Senior Scientist- Cell Biology

Job Details

Job Title: Senior Scientist- Cell Biology

Sector: Innovation Oasis

Department: Science and Research

Section: Plant health/ Physiology

Reporting Lines:

Direct Reports To: Principal Scientist: Cell Biology & Genome Editing

Job Purpose

The Center of Excellence for Abiotic Resilience and Crop Genomics (ARC-Gen) is a partnership between Silal, the UAE’s leading agri-food and technology company, and Limagrain Vegetable Seeds (LVS), the world leader in Vegetable Seeds. This partnership is aiming to develop a world class research facility in UAE with state-of-the-art capabilities in plant physiology and gene editing, with the ultimate goal of enhancing crops’ ability to withstand extreme conditions such as heat, drought, and salinity.

As a Senior Scientist in Cell Biology, you will manage research projects in plant cell biology, tissue regeneration, and delivery systems for genome editing to support the establishment of a Gene editing Research Unit at SILAL and the development of genome-edited plants designed to withstand abiotic stresses in arid and desert-like growing conditions.

Your work will contribute directly to global priorities such as food security, sustainable agriculture, and climate resilience.

Key Responsibilities

• Explore, adopt and implement state-of-the-art technologies in plant cell biology.
• Develop novel tools and methodologies for cellular studies.
• Optimize protocols for cell biology, tissue regeneration and GE tool delivery in ARC-Gen strategic vegetable crops.
• Investigate plant cell and tissue developmental processes using advanced microscopy and cell biology techniques.
• Contribute to functional genomics studies to elucidate gene functions and regulatory networks related to abiotic stresses.
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams (geneticists, bioinformaticians, trait experts, pre-breeders) to integrate cell biology findings with genomic data.
• Work collaboratively with experts across disciplines (cell biology, genomics, bioinformatics, trait development, and pre-breeding) to deliver an integrated genomics pipeline.
• Collaborate closely with Gene editing experts to integrate improved cell biology protocols into various projects and applications.
• Prepare detailed reports and presentations to communicate results to internal teams and end users.
• Participate in collaborations and interact with external partners.

Project Leadership & Management

• Propose, design, and manage research projects
• Act as an expert in your domain and collaborate across research areas for timely delivery.
• Drive innovation and continuous improvement to accelerate research processes.
• Ensure efficient transfer of deliverables and know-how to end users.

People Management

• Mentor and supervise lab technicians.

Stakeholder Management

Key Internal Stakeholders:

• All Sectors, Departments and Offices
• Any other concerned internal stakeholders as required

Key External Stakeholders:

• Concerned government, semi-government and private sector entities
• Any other concerned external stakeholders as required

Required Qualification

Academic Qualifications

• Ph.D. in Plant Cell Biology, Plant Biotechnology, or related field.
• Fluent in English

Professional Experience

• Professional Experience of a minimum of 8+ Years.
• Demonstrated expertise in cell biology and genetic transformation
• Deep understanding of genome editing principles and molecular biology.
• Experience with in vitro plant culture and monocots/dicots transformation is a plus
• Excellent problem-solving and data analysis skills.
• Knowledge of regulatory constraints and quality processes.

Competencies

Technical Competencies

• Plant Tissue Culture & Regeneration: Expertly optimizing in vitro protocols to regenerate whole plants from edited single cells.
• Genome Editing Delivery: Mastering transformation techniques like Agrobacterium or biolistics to deliver CRISPR components.
• Abiotic Stress Physiology: Understanding molecular mechanisms of heat, drought, and salinity to develop resilient crop traits.
• Advanced Microscopy & Imaging: Utilizing confocal or fluorescence microscopy to visualize and validate subcellular developmental processes
• Integrated Genomics Pipeline: Collaborating across bioinformatics and breeding to translate cellular findings into scalable R&D.