35,000 Village Cooperative Manager Positions Open: What Might the Salary Be?
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - Coordinating Minister for Food Affairs Zulkifli Hasan has emphasised that the Merah Putih Village Cooperative (KDMP) programme is a priority for President Prabowo Subianto and must proceed as planned. The government aims to ensure that cooperatives are truly viable and deliver tangible impacts in villages and fishing communities.
He highlighted the crucial role of professional managers, who are currently being recruited in large numbers for the KDMP. According to him, the quality of human resources will determine whether the cooperatives can survive and thrive or fail again as in previous experiences.
“Yes, the role of these managers is certainly important, their role in ensuring our cooperatives succeed. Because if this time the cooperatives fail, oh dear, the stakes are too high,” Zulkifli stated during a press conference at the Coordinating Ministry for Food Affairs office on Wednesday (15/4/2026).
The government claims to have consolidated various ministries and agencies into a single national selection system to identify the best candidates. This step is intended to shift cooperative management from mere administrative functions to becoming engines of local economies.
Zulkifli also described the programme as an effort to build new economic centres in villages, expected to spread evenly across Indonesia.
“Because we have mobilised all our strength to build cooperatives so that in every village, they become bright lights that can illuminate Indonesia,” he asserted.
As part of this strategy, the government is opening recruitment for 35,476 workers under fixed-term employment contracts through state-owned enterprises. The breakdown includes 30,000 individuals to be placed as managers of Merah Putih Village/Urban Village Cooperatives under PT Agrinas Pangan Nusantara, while the remaining 5,476 will manage the Merah Putih Fishing Village programme through PT Agrinas Jaladri Nusantara.
To apply, the public can access the official channel at phtc.panselnas.go.id. Candidates who pass the selection will undergo an initial two-year work period before being transferred to the cooperatives they manage. This scheme is designed as a maturation phase before the cooperatives operate independently.
Registrations are open until 24 April 2026 and are available to D3 to S1 graduates from all majors, with a maximum age of 35 years and a minimum GPA of 2.75. The selection process is conducted online through the official government channel.
However, the government has not yet detailed the salary amounts that participants will receive. Zulkifli only provided an overview that the figure will be adjusted according to educational background.
“The salary will be later. Yes, there are D3, D4, S1, and so on. The salary can be followed, can be followed. We don’t get involved down to the rupiah,” he said.