Earthworm Foundation Hiring! Full Time Smallholder Community Programme Manager in Pahang - Ricebowl

About Earthworm

Earthworm is a group of people who believes we can solve the big issues affecting people and nature today. We work in global supply chains impacting millions of people and places around the world to make the products we buy. We work on the ground, in forests, fields and factories, helping companies, farmers and communities find practical solutions together. And we know that, ultimately, trust and positive changes comes from people getting to work together, hands in the soil.

Your Role

As Smallholder Community Programme Manager, you will lead innovation across the Southern Central Forest Spine (SCFS) by working closely with farming communities, particularly oil palm smallholders, to strengthen collaboration, enhance resilience to climate and market fluctuations, and identify new market opportunities.

With a strong grasp of sustainability issues in palm oil and other commodities, you will spend at least 80% of your time in the field, primarily in Johor or Pahang, supporting smallholders as entrepreneurs and fostering their participation in environmental stewardships and supply chains.

This role requires a self-starter and innovator who can continuously generate ideas to improve community resilience and promote an entrepreneurial spirit among farmers.

Being the Smallholder Community Programme Manager, you will be focused in supporting the team in:

• Landscape integration: Align smallholder strategy to integrate and drive overall landscape vision and collective outcomes.
• Program leadership: Lead the SCFS smallholder strategy from initial diagnostics through to full-scale implementation.
• Cross-team collaboration and synergy for implementation: Partner with other leads to work across internal teams to coordinate collaboration for landscape programme implementation.
• On the ground impact: Manage farm-level projects in productivity, regenerative agriculture, income growth and industry standard compliance to boost smallholder’s resilience.
• Partnership and stakeholder management: Build strong relationships with supply chain actors, NGOs and government bodies in the SCFS landscape while identifying opportunities for impact-driven collaboration.
• Operational rigour and accountability: Own the budget, data tracking, and reporting to ensure we deliver high-quality results for landscape funders.

Your Profile

You're a passionate professional with at least 5 years of experience in agriculture, social science, rural development, forestry, or conservation, ideally backed by a Master's or Bachelor's degree in a related field. At your core, you genuinely love working alongside rural agricultural communities and are driven by the opportunity to create real transformation across connected supply chains. Sustainability, resilience, and community development aren't just professional interests to you - they're what get you out of bed in the morning, and that energy shows in the way you approach your work.

You thrive in the field, building trust and driving change on the ground with local communities in rural areas. This hands-on orientation is matched by an analytical mindset: you're confident collecting and analyzing data, managing databases, and translating your work into clear reports that track outputs, outcomes, and impact. Your background - whether shaped by experience with NGOs, government agencies, or programs related to conservation, human rights, workers' welfare, or social development in Malaysia - has given you a grounded understanding of what it takes to work effectively at the intersection of people, land, and industry.

You're a strong communicator, comfortable putting ideas into writing as much as engaging face-to-face, and you bring exceptional people management and leadership qualities to every relationship you build. Flexibility and proactivity define how you operate - you're equally at ease navigating corporate settings and spending time in the field, and you move confidently between the two. Proficient in Microsoft Office, you're ready to be primarily based in the SCFS landscape (Rompin/Pekan), spending roughly 80% of your time there, while remaining open to frequent travel to Kuala Lumpur and occasional trips to other sites, in and outside Malaysia, as the role requires.

Workings Conditions

• Education: Preferably Master’s / bachelor’s degree or other equivalent higher level training in in agricultural, social science, rural development, forestry, natural resource management, environmental sciences, conservation, social sciences, business or other related field (preferable)
• Experience: 5 years minimum
• Language(s): Bahasa Malaysia & English
• Employment: Full-time/Fixed term
• Location: Malaysia, Rompin/Pekan (80% field based)

Joining Us

If you are in search of having a meaningful impact, with a desire to innovate and act for the environment, this offer is for you! The team you would join is truly committed to and passionate about finding concrete solutions to improve relationship between People and Nature.