Plant Health Scientist I - Petit SA

Bayer; Gauteng; On-site; ZAR 900,000 - 1,300,000; Full time

Job summary

Bayer AG in South Africa seeks a Plant Health Scientist to advance Breeding’s Plant Health strategy by performing field and lab disease phenotyping, inoculum production, and rating across environments.

The role requires PhD or MSc in Plant Pathology with 3+ years relevant experience, strong diagnostic skills, ability to lead projects, and travel regionally to support global teams.

Qualifications

• PhD or MSc in Plant Pathology with at least 3 years of applied pathology experience.
• Strong field pathology expertise and disease diagnostics.
• Experience with inoculum production and biosafety/phytosanitary standards.
• Ability to lead technical activities independently and influence cross-functional stakeholders.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management across field, research, breeding, and commercial interfaces.

Responsibilities

• Execute Plant Health field characterization across target environments, ensuring robust disease observations and accurate phenotyping.
• Support inoculum production workflows with pathogen sourcing, multiplication, quality control, and biosafety alignment.
• Provide technical support for disease diagnosis, including symptom assessment and pathogen identification.
• Co-design, implement, and standardize disease-screening protocols and tools for consistency and decision value.
• Build regional Plant Health capability by coaching field teams and embedding pathology practices.
• Translate field pathology outputs into actionable insights for breeding, Ag X, and regional teams.
• Ensure all lab/field staff are trained and compliant with Bayer ESH policies.
• Drive continuous improvement in data quality, protocol governance, and operational efficiency.
• Regional travel is required.

Skills

Communication

Stakeholder management

Capability building

Independent work

Leadership

Education

PhD in Plant Pathology

MSc in Plant Pathology

Job description

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At Bayer, we believe work should matter. Every day, our teams push toward a future where "Health for all, Hunger for none" is within reach, and every role, from the lab to the field to the boardroom, helps us get there. We give people the ownership to shape outcomes, the support to grow through new skills and experiences, and a global community where different perspectives are valued. If you want your work to count and the room to become your best, you'll find it here.

The Plant Health Scientist supports Breeding’s Plant Health strategy by executing high-quality disease phenotyping, diagnosis, inoculum production, inoculation, and rating across lab, greenhouse, and field environments. The role helps generate reliable pathology data, standardize screening practices, ensure safe operations, and translate disease observations into actionable insights that support breeding decisions and product advancement.

Key responsibilities and tasks:

This individual will be required to contribute in all aspects of Plant Health that include lab operations (disease diagnosis, and pathogen inoculum production) and field/farm operations (pathogen inoculation and rating). Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Execute Plant Health field characterization across target environments, ensuring robust disease observations, phenotyping quality, and interpretation of disease pressure relevant to breeding decisions.
• Support inoculum production workflows, including pathogen sourcing, multiplication, quality control, readiness planning, and alignment with biosafety, phytosanitary, and protocol standards.
• Provide technical support for disease diagnosis, including symptom assessment, sample evaluation, pathogen identification, differential diagnosis, and escalation of complex Plant Health cases requiring specialist pathology input.
• Co-design, implement, optimize, and standardize disease-screening protocols and tools to strengthen consistency, reproducibility, and decision value across regional testing networks.
• Build regional Plant Health capability by coaching field teams, improving disease assessment discipline, and embedding fit-for-purpose pathology practices across locations.
• Translate field pathology outputs into actionable technical insights for Breeding, Ag X, commercial, and regional stakeholders, enabling timely and evidence-based product decisions.
• Ensure all staff working in the lab or fields are properly trained and compliant with the Bayer ESH policies to ensure safe operations of the research program.
• Drive continuous improvement in data quality, protocol governance, diagnostic reliability, technical documentation, and operational efficiency.
• Regional travel is required.

Experience and qualifications:

• PhD, or M.Sc. in Plant Pathology or related discipline, with minimum 3 years applied pathology experience.
• Strong expertise in field pathology, plant disease characterization, inoculum production, disease diagnostics, and applied disease-screening programs.
• Demonstrated ability to interpret disease expression in field conditions, distinguish complex symptom patterns, and connect diagnostic outputs to practical breeding or product decisions.
• Hands-on capability to produce, maintain, quality-check, and document pathogen inoculum under appropriate biosafety, phytosanitary, and protocol standards.
• Ability to lead technical activities independently, troubleshoot operational issues, make sound recommendations, and influence cross-functional stakeholders without direct authority.
• Strong communication, stakeholder-management, and capability-building skills across field, research, breeding, and commercial interfaces.

Skills and c ompetencies:

• Proactive, independent and earger to learn.
• Flexible and and with an eye for innovation.
• Excellent organizational and record keeping skills.
• Detail oriented with the ability to balance multiple tasks and achieve deadlines.
• Proficient in English language

As part of our commitment to inclusion, we want to ensure persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, please contact us at [e-mail].

Division:

Crop Science

Reference Code:

891348

Bayer welcomes applications from all individuals, regardless of race, national origin, gender, age, physical characteristics, social origin, disability, union membership, religion, family status, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression or any unlawful criterion under applicable law. We are committed to treating all applicants fairly and avoiding discrimination.