Reports to: Program Leader \u2013 SRP2: Climate-Smart Crops
Location: Rabat, Morocco
Purpose of the position
ICARDA seeks an accomplished and visionary Barley Breeder to lead its globally recognized barley improvement program. ICARDA\u2019s barley breeding program serves farmers across dryland production systems, where barley is essential for food, feed, and market products such as malting. The Barley Breeder will be responsible for delivering improved barley germplasm adapted to stress-prone environments with high and stable yields, tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses, and superior end-use quality.
The selected candidate will apply state-of-the-art breeding approaches, including genomic selection, speed breeding, high-throughput phenotyping, and modern biometric designs, to maximize genetic gain. The position requires strong leadership to manage staff, foster national and international partnerships, secure funding, and ensure ICARDA barley lines are widely adopted by national programs.
The International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) is a treaty-based international non-profit research organization supported by CGIAR.
ICARDA\u2019s mission is to reduce poverty, enhance food, water, and nutritional security, as well as environmental health in the face of global challenges including climate change. We do this through innovative science, strategic partnerships, linking research to development and capacity development that take into account gender equality and the role of youth in transforming the dry areas. ICARDA works in partnership with governments, universities, civil society, national agricultural research organization, other CGIAR Research Centers, and the private sector. With its temporary Headquarters in Beirut, Lebanon, ICARDA operates in regional and country offices across Africa, Asia and the Middle East. For more information: www.icarda.org.
Program Leadership
\u00b7 Lead the ICARDA barley breeding program, including strategic planning, implementation, and staff development.
\u00b7 Oversee the development of barley germplasm for stress resilience (drought, heat, salinity, diseases) and high market value (feed, food, malting).
Scientific Innovation
\u00b7 Implement modern breeding tools (genomic selection, marker-assisted breeding, HTP, advanced biometrics).
\u00b7 Accelerate breeding cycles and increase selection accuracy by integrating genomics, phenomics, and predictive analytics.
\u00b7 Maintain and expand the Barley Breeding Toolbox as a global reference platform.
Collaboration & Partnerships
\u00b7 Develop strong partnerships with national agricultural research systems (NARS) to ensure adoption and release of ICARDA-derived varieties.
\u00b7 Establish collaborations with global Centers of Excellence, CGIAR initiatives, and Universities.
\u00b7 Represent ICARDA at international fora (IBGS, IWC, Eucarpia, etc.).
Fundraising & Resource Mobilization
\u00b7 Develop competitive research proposals for bilateral and multilateral donors.
\u00b7 Secure external funding to sustain and expand the barley program.
Visibility & Impact
\u00b7 Publish high-impact scientific papers in leading journals.
\u00b7 Ensure barley program outputs contribute visibly to ICARDA\u2019s SRP2 and CGIAR\u2019s global breeding initiatives.
Requirements
\u00b7 PhD in cereal genetics, genomics, or breeding, with expertise in barley preferred.
\u00b7 Minimum 10 years of proven experience in cereal breeding, including 5 years managing a breeding program.
\u00b7 Demonstrated expertise in genomic selection, speed breeding, and modern statistical/biometric approaches.
\u00b7 Strong publication record with H-index \u226515.
\u00b7 Proven experience in fundraising and project leadership.
\u00b7 International exposure with presentations at leading fora (IBGS, IWC, Eucarpia).
\u00b7 Proficiency in English (spoken and written); knowledge of French or Arabic is an asset.
Benefits
This is an internationally recruited staff position for which ICARDA offers an attractive compensation package including a competitive salary, medical insurance, 30 days of annual leave, five months\u2019 maternity leave, 15 days\u2019 paternity leave. The successful candidate will be offered an initial contract of 3 years, renewable subject to continued need for the position, availability of funds and satisfactory performance. The first year will be probationary period.
Please be advised that ICARDA accepts applications only in English, as per the organization's standard communication language. Applications in other languages will not be considered.
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.