Senior Plant Pathologist

Joyn Bio is a joint venture between Bayer and Ginkgo Bioworks dedicated to addressing unmet needs in agriculture by applying synthetic biology approaches to engineer microbes.

Objective

• Provide leadership for Plant Pathology projects to evaluate in planta performance of new fungicidal microbes (biological control)

Responsibilities

• Develop flexible, scalable, and high-throughput bioassay pipeline for the in planta screening of engineered microbes to control fungal soil-born and/or foliar diseases of corn and soybean
• Through collaboration with the Data Science colleagues, develop the experimental design, analyze data and short-list the microbial candidates for the field efficacy trials
• Closely working with the Field Trial Manager oversee the course of the field efficacy trials
• Lead and mentor team of up to two-three direct reports including plant pathologists and entomologists

Training/Experience

• Ph.D. in Plant Pathology  is required
• 2+ years of postdoctoral experience is preferred
• A minimum of 10 years relevant industry experience in plant pathology and particularly development of biological and/or crop protection (e.g., fungicide) products is required
• Strong expertise in greenhouse/growth chamber disease bioassay development, and field efficacy trials is required
• 5+ years of people leadership experience is required
• Strong background in multiple diseases of corn and soybean, including soil-born and foliar diseases is preferred
• Good understanding of insect bioassays is a plus
• Demonstrated people leadership and strategy development skills are required

Organizational

• The position will be part of the Plant Science Department and report to the Department Head

Location

• This position will be based at our Woodland, CA site and will require 10-15% travel.