The posting
CIMMYT is a cutting edge, non-profit, international organization dedicated to solving tomorrow's problems today. It is entrusted with fostering improved quantity, quality, and dependability of production systems and basic cereals such as maize, wheat, triticale, sorghum, millets, and associated crops through applied agricultural science, particularly in the Global South, through building strong partnerships. This combination enhances the livelihood trajectories and resilience of millions of resource-poor farmers, while working towards a more productive, inclusive, and resilient agrifood system within planetary boundaries.
For more information, visit cimmyt.org.
The CIMMYT Dryland Crops Program supports crop improvement activities across sorghum, pearl millet, finger millet, chickpea, pigeonpea, and groundnut. The program generates and manages large volumes of breeding, phenotyping, and multi-location trial data that require timely, high quality, and reproducible analysis to support product advancement, selection decisions, reporting, and strategic planning.
To strengthen data analysis support for the Dryland Crops Program, CIMMYT seeks an experienced Consultant – Data Analysis and Biometrics Support to contribute to statistical analysis, data quality control, reporting, and documentation of breeding trial datasets.
Requirements
Objective of the consultancy
The objective of this consultancy is to provide technical support to CIMMYT-DCP in the analysis of breeding trial data, ensuring that datasets are quality checked, analyzed using appropriate statistical methods, and translated into clear outputs for breeder decision-making and program reporting.
Scope of work
The consultant will work closely with the CIMMYT quantitative genetics, biometrics, data management, and breeding teams to support the following areas:
1. Review and organize breeding trial datasets received from different crops, locations, partners, and seasons.
2. Conduct data quality checks, including review of trial design, trait structure, missing values, outliers, plot-level inconsistencies, genotype naming, location metadata, and treatment information.
3. Clean and prepare datasets for statistical analysis according to agreed CIMMYT workflows.
4. Conduct appropriate statistical analyses for breeding trials, including single-site analysis, across-location analysis, and estimation of adjusted means or BLUPs where applicable.
5. Generate analysis outputs required for product advancement, breeder review, reporting, and decision-making.
6. Document analysis procedures, scripts, assumptions, and outputs to ensure reproducibility and handover to CIMMYT teams.
7. Support harmonization of analysis outputs across crops and projects. 8. Participate in regular technical check-ins with CIMMYT-DCP staff to review progress, resolve data issues, and prioritize assigned datasets. Specific deliverables
The consultant will be expected to deliver the following:
1. Data inventory and review: A reviewed list of assigned datasets, including crop, location/instance, trial type, trait count, data status, and analysis requirements.
2. Data quality control output: QC reports for assigned datasets, documenting missing data, outliers, design issues, genotype inconsistencies, metadata gaps, and recommended corrections.
3. Cleaned analysis-ready datasets: Curated datasets prepared for statistical analysis, with documented changes and assumptions.
4. Trial-level statistical analysis: Analysis outputs for assigned single-location trials, including adjusted means or relevant model outputs, summary statistics, trait-level diagnostics, and interpretation notes.
5. Multi-location / multi-environment analysis, where applicable: Across-location analysis outputs for assigned datasets, including genotype performance summaries, variance components or model summaries, and outputs suitable for breeder review.
6. Breeder-ready result files: Clean Excel/CSV output files and summary tables that can be directly shared with breeding teams for advancement decisions.
7. Reproducible scripts and documentation: R, Python, or agreed workflow scripts with clear documentation, folder structure, input/output descriptions, and versioned analysis notes.
8. Monthly progress summary: Brief monthly progress report summarizing datasets analyzed, outputs delivered, pending issues, and recommendations for improving data analysis workflows.
9. Final consultancy report: A concise final report summarizing completed analyses, key outputs, unresolved data issues, recommendations, and suggested improvements for future CIMMYT-DCP data analysis processes.
Required qualifications and experience
The selected consultant should have:
1. PhD in quantitative genetics, biometrics, statistics or a related field.
2. At least 5–6 years of relevant experience in plant breeding data analysis, quantitative genetics, or biometrics.
3. Demonstrated experience analyzing multi-location crop breeding trials, selection indices & generating templates for advancement decisions
4. Strong working knowledge of experimental designs commonly used in plant breeding, including alpha lattice, randomized complete block design, augmented design, and multi environment trials.
5. Strong skills in R and/or Python for data cleaning, statistical analysis, automation, and reproducible reporting.
6. Experience with mixed models, BLUPs/BLUEs, genotype-by-environment analysis, trait summaries, and breeder-oriented reporting.
7. Experience working with CGIAR, NARES, seed systems, or international agricultural research programs is highly desirable.
8. Familiarity with breeding data systems, BioFlow, FAIR data principles, and structured data management practices is desirable.
9. Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English.
10. Ability to work independently, meet deadlines, and deliver high-quality outputs with limited supervision.
Duration and level of effort
The consultancy is expected to be for an initial period of 3 months, with an estimated level of effort of up to 20 working days per month. Continuation or extension, if any, will be subject to performance, availability of funds, and program needs.
Payment terms
Payment will be based on the agreed daily consultancy rate and verified completion of assigned workdays and deliverables, in accordance with CIMMYT policies and procedures.
Confidentiality and data management
The consultant will be required to maintain strict confidentiality of all CIMMYT and partner data, analysis outputs, breeding information, and internal documents. All datasets, scripts, reports, and outputs generated under this consultancy will remain the property of CIMMYT and must be handed over at the end of the assignment.
The consultant will follow CIMMYT-DCP data management standards, including organized folder structures, version control where applicable, clear documentation, and FAIR-aligned data handling practices.
Benefits
Candidates must Apply Online for Consultancy. Applications must include a CV with contact details (telephone and email address) of 3 work-related references along with the confirmation that Recruitment team can contact them) and a cover letter. Incomplete applications will not be taken into consideration.
This position is recruited locally. Applicants must have the legal right to work in the duty station country at the time of application. CIMMYT does not provide visa sponsorship or work permit support for locally recruited staff roles.
Please note that only short-listed candidates will be contacted.
CIMMYT is an equal opportunity employer. It fosters a multicultural work environment that values gender equality, teamwork, and respect for diversity. Women are encouraged to apply.
