Field Associate Manager - Agronomist

About Pula

We are an insuretech firm that provides agriculture insurance design and execution services, specialising in index based insurance and are backed by top tier VC investors who have invested more than $25 million in the business. Since 2015 we have provided climate insurance to 15.4 million smallholder farmers, 41% of which were women across 19 markets in Africa and Asia who pay an average of $6.8 per season to insure their crops. So far we've unlocked over $2.22 billion of capital from local and international insurance markets for climate risks since we started in 2015 and paid out $40.8 million to our client farmers.

Pula is a fast-paced space, constantly adapting to new opportunities and challenges and we are made up of a high-performance, multi-cultural team. We expect our team to value performance, results and professionalism.

At Pula, our values are:

Obsessed with results: We are responsible for our future and therefore we get things done!

Connect the Dots: We continuously identify different customer needs & business problems and build solutions that deliver value.

Have a Can do Attitude! We dare to do things differently to make things work.

We have each others’ back: We look out for each other & we share high quality, timely feedback that makes us better.

Who you are:

You understand that we are helping to protect the food security of nations.

You have an intuitive understanding of rural life drawn from personal or professional experience

You want to make a difference.

You have a pro-active, problem-solver’s mindset

You are not afraid to roll up your sleeves to get things done.

You are an effective communicator

What you will be doing:

We go to the remotest of areas to measure yields as farmers harvest. From North Nigeria, South Zambia, Northern Kenya; name it. We are there. We do not believe in hiding behind a desk to come up with fuzzy claim reports from black boxes that do not reflect the outcome on the ground. We want our payouts to reflect the farmers’ outcomes. We deeply care about that.

The Field Associate Manager at Pula has an essential role of leading the teams that interact with farmers and partners on the ground. You will be responsible for collecting the most complete and accurate data possible on farmers and their harvests which will stand up to the most intense scrutiny. This entails recruiting and training effective teams and contractors as well as engaging clients, government officials, and other stakeholders with clear, timely communication to ensure smooth operations. All of this must be executed with the utmost efficiency to minimize the cost of insuring smallholder farmers, thus ensuring the greatest number of farmers can be covered.

Client-Specific Deliverables

Establish and maintain interpersonal relationships with key partners and stakeholders across the private and public sector to ensure smooth running of project operations.

Oversee national wide sensitization campaigns while engaging with internal and external stakeholders including government, insurance companies and other public and private sector partners.

Coordinate with the commercial and actuarial teams to provide monthly progress reports for all field operations activities

Coordinate and deliver high level trainings and workshops to Pula’s partners and clients across different industries

Provide strategic guidance to the field operations team

Execution of data collection:

Recruit enumerators and staff who meet or exceed assessment criteria and show year-on-year improvement

Monitor data collection closely and action any flags

Ensure that any data collection issues, unusual events or significant farm losses are meticulously, indisputably documented.

Ensure timely execution of data collection such that all harvests are captured and data collection is complete within given timeframes.

Ensure meticulous completion - leave no farm behind.

Oversee the systems and processes that drive our Customer Support systems while leading the call center operations

Validate farmer lists

Execute surveys to monitor crop progress, including forecasted harvest times and crop development report surveys

Ensure field work is closely followed by quality assurance and verification to spot deficiencies in real time for immediate correction.

Evaluate efficiency of service delivery and operations using spending data, while actioning strategic initiatives to keep costs low for field operations and call center teams

Detailed assessment of real costs by location and responsibility

Apply ingenuity to find savings wherever possible

Request disbursements of field expenses in a timely manner with sufficient advance to ensure no delays are incurred.

Ensure all expenses are reconciled within policy deadlines.

Monitor budget vs spend closely

Strategic Development and learning

Organize post-project team workshops to evaluate key learnings and improvements in the design, tools, and execution of the project

Translate learnings into action with updated work plan templates, tools etc, coordinating with global colleagues to ensure these are adopted widely.

Coordinating with the innovations and expansion teammates on launching new initiatives and pilots

Other operational work

Design data collection tools and any other operational related tools where necessary.

Write content for any stakeholders as asked (internal, clients, etc)

Other assignments as tasked

The Field Associate Manager will report to the Director of Field Operations or Expansion, while also working closely with other departments to coordinate execution throughout the client journey.

What you need to be successful:

7+ years of experience working in agriculture/ social enterprises. Experience leading field operations or Monitoring and Evaluation department is an added advantage

Experience working at national level in a fast moving environment/ start up

Deep commitment to the "art of management" and nuances of modern management practice

Ability to work independently – highly self-motivated

Creative problem-solving skills

Highly collaborative, with an outgoing personality and clear and consistent communication

Detail-oriented, meticulous, and attentive to accuracy

Ability to grasp complex analytical concepts quickly and thoroughly

Prioritize and manage multiple projects simultaneously, ensuring timely delivery

What Pula will bring to the table

Growth potential: With an untapped market of 1.5 billion smallholders worldwide, on track to doubling the number of farmers insured in 2021 and Pula’s global leadership in Agriculture Insurance, our new staffers have a tremendous upside growth potential.

Market Leader: Not only is the opportunity massive, but Pula is by far the market leader in it’s category with 11m farmers insured as of 2023.

Solid: Pula has been funded by leading venture capital investors (Omidyar Network, ACCION, MercyCorps) and global philanthropic institutions (MasterCard Foundation, CGAP/World Bank as well as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation). Pula closed a $6m series A funding in December 2020 in the right in the middle of the pandemic a clear testimony of the opportunity that Pula is going after.

Respected: Winner of the Singapore FinTech Festival 2019, Winner of The InsureTech of the Award, Africa. Featured on TED talks, The New York Times, The Economist.

Impact and creation: This is a high-impact role, that offers a unique opportunity to bring the company to the next level, whilst developing new strategies, approaches and ideas.

Leadership: The founders & CEO foster a culture of transparency, respect, high performance, pragmatism, execution and personal development.

Purpose: It is rare to find a professional opportunity that offers accelerated professional development and a life purpose. Pula is going through a second phase of accelerated growth that will naturally provide professional development, whilst contributing to the financial stability of small farmers in the emerging markets.

Remuneration: Competitive base salary accordingly with seniority and experience, commission on closed sales and an employee share option plan that offers an attractive equity upside.

To learn more about Pula you can visit

TED Talk: Crop Insurance, an Idea Worth Seeding

New York Times: He Grew up on a Farm. Now, He Helps Protect Them

The Economist: The Poor, Who Most Need Insurance, Are Least Likely to Have It

How to apply

Fill out the form below, and upload a resume in English.

Cover letters are optional. You can add one if there is any additional information you would like to share about your interest in Pula, the role or your experience. We review applications on a rolling basis.

Pula’s mission is to provide farmer resilience. To achieve this, we put our small holder farmers that use our services and the employees that provide them at the heart of everything we do. For that purpose, Pula was created to be an equal opportunity employer that celebrates diversity and is committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.