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Agriculture has the power to sustain us all, but that power is dependent on equitable access to the tools and products needed to increase productivity and support food security as climate change, population growth, and gender inequality pose increasing threats. Bill & Melinda Gates Agricultural Innovations (Gates Ag One) is a new nonprofit dedicated to ensuring high-quality, cutting-edge crop innovations are available and accessible to those who need them most.
As a wholly owned, not-for-profit affiliate of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), Gates Ag One drives to empower the small-scale producers of sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia by amplifying the translation of innovative crop science research into affordable products for the public good. Gates Ag One pioneers new development pathways for the most exciting crop science happening today. Through catalytic public-private sector partnerships and the careful stewardship of innovation, the organization harnesses the developed world's commercial engines to research that prioritizes low-income countries and their most important food sources. This results in increased yields from game-changing seeds that promote food production and income where factors such as population growth and climate change pose mounting challenges - agriculture that benefits farmers, society, and the environment.
We are committed to ensuring game-changing agriculture products, like climate-resilient, yield-enhancing seeds and traits, are affordable and accessible to smallholder farmers. We are redrawing the map between discovery and market access - connecting ideas and action with an unwavering focus on smart Product Development.
Your Role
The Technical Program Lead will be part of a globally focused agricultural biotechnology Product Development team, based in the USA, whose mission is to serve small-holder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia by accelerating the translation of discovery research into agricultural products and systems which improve livelihoods, communities, and the environment. The Technical Program Lead will be responsible for managing relationships and investments with discovery partners and academic institutes engaged in ground-breaking research approaches aimed at improving yields in grain and tuber crops.
The candidate will use excellent communication, collaborative ways of working and project management skills to build trusting partnerships, lead teams and drive the advancement of promising research leads from Discovery to Development. This position serves as the technical Gates Ag One lead of late discovery - early translation (Phase 0 - 1) multidisciplinary Program teams and interfaces closely with members from discovery research institutes and academia (external), Agriculture Development (BMGF), IP (Gates Ag One), Trait Development (Gates Ag One), Applied Research (Gates Ag One), Finance (Gates Ag One), Legal (BMGF) and Regulatory & Compliance (Gates Ag One) to ensure promising innovations are advanced for commercial translation in a timely and quality-assured manner.
This role reports to the Director of Product Development and is located in St. Louis, MO.
What You'll Do
Your Experience
*Applicants for this role will only be considered if they are able to legally work in the country where this position is located without visa sponsorship.
The salary range for this role is $229,100 to $355,200 USD. As a mission-driven organization, we strive to balance competitive pay with our mission and new hires are typically brought into the organization at a salary between the range minimum and the salary range midpoint. Actual placement in the range will depend on a candidate's job-related skills, experience, and expertise, as evaluated during the interview process.
#LI-AG1
Hiring Requirements
As part of our standard hiring process for new employees, employment will be contingent upon successful completion of a background check.
Candidate Accommodations
If you require assistance due to a disability in the application or recruitment process, please submit a request here.
Inclusion Statement
We are dedicated to the belief that all lives have equal value. We're committed to creating a workplace where employees thrive both personally and professionally. We also believe our employees should reflect the rich diversity of the global populations we aim to serve-in race, gender, age, cultures and beliefs-and we support this diversity through all of our employment practices.
All applicants and employees who are drawn to serve our mission will enjoy equality of opportunity and fair treatment without regard to race, color, age, religion, pregnancy, sex, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, and prior protected activity.
Transparency in Coverage (Machine-readable files)
The Transparency in Coverage Final Rules require group health plans to disclose on a public website information regarding in-network provider rates and historical out-of-network allowed amounts and billed charges for covered items and services in two separate machine-readable files (MRFs). The MRFs for the benefit package options under the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Welfare Benefits Plan are linked below:
https://www.regence.com/transparency-in-coverage/
*The plan reserves the right to change or terminate benefits or the plan(s) at any time.
Agriculture has the power to sustain us all, but that power is dependent on equitable access to the tools and products needed to increase productivity and support food security as climate change, population growth, and gender inequality pose increasing threats. Bill & Melinda Gates Agricultural Innovations (Gates Ag One) is a new nonprofit dedicated to ensuring high-quality, cutting-edge crop innovations are available and accessible to those who need them most.
As a wholly owned, not-for-profit affiliate of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), Gates Ag One drives to empower the small-scale producers of sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia by amplifying the translation of innovative crop science research into affordable products for the public good. Gates Ag One pioneers new development pathways for the most exciting crop science happening today. Through catalytic public-private sector partnerships and the careful stewardship of innovation, the organization harnesses the developed world's commercial engines to research that prioritizes low-income countries and their most important food sources. This results in increased yields from game-changing seeds that promote food production and income where factors such as population growth and climate change pose mounting challenges - agriculture that benefits farmers, society, and the environment.
We are committed to ensuring game-changing agriculture products, like climate-resilient, yield-enhancing seeds and traits, are affordable and accessible to smallholder farmers. We are redrawing the map between discovery and market access - connecting ideas and action with an unwavering focus on smart Product Development.
Your Role
The Technical Program Lead will be part of a globally focused agricultural biotechnology Product Development team, based in the USA, whose mission is to serve small-holder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia by accelerating the translation of discovery research into agricultural products and systems which improve livelihoods, communities, and the environment. The Technical Program Lead will be responsible for managing relationships and investments with discovery partners and academic institutes engaged in ground-breaking research approaches aimed at improving yields in grain and tuber crops.
The candidate will use excellent communication, collaborative ways of working and project management skills to build trusting partnerships, lead teams and drive the advancement of promising research leads from Discovery to Development. This position serves as the technical Gates Ag One lead of late discovery - early translation (Phase 0 - 1) multidisciplinary Program teams and interfaces closely with members from discovery research institutes and academia (external), Agriculture Development (BMGF), IP (Gates Ag One), Trait Development (Gates Ag One), Applied Research (Gates Ag One), Finance (Gates Ag One), Legal (BMGF) and Regulatory & Compliance (Gates Ag One) to ensure promising innovations are advanced for commercial translation in a timely and quality-assured manner.
This role reports to the Director of Product Development and is located in St. Louis, MO.
What You'll Do
- Serve as Program Lead of an early-translation focused program team (Phase 0-1) (internal and external members) responsible for regular meeting cadence, milestone tracking, technical targets and reporting
- Create and lead program plans, program budgets, research targets, milestones, and advancement criteria
- Lead investment (ex. grant) management, budget review and reporting
- Provide technical support for external partners and organization of technical and review meetings
- Disseminate information (ex. training, forums and regular communication streams) between Discovery Partners and Gates Ag One / BMGF regarding shared technical targets, ways of working, quality parameters, and stewardship principles
Your Experience
- A Ph.D. degree or equivalent demonstrated experience, preferably in Plant Breeding, Plant Molecular Biology, Plant Biology, Agriculture, Crop Science or Plant Biotechnology, or another relevant field.
- 10 years of public and private sector experience in plant biotechnology research & development.
- Experience successful managing external partnerships is required.
- A strong technical background in yield and stress improvement of grain crops and/or tuber crops, coupled with a good understanding of plant biotech stewardship requirements and trait advancement / translation criteria.
- Excellent communication & partner management skills
- Strong Project Management (PM) skills and familiarity with PM tools
- Technology scouting and grant management experience is also an asset.
*Applicants for this role will only be considered if they are able to legally work in the country where this position is located without visa sponsorship.
The salary range for this role is $229,100 to $355,200 USD. As a mission-driven organization, we strive to balance competitive pay with our mission and new hires are typically brought into the organization at a salary between the range minimum and the salary range midpoint. Actual placement in the range will depend on a candidate's job-related skills, experience, and expertise, as evaluated during the interview process.
#LI-AG1
Hiring Requirements
As part of our standard hiring process for new employees, employment will be contingent upon successful completion of a background check.
Candidate Accommodations
If you require assistance due to a disability in the application or recruitment process, please submit a request here.
Inclusion Statement
We are dedicated to the belief that all lives have equal value. We're committed to creating a workplace where employees thrive both personally and professionally. We also believe our employees should reflect the rich diversity of the global populations we aim to serve-in race, gender, age, cultures and beliefs-and we support this diversity through all of our employment practices.
All applicants and employees who are drawn to serve our mission will enjoy equality of opportunity and fair treatment without regard to race, color, age, religion, pregnancy, sex, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, and prior protected activity.
Transparency in Coverage (Machine-readable files)
The Transparency in Coverage Final Rules require group health plans to disclose on a public website information regarding in-network provider rates and historical out-of-network allowed amounts and billed charges for covered items and services in two separate machine-readable files (MRFs). The MRFs for the benefit package options under the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Welfare Benefits Plan are linked below:
https://www.regence.com/transparency-in-coverage/
*The plan reserves the right to change or terminate benefits or the plan(s) at any time.
