Quantitative Geneticist: Welfare Breeding Strategy Lead
Location: Remote (Global)
Compensation: $60K–$120K USD, depending on experience
Organization Type: Nonprofit – Genetics for Animal Welfare
About the Role:
We’re seeking a quantitative geneticist with deep familiarity with corporate animal breeding programs to help define and deliver new strategies for breeding shrimp with better welfare and health traits without compromising on production. There is an emphasis on neurological traits like mitigating anxiety, pain, and the probable felt experience of distress. To be clear, this does not involve gene editing, only selective breeding.
You’ll work directly with shrimp breeding companies, and potentially later with chicken genetics companies, to identify selection objectives, propose experimental designs, and ensure traits like distress resistance, reduced chronic pain, and resilience are addressed.
Responsibilities:
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Lead welfare-oriented breeding strategy conversations with industry partners
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Define selection indexes and estimate genetic parameters (e.g. heritability, correlations)
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Collaborate on trait measurement strategy (including behavioral and physiological proxies)
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Integrate comparative genomic insights into selection decisions
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Provide internal guidance on expected response to selection and trade-offs
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Familiarize yourself with affective genes, Mendelian and polygenic risk factors for severe distress.
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Develop a strategy for screening against primary neurological disorders
Qualifications:
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Note, these are ideal. You don’t necessarily have to have them all to be a great choice for the role.
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MSc or PhD in Quantitative Genetics, Animal Breeding, or Biostatistics
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Direct experience in commercial breeding or government breeding research programs
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Strong communicator in English, comfortable translating technical methods to diverse stakeholders
​We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital, veteran, or disability status.
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Apply here.​
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