Plant Data Scientist

The J.R. Simplot Company is a diverse, privately held global food and agriculture company headquartered in Boise, Idaho.

We are a true farm-to-table company with an integrated portfolio including food processing and food brands, phosphate mining, fertilizer manufacturing, farming, ranching and cattle production, and other enterprises related to agriculture.

Summary

Simplot Plant Sciences consists of a dynamic group of collaborative scientists working on genetic improvement of crop plants.

The Plant Data Scientist is experienced at implementing artificial intelligence (AI) solutions with heterogeneous datasets in biological contexts.

The Plant Data Scientist will evaluate and critique the scientific literature to identify new models and datasets related to metabolism, physiology, or architecture of the plant, producing fruit of increased quality, composition, disease resistance or yield.

The Plant Data Scientist is a collaborative member of a team who is self-motivated and possesses a growth mindset. Excellent communication and organizational skills are essential, as well as a strong interest and capability to innovate.

Key Responsibilities

• Provides technological innovation, including developing new strategies and traits.
• Applies data science techniques to heterogenous, multi-omic datasets including statistics, supervised and unsupervised ML, deep learning, and generative AI.
• Takes code from idea to delivery of working predictive models.
• Supports overall scientific progress of the team by continuously seeking improvements, sharing knowledge and skills, and demonstrating a growth mindset.
• Independently resolves complex technical issues, remaining flexible and productive when faced with ambiguity.
• Actively, frequently, and effectively communicates with cross-disciplinary teams including Plant Science, IT and Data Science architecture teams.
• Serves as a principal investigator on one or more trait discovery or enabling projects.
• As needed, works in the laboratory, greenhouse, and field to support and advance projects.

Typical Education

Advanced degree in Computer Science, Statistics, Biology, or related field

Relevant Experience

• 3+ years related experience and / or training Proven ability to deliver actionable insights through machine learning based models.
• In-depth experience analyzing multi-omic datasets (e.g. epigenomics, genomics, transcriptomics, etc.)
• Demonstrates understanding of key bioinformatic / machine learning / AI techniques and methodologies.
• Experience with data collection, standardization, and curation.
• Experience with ML / AI model lifecycle management, monitoring, and associated tools.
• Python and / or R coding skill with significant experience utilizing standard repositories. Prior experience using Python- and / or R-based ML modules like Scikit learn, Keras, PyTorch / TensorFlow, and Caret.
• Demonstrated experience working collaboratively and independently in support of team goals.
• Exhibits leadership skills and people management potential.
• Experience with plant species is valuable.
• Experience operating in Azure Data Lake environment and Databricks is a plus.
• Basic understanding of continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI / CD) pipeline within ML capacity, and of container orchestration tools such as Docker and Kubernetes is a plus.
29 days ago