Australian Grain Technologies (AGT) is Australia's largest plant breeding company, and the market leader in bread wheat, lupin and durum genetics.
At AGT, we consider ourselves privileged to be able to serve Australian farmers and the world’s population by developing new field crop varieties that are more productive, better quality and cost less to grow. This is what drives our people. We want to see Australian farmers more prosperous, and the global population to be well nourished.
We have had some success over the years and are now the leading provider of bread wheat, lupin and durum varieties in Australia. We are also working hard at achieving the same for our other crops, barley and canola, and have recently begun our journey into pulse breeding.

This newly created position provides an exciting opportunity to lead our lentil breeding programme.

As a plant breeding research company, we get excited by new technology, innovation and scientific breakthroughs. Our talented and dedicated team use current mechanical solutions, robotics, computer science, GPS, tissue culture, and the latest biological and genetic theory on a daily basis. We are excited to see scientific concepts transformed into real solutions that deliver value to Australian grain growers.

For more information, please visit www.agtbreeding.com.au

POSITION SUMMARY

The Lentil Breeder position is a newly created role within AGT, offering an exciting opportunity to contribute to the development and success of AGT’s nationally focused lentil breeding programme.

The Lentil Breeder will provide leadership and support to ensure the programme delivers ongoing success and meaningful impact for growers. The role will work closely with the Pulse Coordinator, Southern Crop Breeding Centre (SCBC) Manager,



breeding team, technical team and other AGT employees to align activities with agreed breeding objectives and outcomes.

The Lentil Breeder will work with technical teams to ensure all programme activities are completed in a timely, efficient and high-quality manner. This includes pre-planting, planting, in-crop, harvest and post-planting activities.

Applications are welcomed from candidates with varying levels of experience.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

- Design, develop and manage AGT’s main season Lentil breeding programme including objective setting and breeding strategy implementation

- Co-ordinate with teams within AGT such as bioinformatics, field operations, glasshouse and laboratory teams to implement the breeding strategy

- Apply conventional genetics and breeding principals, molecular markers, genomic selection and advanced statistics to:

- Design, manage and communicate crossing, early generation assessment, field trialling, disease evaluation and marker genotyping with relevant team members

- Interpretation of data and selection of lines to progress in each generation from F1 to national trial and release

- Manage the design, implementation, scoring, analysis, interpretation and selection of breeding trials

- Comply with all AGT systems and processes to ensure the breeding programme operates efficiently and in good cooperation with wider business





- Supervise technical staff when required in the implementation of the breeding programme as required

- Supervise students working with AGT on relevant research projects

- Link with internal and external researchers to ensure AGT is consistently adopting the best breeding science

- Contribute to efficiently and effectively manage the resources of the breeding programme

- Be responsible for pure seed production

- Work with Variety support team members to provide input in interactions with Agronomists and growers at field days and grower/agronomist visits etc.

QUALIFICATIONS, SKILLS, AND EXPERIENCE

- Tertiary qualified in agricultural science or a related discipline and will preferably hold a PhD in plant breeding or related discipline

- Previous experience in field crop plant breeding, or a related discipline, is desirable.

- Good knowledge of quantitative and molecular genetics

- Good knowledge of statistics

- Applicable knowledge in agronomy, pathology and disease resistance, science and research, plus a working knowledge of Australian field crop agriculture and farming systems.

- Broad range of agricultural skills

- Australian Driver’s License

- Ability to travel domestically and internationally, and to work longer hours at busy periods of the year

- A recognition of the importance of promoting a culture of work health and safety is essential

- Candidates must hold valid Australian work rights to be eligible for this position

- Willingness to reside in Roseworthy – Adelaide region, with commitment to relocation if required.

If you are a team player with a positive and encouraging interpersonal style, then this may be the role for you.

📌 Plant Breeder - Lentils (Mount Barker)
🏢 Australian Grain Technologies
📍 Mount Barker