ILRI Vacancy: Research Technician-BecA

Vacancy Number: RT/BecA/02/14
Department: Biosciences eastern and central Africa (BecA)
Duration: 2 years 

ILRI seeks to recruit a Research Technician for Brachiaria Grasses Research Program funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) to provide technical support on laboratory, growth chamber, greenhouse and field research on Brachiaria grasses and associated fungal and bacterial endophytes. This position involves 20% of the field work often during hot, dry and wet weather.

ILRI is a member of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) Consortium, a global research partnership of 15 centres working with many partners for a food-secure future. ILRI has two main campuses in East Africa and other hubs in West and southern Africa and South and Southeast Asia. 

The Centre’s headquarters are located in Nairobi, Kenya, and research is conducted in 31 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. We are supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and receive funding from over 50 different donors.

CGIAR is a global agricultural research partnership for a food-secure future. Its science is carried out by 15 research centres that are members of the CGIAR Consortium in collaboration with hundreds of partner organizations. 

ILRI also manages the Biosciences eastern and central Africa (BecA) Hub at ILRI, the centre for excellence in modern plant and animal biology in Africa. BecA is an initiative developed within the framework of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD)/ African Union African Biosciences initiative. It consists of a Hub based on the ILRI campus in Nairobi, Kenya and a network of regional nodes and other affiliated laboratories and organizations throughout the region. The BecA Hub facilities are world class, including a range of molecular, plant transformation, and genomics laboratories and equipment (e.g. 454 and Illumina next generation sequencing, Biosafety level 3 laboratory, plant growth facilities). The Hub hosts and conducts research in crop, microbe and livestock areas where new developments in science offer promise to address previously intractable problems constraining Africa’s development.  Capacity building is a major goal of all activities. The scope covers agriculture and food security and their intersections with human health and nutrition, and the sustainable use of Africa’s natural resources.  Further information is available at http://hub.africabiosciences.org

Responsibilities

• Collection of plant materials from greenhouse and natural environment, surface sterilization of plant materials, microbial isolations, purification of microbial cultures, DNA extraction, PCR amplification, nucleic acid quantification, DNA sample preparation for sequencing and sequence data analysis.
• Evaluation of microbes for potential agricultural applications. This includes microbial inoculum preparation, plate based assays, plant inoculation, and monitoring plant growth and development in laboratory, growth chamber and greenhouse environments.
• Preparation and curation of microbial cultures for routine and long term uses.
• Execution of field experiments that include land and seed bed preparation, field layout, planting/transplanting, weeding, irrigation, application of fertilizers and pesticides, other intercultural operations and data recording.
• Collection of soil and plant samples for microbial and nutritional analyses.
• Assist in laboratory and field trainings.
• Follow good laboratory practices, and help in the preparation and refinement of SOPs.
• Coordinate with the lab manager and ILRI engineering to ensure that laboratories and equipment are in good working order.
• Analyze research data; prepare progress reports, presentations and manuscripts for publication in referred journals.
• Participate in institutional trainings and seminars.
• Conduct other research activities as directed by Principal Investigator.

Requirements

• BSc. degree with  3 years experience in biological sciences or MSc. with limited post masters experiences with excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Experiences in microbiology, molecular biology, greenhouse and field based plant sciences research and assessment of plant fitness parameters are essential.
• Knowledge of microbial meta-genomics, tissue culture of monocots, and statistic and biometrics procedures used in biological sciences research are highly desirable.
• Candidate should have strong written and spoken English, excellent organizational and problem solving skills as well as computer literacy in MS Office.
• As the position requires 20% field work candidate should be prepared to work in field even during hot, dry and wet weather.

Terms of Appointment

This is a Nationally Recruited Staff (NRS) position, whose initial contract will be for a two (2) year term.

Job level and salary

This position is job Grade 2C, level 2 with a starting gross salary of KES 116,417 per month. This is exclusive of other benefits provided by ILRI.

Location: The position will be based at the ILRI campus in Nairobi, Kenya.

How to Apply: Applicants should send a cover letter and CV combined as one document explaining their interest in the position, what they can bring to the job and the names and addresses (including telephone and email) of three referees who are knowledgeable about the candidate’s professional qualifications and work experience.  The position title and reference number REF: RT/BECA/02/2014 should be clearly marked on the subject line of the email applications.  Only applications sent via the above link will be considered, and only short listed candidates will be contacted.

To find out more about ILRI and the BecA Hub, visit our websites at http://www.ilri.org and http://hub.africabiosciences.org

ILRI is an equal opportunity employer