Malcolm was appointed as Vice-Chancellor of Manchester Metropolitan University in 2015, having previously held positions at the Universities of Birmingham, Sheffield, Manchester and UCL.
Malcolm is an ecologist who has studied the impacts of climate and environmental change in northern Europe and the Arctic, the regeneration of tropical rain forests in Malaysian Borneo, and the impact of parasitic weeds on subsistence farming in sub-Saharan Africa.
Malcolm is currently a trustee of the British Council and the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS), sits on the Board of the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE), and is Vice-President of Universities UK.
Previously, he was elected as President of his subject association, the British Ecological Society, and has also served as a trustee of the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, a council member of the National Trust, a council member of the Society of Biology and a trustee of WWF-UK .
He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2022 in recognition of his contributions to education and was commissioned as a Deputy Lieutenant in 2024.