(Senior) Group Leader, Plant Phenotyping - Plant Biology Institute in Oxford

Join us at the Ellison Institute of Technology (EIT), where we are on a mission to translate scientific discovery into real-world impact. We bring together visionary scientists, technologists, engineers, researchers, educators, and innovators to tackle humanity's greatest challenges in four transformative areas:

• Health, Medical Science & Generative Biology
• Food Security & Sustainable Agriculture
• Climate Change & Managing CO2
• Artificial Intelligence & Robotics

The Plant Biology Institute, headed by Professor Steve Kelly, is a key part of the EIT Oxford. The institute aims to develop impactful and commercially sustainable solutions for improving global food production and planetary health through pioneering plant science research.

The Plant Biology Institute will unite world-class researchers focused on expanding the frontiers of plant science. Our research is focused on enhancing our ability to feed the planet while simultaneously improving the climate and ecosystem outcomes of food production. By embedding cutting-edge plant science research within an organisation that is focused on solving global challenges at scale, we aim to accelerate the timeline from discovery to global impact.

Areas of Exploration

• Improved plant productivity, both indoors and outside
• Reduced reliance on inputs including water, fertilisers, pesticides, and herbicides
• Novel decarbonised plant-based production platforms for food and medicines
• Advanced technologies that speed up discovery and deployment in plants

Researchers will have access to state-of-the-art laboratory and plant growth facilities and have opportunities to collaborate with experts at the forefront of research on AI, automation, and generative biology across the EIT ecosystem. They will also work with global leaders in market development, commercialisation, and impact creation. The Plant Biology Institute has long-term substantial funding to support the unique scale and ambition of its vision.

Your Role

We are seeking a visionary and accomplished Group Leader/Senior Group Leader in Plant Phenotyping to lead a transformative research programme at the forefront of plant biotechnology. This senior leadership role is central to shaping a newly established and rapidly scaling Plant Biology Institute with the ambition to become a global leader in plant phenotyping and data-driven plant science.

The successful candidate will lead an innovative research programme focused on the development and application of next-generation plant phenotyping technologies, including automated, high-throughput, and sensor-based approaches that enable precise, scalable measurement of plant performance across indoor and outdoor environments.

The successful candidate will establish and lead PBI's automated phenotyping function, delivering analytical capabilities and workflows to support PBI's trait and technology research groups. This role requires close collaboration with research scientists working across a broad range of projects including plant and plant cell culture engineering. The role will require working with other institutional stakeholders to scope, design, equip, and operate a new function within the research institute. The role will drive research from foundational method development through to integrated platforms for real-world application, supporting advances in crop improvement, resilience, and productivity.

The postholder will build and lead a high-performing, interdisciplinary team spanning biology, engineering, data science, and automation; establish strategic collaborations across academia, industry, and technology partners; and ensure research excellence is translated into impactful and commercially relevant solutions aligned with EIT's mission of humane and sustainable innovation. This is a rare opportunity to define the scientific and technological direction of a next-generation phenotyping programme addressing some of the most pressing challenges in global agriculture and sustainability.

Your Responsibilities

• Lead and manage the automated phenotyping function, delivering robust analytical capabilities to support the interpretation of whole plant, plant cell, and plant tissue culture phenotyping produced by PBI researchers.
• Develop and implement image and sensor-based phenotyping strategies and workflows that support the experimental programmes of PBI.
• Work closely with researchers and group leads to develop and refine phenotyping pipelines for analysing plants, plant cells, and tissue culture.
• Recruit, lead, and mentor a team that can build capacity in automated phenotyping, analysis, and interpretation.
• Develop and maintain pipelines for processing phenotyping data.
• Ensure reproducibility, version control, and documentation for all analyses and pipelines, contributing to open science and collaborative research.
• Work at the cutting edge of automated phenotyping, developing new methodologies and applications and redefining how they can be applied to accelerate discovery.
• Manage resources - including personnel, equipment, and budgets - in coordination with the senior leadership team.

Research designed for impact

• Work in close collaboration with the AIR team and EIT, to direct the activities of the research group by supervising some projects personally and overseeing projects delegated to group members.
• Provide the specialist expertise, intellectual energy, and independent thinking necessary to lead a programme of cutting-edge research and to shape the overall aims and success of the group developing AI and ML approaches to analysing plant image and sensor data for phenotyping.
• Generate, maintain, and manage collaborations with key teams across EIT Oxford and in the wider scientific and commercial ecosystem to accelerate the path to scientific discovery and impact.
• Drive rigorous experimental design, execution, and data interpretation, ensuring robust and reproducible scientific outcomes.
• Manage project resources - including personnel, equipment, and budgets - in coordination with the senior leadership team.
• Ensure research is conducted ethically and in compliance with EIT policy, regulatory guidance, and best scientific practice.
• Work, where appropriate, with translational teams to translate the results of research into commercial opportunities consistent with EIT's humane endeavours.

Requirements

• Leader of research groups within academia or industry.
• Recognised thought leader in their field.
• Proven ability to manage scientific output for a team of PhDs/Postdoctoral researchers.
• Experience delivering against long-term strategic research programmes.
• Experience of managing a large team of researchers and scientists including interdisciplinary workstream integration.
• Demonstration of commercial awareness and versatility of research that could serve a wide range of different applications; Development of partnerships with engineering, technical partners and licensees/channel partners.
• Project management, communication, and resource allocation experience.
• Ability to build both internal and external relationships, working collaboratively with others outside of their discipline.

Benefits

• Competitive salary + travel allowance + bonus
• Enhanced holiday + options to buy additional days
• Pension
• Life Assurance
• Income Protection
• Private Medical Insurance
• Hospital Cash Plan
• Therapy Services
• Perk Box
• Electric Car Scheme
• Childcare benefit

What we offer

• Newly constructed, state-of-the-art laboratories and growth facilities, core scientific and operational support, and substantial core funding to support a research group.
• A collaborative research environment with a highly skilled team working at the cutting edge of plant science to create commercially sustainable solutions that tackle humanity's biggest challenges, including enabling sustainable agriculture and improving the climate and ecosystem outcomes of food production.
• Opportunities for professional development including publication, conferences, IP portfolio creation, spin-out generation, and leadership development.