Supports the development and implementation of group trainings in on-station and on-farm poultry research design and data collection for country TPGS teams;
• Communicates on-farm and on-station research protocols and findings to target audience at regional and country level meetings;
• Compiles, summarizes, documents, and publishes research data into reports, briefs, journal articles, periodicals, discussion papers, magazines and newsletters;
• Contributes to overall TPGS and ILRI efforts in strengthening livestock genetics researches;
• Conducts regular field visits to supervise data collection of the on-farm and breeding activities and follows-up with partners in national institutions in project countries;
• Organizes and facilitates project and stakeholder engagement workshops and interacts with internal and external stakeholders;
• Provides support in breeding and genetics data analysis;
• Perform other duties that may be assigned by the supervisor.

Academic and professional qualifications:

Education:

• MSc degree in Animal Genetics and Breeding or in related field

• Indepth knowledge in a technical or specialized field

Experience:

• At least 5 years of practical animal breeding and genetics experience
• Experience in implementing poultry research

Skills:

• Analysis of animal performance, genetic, and environmental data;
• Knowledge and demonstrated experience in livestock genetics and breeding
• R programming skills, including multivariate analysis and mixed linear models;
• Demonstrated ability to publish peer-reviewed papers;
• Experience in implementing experimental designs for various livestock systems;
• Experience and knowledge in qualitative and quantitative research methods and analyses used in animal genetic improvement programs;
• Strong English language skills, both written and spoken;
• Excellent organizational, communication, and problem-solving skills;
• Punctuality, intellectual curiosity, willingness to take initiative, multi-tasking, and willingness to work under pressure to meet deadlines;
• Ability to both take direction and work independently;
• Collaborative skills and experience in working with multi-cultural teams; and
• Willingness to travel in and outside of Ethiopia.Duty Station:    Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Grade:  HG 14

Minimum Base Salary:  

• Birr 54,708 per month

Terms of appointment:  This is a National Staff (NS) position, initial appointment is for three years with the possibility of renewal, contingent upon individual performance and the availability of funding. The ILRI remuneration package for nationally recruited staff in Ethiopia includes a very competitive salary and benefits such as life and medical insurance, offshore pension plan, etc. The ILRI campus is set in a secure, attractive campus in Addis Ababa. Dining and sports facilities are located on site .

Applications: Applicants should provide a cover letter and curriculum vitae; names and addresses (including telephone and email) of three referees who are knowledgeable about the candidate’s professional qualifications and work experience to be included in the curriculum vitae. The position and reference number: REF: RO/TPGS/37/24 should be clearly indicated in the subject line of the cover letter. All applications to be submitted online on our recruitment portal: http://ilri.simplicant.com/ on or before 23 December 2024  

We thank all applicants for their interest in working for ILRI. Due to the high volume of applications, only shortlisted candidates will be contacted

ILRI does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview meeting, processing or training).

Suitably qualified women are particularly encouraged to apply.

To find out more about ILRI visit our website at http://www.ilri.org

To find out more about working at ILRI visit our website at http://www.ilri.org/

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