Country Lead – Thailand

Mitti Labs is building the infrastructure layer to scale climate-smart rice farming, focusing on methane reduction, water replenishment, and stubble burning reduction. They combine AI-based dMRV, satellite data, and deep on-ground operations to verify practices and aggregate farmers at scale across India and Southeast Asia.

Rice farming accounts for 12% of total methane emissions and consumes 30% of the world's irrigated freshwater. Mitti’s customers include global carbon credit buyers like Google and Cool Effect, as well as leading agribusinesses such as Ebro Foods and Syngenta. Since launching in 2023, Mitti has engaged 100,000 smallholder rice farmers and become a leader in high-quality credits, with projects certified by Gold Standard and Isometric and rated 'A' by Sylvera.

The team consists of 200+ data scientists, agronomists, engineers, and operators across Europe, the US, and India, with aggressive expansion into Southeast Asia.

The Role

The Country Lead – Thailand is a founding role responsible for designing, launching, and scaling Mitti Labs’ initial projects in Thailand. This involves leading the team from the first pilot cohort of farmers to multi-province, high-impact programs. The role requires wearing both strategy and operations hats and building a capable team from scratch.

1. Market Entry

• Design and own Thailand's operations roadmap, including 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 Thailand's carbon regulatory landscape, including 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, including SOPs, training manuals, and 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 mobilizers.

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

• At least 8 years of experience in operations, agriculture, or rural development, with clear evidence of building programs from scratch and scaling.
• Direct experience managing agricultural field operations in Thailand, preferably related to rice farming.
• A track record with government department and related NGO relationships is a bonus.
• Experience in agri-input distribution or farmer community leadership is strongly preferred.
• Fluency in Thai/Isan is required; 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 with genuine ownership and impact; you will be Mitti Labs in Thailand.
• Work with a world-class team combining science, product, business, and operations, with a culture of openness, direct collaboration, and unbiased decision-making.
• Backed by leading climate investors with resources for long-term building.
• Direct relationship with founders and leadership in a fast-scaling, mission-driven organization.