Country Lead - Philippines

About this role

About Mitti Labs
Mitti Labs is building the infrastructure layer to scale climate-smart rice farming, starting with methane-reduction, water replenishment and stubble burning reduction. We combine AI-based dMRV, satellite data, and deep on-ground operations to verify practices and aggregate farmers at scale across India and Southeast Asia. Our customers — including Fortune 500 companies and leading agri-businesses — trust Mitti to deliver measurable impact across climate, water, and food systems. We are a team of 90+ data scientists, agronomists, engineers, and operators across India, US, and Europe.
Over the past 18 months, Mitti has scaled to 70,000+ smallholder rice farmers and become a leader in high quality credits. Click here to watch a video on Mitti's work on the ground.

The Role
The Philippines is home to over 2.8 million rice-farming households and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) — the world’s foremost rice science institution. Yet Filipino rice farmers remain among the most climate-vulnerable agricultural communities on earth, facing intensifying typhoons, water stress, and yield stagnation.
The Country Lead – Philippines is a founding role. You will design, launch, and scale Mitti Labs’ initial projects in Philippines. You will lead the team from our first pilot cohort of farmers to a multi-province, high-impact programs. You will wear strategy and operations hat and build a capable team from scratch.

1. Market Entry
Design and own Philippines' operations roadmap: regional feasibility, budget planning, and building partnerships.
Develop localized farmer onboarding strategies that reflect regional value chains, community power structures, last-mile realities, and seasonal farming calendars.
Navigate Philippines' carbon regulatory landscape: DENR carbon registry, Republic Act 9513 (RE Law), PCAF, and emerging voluntary carbon market pathways.
2. On-Ground Operations
Design and manage district specific operational playbooks -SOPs, training manuals, QA/QC frameworks
Build genuine trust with farming communities at the grassroots level — understanding local power dynamics, working with village heads, FPO leaders, and community mobilizes.
3. Team Building & Leadership
Hire and develop a high-performing in-country team.
Build a culture that reflects Mitti’s ethos
Manage external implementation partners and field agent networks
Requirements
+8 years in operations, agriculture, or rural development with clear evidence of building programs from scratch and scaling.
Direct experience managing agricultural field operations in Philippines - preferably rice.
Track record with government department and related NGO relationships is a bonus.
Experience in agri-input distribution or farmer community leadership is strongly preferred.
You speak Filipino/Tagalog fluently. English proficiency is essential for internal collaboration.
Willingness to travel 40–60% across provinces and in remote farming areas.
Benefits
Build projects that matter: a first-of-its-kind climate and food-security program in one of the world’s most important agricultural nations.
Founding role: genuine ownership, genuine impact. You will be Mitti Labs in Philippines.
Work with a world-class team combining the best of science, product, business, and operations — with a culture of openness, direct collaboration, and unbiased decision-making.
Backed by leading climate investors with the resources to build for the long term.
Direct relationship with founders and leadership in a fast-scaling, mission-driven organization.