Sesaco Corporation, a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Corporation, is seeking a highly motivated sesame seed breeder. In 2011, Sesaco became a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) and set its goal to make innovations in the world sesame trading structure organizing the value chains with the best varieties and MC’s world network. Sesame is a plant breeder’s dream because there is so much variability. Sesaco has the largest collection of sesame germplasm in the world and has looked at over 400 characters. Sesame may be new to the US, but has been around for over 7,500 years, and there are over 1,000,000 metric tons traded per year. Unlike most minor US crops, the market it there; it does not have to be created simultaneously. The challenges and rewards are tremendous as varieties are developed for different cropping systems from 7.5 to 40” row spacing, from the tip of Texas to Kansas and from Virginia to California. It is a green crop with less water usage, less inputs, less chemicals, and produces very nutritious seed high in antioxidants.

Sesaco (Sesame Coordinators) is the only company in the world that has developed non-dehiscent (ND) and improved non-dehiscent (IND) sesame varieties (U.S. patent numbers 6,100,452 and 8,80707) by traditional breeding. Sesame grown in the rest of the world is still cut manually or with binders and then shocked because traditional sesame capsules shatter during the drying stage before harvest. Sesaco ND and IND varieties mature and dry standing in the field and are harvested direct from standing plants. Traditional sesame with known traits such as drought, heat, insect, and disease tolerance is now completely mechanized by the ND and IND genes.

This is a superb opportunity to manage a breeding program in collaboration with number of university R&D teams. As a breeder you will have primary responsibility to develop better IND varieties that are input efficient, biotic and abiotic tolerant, and have desirable market characteristics. You will be working with growers to develop varieties that are profitable, and with end users to ensure that the seed satisfies the edible, ingredient, oil, and/or tahini markets. You will have direct management responsibility of your breeding staff and budget management.

Key Business Accountabilities:
Direction and management of all components of a successful commercial sesame breeding program. Including, but not limited to:

• Creation and evaluation of breeding populations.
• Utilization of molecular markers to incorporate genes for disease resistance and quality traits.
• Coordinate, place, monitor, and evaluate trials throughout the US (travel as much as 25% of the time).
• Make line advancement decisions.
• Fulfill requirements for variety advancement through documentation of performance.
• Completion of required breeder's seed.
• Manage budget cost center and appropriate allocation of resources – both current and long range.
• Ability to work outside in varying environmental conditions with additional hours/weekends during peak periods.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability and strong desire to articulately convey complex ideas to peers within the technology group and to people with less of an understanding of breeding and genetics such as managers, sales people, and customers.
• Recruitment, training, development, and retention of research support personnel.
• Remain current on new technological developments by participating in professional meetings and skills development opportunities.
• File for intellectual property rights (Patents) for lines.

Core Business/Functional Skills and Education:

• Ph.D. in Plant Breeding and Genetics or relevant fields and minimum five years working experience in plant breeding/genetics at a seed company are required.
• Strong background in plant breeding, genetics, computers, field plot technique and statistical analysis, molecular biology, and molecular marker application to plant breeding.
• Demonstrated success in technical proficiency, scientific creativity, and collaboration with others.
• Excellent managerial and organizational skills; ability to balance multiple tasks and achieve milestones.
• Ability to work in a team-based environment with multidisciplinary teams; effective verbal communication skills.
• Leadership capabilities within the technology community that can extend into other functional areas.
• Experience with field crops is a plus, particularly dicots.
• Experience in farming is a plus, particularly with planters and combines.
• Spanish is a plus, but not required.
• The candidate must be eligible to work in the United States.

Salaries DOE, with benefits.

Place of work: Austin, TX.

Applications: please send application and CV to jobs@sesaco.com