Director of Plant Transformation and Tissue Culture

JOB SUMMARY:

The Director of Plant Transformation and Tissue Culture provides scientific and operational leadership for a high-throughput plant transformation, regeneration, and event-advancement platform supporting transgenic and genome-editing programs. The Director oversees the end-to-end workflow from explant preparation and gene delivery through plant regeneration, acclimatization, generation advancement, seed production, and phenotypic evaluation; leads and develops the tissue culture team; establishes quality standards and performance metrics; and collaborates with Recombinant DNA and Molecular Biology teams to deliver healthy, traceable, and well-characterized plants on schedule. Other duties as assigned.

JOB DUTIES:

10% - Manage reporting, documentation, compliance, and administrative responsibilities. Establish and monitor key performance indicators, milestones, risks, budgets, resource utilization, and platform capacity; prepare quarterly and annual reports, technical summaries, presentations, and leadership updates; and maintain accurate records supporting sample traceability, data integrity, intellectual property, audits, and biosafety or regulatory requirements. Other duties as assigned.

15% - Coordinate cross-functional program execution and plant delivery. Partner closely with Recombinant DNA, Molecular Biology, greenhouse, phenotyping, fiber-testing, bioinformatics, and program teams to align construct availability with transformation capacity and downstream testing requirements. Manage technical handoffs, event prioritization, schedules, and decision points to ensure the timely delivery of healthy, traceable, and well-characterized transgenic and gene-edited plants for trait validation and advancement.

20% - Direct event advancement, technical review, and continuous process improvement. Oversee the progression of independent transformation events through regeneration, plant development, generation advancement, seed production, and transfer for molecular and phenotypic evaluation. Analyze transformation efficiency, regeneration rates, contamination, plant quality, cycle time, genotype response, clean-line recovery, and other performance data; lead troubleshooting and implement protocol improvements that increase throughput, reproducibility, and genotype flexibility.

25% - Lead and oversee the Plant Tissue Culture and Transformation team. Supervise, mentor, and develop tissue culture scientists, technicians, associates, and other assigned personnel; establish individual and team goals; assign and prioritize work; evaluate performance; and identify staffing, training, equipment, and resource needs. Promote scientific rigor, effective communication, laboratory safety, biosafety compliance, accountability, and continuous professional development.

30% - Provide scientific and operational leadership for the Plant Transformation and Tissue Culture platform. Direct the end-to-end workflow for explant preparation, gene delivery, selection, somatic embryogenesis or regeneration, rooting, acclimatization, and transfer to controlled-environment growth. Establish platform priorities, production schedules, quality standards, and scalable processes that support high-throughput transgenic and genome-editing programs across multiple cotton genotypes and trait-development initiatives.

JOB CODE:

AK06

EMPLOYEE TYPE:

Temporary Grant (TGP) Staff

Minimum Requirements:

A bachelor's degree and experience managing large projects of significant complexity and risk.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

JOB KNOWLEDGE

Fundamental working knowledge of concepts, practices and procedures and ability to apply in varied situations.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES

Supervises work of others and may offer recommendations for hiring, termination and pay adjustments but does not have responsibility for making these decisions.

BUDGETARY RESPONSIBILITIES

Fiscal Responsibilities: Fiscal responsibilities for the department's budget, including but not limited to, financial planning and managing fund allocation

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:

Walk or move about: %

WORKING CONDITIONS:

Exposure to heat or cold: %

WORK SCHEDULE:

Standard Hours:

37.5

COMPENSATION INFORMATION:

Expected Salary Range

90000 - 110000

Salary is dependent upon several factors including, but not limited to, a candidate's previous experience, knowledge, skills and performance in accordance with Clemson's compensation guidelines.

ESSENTIAL PERSONNEL LEVEL:

Normal Operations - Required to follow emergency facility closure and modified operations directives, and not normally expected to work on-site during emergency situations.

JOB LOCATION:

Clemson, SC

APPLICATION DEADLINE:

Open until filled.

MILITARY AND VETERAN:

Military Equivalency: Clemson University is proud to allow educational equivalency for military technical certifications and trainings that directly relate to the job duties.

Veteran Preference: South Carolina provides employment preference to eligible veterans for qualifying full-time permanent positions. To be considered, applicants must meet the minimum qualifications, have been discharged under honorable conditions, and indicate their veteran status in the application by uploading a DD-214 for confidential review. A request for Veteran Preference can be made via the application process. Please contact hrjob@clemson.edu with any questions or issues.

CLOSING STATEMENT:

Clemson University is an EEO/AA employer. Employment decisions are made without regard to characteristics protected by applicable law including disability and protected veteran status.