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.
What you will be doing:
Every year, Pula runs a series of operational activities including farmer sensitization campaigns, training of clients, and crop cut experiments (a survey designed to measure the yield of different crops).
Pula is seeking the services of an experienced Field Associate Manager in Sri Lanka who will be responsible for overseeing and executing all the operational activities within the country. The ideal candidate learns quickly, is results driven, has experience managing teams and field operations projects, project management, and shifting comfortably between strategy and execution.
In this role, you'll:
- Data collection and data management: that is, refining the study design and survey instruments, overseeing and monitoring data collection exercises using the Business Intelligence dashboard and assisting with data quality queries.
- Participate in field staff recruitment; select, assign, coach, counsel and discipline employees.
- Management of Senior Field Coordinators and Field Co-ordinators.
- Conducting training for field staff i.e. enumerators, Senior Field Coordinators and Field Coordinators.
- Conducting clients training, mobilization/workshops.
- Management and support for crop cut exercises.
- Management and support for yield index insurance pay-outs, if necessary.
- Coordination with client field staff and insurance auditors.
- Escalating issues experienced in the field.
- Help to go to the field to diagnose issues when required.
- Prepare projects’ budgets, recordkeeping for expenses and reconciliation against the budget for each project.
- Help with internal data audits when required.
- Handling and resolving customer complaints from farmers and stakeholders as needed.
- Assisting in product launches when required.
- Identify good performers, and transparently and honestly report on non-performing staff.
- Clear and consistent communication up and down the reporting lines.
- Any other duties as requested by management
What you will need to be successful
- At least a BSc degree in Project Management, Agricultural Economics, Agribusiness or a degree in Business/ Management related field.
- At least 3 years of work experience working with clients, project teams, farmers, field teams and agro-dealers.
- Experience in data collection and data management.
- Skills to interact with clients, farmers, field teams and agro-dealers.
- Ability to work independently in a multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional, and multicultural environment
- Excellent communication and organizational skills
- Able to work and communicate in English and local dialect
- Intermediate Spreadsheet (Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets) skills is an added advantage
Some more expectations
- Our team is deeply field based. We hire from the areas that we are working, rather than focusing on hiring only from capital cities or major metropolitan areas.
- The individuals best suited for these positions are those who are comfortable speaking in relevant local languages and moving around rural areas.
- Everyone needs to be able to work “on the go”: staff are expected to call into conference calls multiple times a week, and to submit communications on email and other mediums throughout the week.
- While it is difficult to keep a phone and other devices charged while working in rural areas, the best employees plan their movements well enough to ensure being in contact at the right times.
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.