Field Coordinator PULA

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.

According to the UN’s InterGovernmental Panel for Climate Change more than 3.3 billion people globally live in hotspots with high vulnerability to climate change and are now already feeling the impact of climate change through increased temperatures and increasingly erratic rainfall.

Insurance is a tool for vulnerable households in these affected regions to adapt to the effects that climate change is already having today on these households. It is a tool that enables for compensation payment for losses and damages that these households had no part in causing. Insurance compensation enables these households to make adjustments to their day to day livelihoods and practices and therefore allows for an equitable and just transition.

At Pula, we are building the systems that enable farmers worldwide to access insurance, using technology to insure this previously uninsured worldwide. We work in over 17 countries across Africa and Asia, and by 2021, have facilitated crop insurance cover to over 6 million farmers, 30% of which are women, across Kenya, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Rwanda, Uganda, Nigeria, Mali, Senegal, Zambia, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Tanzania, Mozambique and Malawi. We are a for profit, and have raised over $10 million from leading venture and institutional investors as well as developed philanthropic relationships with private foundations and bilateral donors such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and German Insure Resilience Solutions Fund that have accelerated investments in our target markets.

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).

What you will be doing:

Under the direct supervision of the Field Associate Manager – Zambia , the Field Coordinator shall provide full support to the field team with all necessary project activities to ensure maximum efficiency on the ground.

The ideal candidate learns quickly, is resourceful and has experience managing teams and running a field project.

Locations

North-Western, Western, Northern, Copperbelt, Lusaka, Luapula, Muchinga, Eastern, Central, Southern

Job Description

The Field Coordinator shall provide the services detailed below. Pula expects the Field Coordinator to conduct following tasks including and beyond:

• Conducting Field Agent Training
• Help set project budgets, record keeping for expenses and reconciliation against the budget for each project
• Farmer sensitization –

• Set work plan with FAM and conduct farmer trainings
• Organize and conduct Training-of-trainer sessions with local counterparts and/or client staff
• Submit reports within 5 working days on training outcomes, including photos and participant feedback
• Manage training budget and provide proof of activities and expenditures
• Collect participant data which is accurate and complete
• Evaluate end of season performance of field agents
• Field management support for crop cut exercise.

• Field Agent audits: 4x per week visit and audit report.
• Review submitted data on Mavuno web app daily to check received reports performance and verify correct data is submitted (no missing data, incorrect photos, misreported yields).
• Lead weekly data review and work planning meetings with field agents
• Weekly performance review against work plans and review data collected by field agents for quality; audit and retrain field agents with flagged data or missed work plans.
• Investigate any anomalies in inconsistencies in Field Agent data.
• Handling and resolving customer complaints from farmers and stakeholders as needed
• Report to supervisor (Field Associate Manager) weekly on progress, wins and blockers
• Coordination with client field staff and insurance auditors to facilitate visits
• Report all incidents (localized risk ex. Fire, flooding, pests; client or farmer coordination issues; etc) using the appropriate form with supporting information in 5 working days or less.
• Conduct refresher training when needed on topics identified as unclear to s and for Field Agents who are struggling
• Support Pula mobile app installation and troubleshooting.
• Resolve any queries from the data or payout team on data points within 48 hours.
• Evaluate end of season performance of Field Agents
• Clear and consistent communication up and down the reporting lines.
• Be available during working hours to respond to queries by whatsapp
• Other

• Assist organization and attend local payout events on request
• Assisting in product launches when required
• Help with internal data audits when required
• Any other duties as requested by management

Who you are:

Qualifications and Key Competencies

• A diploma in Agricultural Economics, Agribusiness, Business/project management or related field.
• Be a member of the Agricultural Institute of Zambia (AIZ) and possess a practicing license as per mandatory requirement.
• Experience with (2 years) and proven skills in 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
• Intermediate Excel 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.

To learn more about Pula:

• 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

PULA is an equal opportunities employer, we actively encourage applications from all sections of the community. Women and people with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply.

NOTE: Jobseekers are strongly advised to not indulge in any monetary engagement with any source in the name of guaranteed interviews or placements with employees.

What Pula will bring to the table

• Growth potential: At Pula, we are building the systems that enable farmers worldwide to access insurance, using technology to insure this previously uninsured worldwide. We work in over 19 countries across Africa and Asia, and by 2023, have facilitated crop insurance cover to over 5 million farmers, 40% of which are women. We are a for profit, and have raised over $25 million from leading venture and institutional investors as well as developed philanthropic relationships with private foundations and bilateral donors such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and German Insure Resilience Solutions Fund that have accelerated investments in our target markets.
• 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 an oversubscribed $20m series B funding despite the economic downturn.
• 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