Program Leader

Reports to: Deputy Director General – Research (DDGR)
Location: Rabat, Morocco (with extensive travel across CWANA, Sub-Saharan Africa, and South Asia)

Purpose of the position

ICARDA is seeking a visionary and collaborative Program Leader to direct SRP2: Develop Climate-Smart Crops, one of the center's flagship research priorities under the ICARDA 2030 Research & Innovation Strategy. The incumbent will provide scientific leadership, strategic direction, and programmatic oversight to ensure ICARDA's breeding programs (wheat, barley, and legumes) deliver climate-resilient, market-preferred, and widely adopted varieties that support sustainable dryland livelihoods.

The SRP2 Leader will be responsible for fostering team science across crop clusters, embedding modern breeding approaches (genomic selection, HTP, predictive analytics), strengthening partnerships with NARS and CGIAR, and ensuring that breeding outputs are aligned with farmer demand, gender/youth inclusion, and climate change foresight.

The International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) is a treaty-based international non-profit research organization supported by CGIAR.  
ICARDA's 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:  

Strategic Leadership

· Provide vision and leadership for SRP2, aligning with ICARDA 2030 and OneCGIAR Global Initiatives.

· Oversee the integration of genomics, phenotyping, informatics, socioeconomics, and climate modeling into breeding pipelines.

· Champion cross-program collaboration and ensure SRP2 functions as a cohesive Dryland Breeding Platform.

Scientific Excellence & Delivery

· Drive genetic gain targets (≥1%/year) across wheat, barley, and legumes.

· Oversee development and release of climate-smart varieties with proven adoption potential.

· Ensure delivery of high-impact scientific outputs, including ≥30% cross-program co-publications and 2–3 synthesis papers annually.

Program & Partnership Management

· Manage crop cluster leads (wheat, barley, legumes, biotech) and new cross-cutting specialists (data science, demand-led, climate modeling).

· Strengthen partnerships with CGIAR Initiatives, FAO, Horizon Europe, seed companies, and NARS.

· Mobilize resources by engaging with donors and aligning SRP2 with global funding priorities.

Capacity Development & Mentorship

· Build a next-generation cohort of ICARDA breeders through mentorship and cross-training.

· Foster a culture of inclusive, demand-led, and anticipatory breeding.

Requirements

• PhD in Plant Breeding, Quantitative Genetics, Crop Science, or related field.
• A minimum of 15 years of post-PhD experience in international crop breeding programs, with proven leadership of multidisciplinary teams.
• Strong scientific track record (≥100 peer-reviewed publications, H-index ≥25) in modern breeding methods (genomics, phenomics, predictive breeding).
• Demonstrated success in developing and releasing farmer-preferred varieties with measurable adoption impact.
• Experience in managing multi-million-dollar research portfolios and engaging with donors.
• Excellent interpersonal, diplomatic, and partnership skills across cultures and institutions.
  Experience working in dryland agriculture systems or resource-constrained environments.
• Demonstrated ability to integrate socioeconomics, seed systems, and gender/youth perspectives into breeding programs.
• Fluency in English required, working knowledge of Arabic or French will be an asset.

Benefits

This is a full-time 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' maternity leave, 15 days' 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.