Senior Manager, Partnerships, Product Innovation & Consulting

Role: Senior Manager, Partnerships, Product Innovation & Consulting

Location: WAT/CEST/CAT/EAT or based in Nairobi 

Reports to:  Head of Partnerships and Consulting 

About Pula:
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 10 countries across Africa and Asia, and by 2022, have facilitated crop insurance cover to over 20 million farmers, 40% of which are women, across Kenya, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Rwanda, Uganda, Nigeria, Mali, Senegal, Zambia, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Tanzania, Mozambique, Ethiopia and Malawi. We are a for profit company, and have raised over $45 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. 

Pula is proudly fast paced, constantly learning from the challenges we face and overcome. We are proudly culturally diverse but united in our ambition of continuous high-performance. By challenging ourselves we believe that we can overcome the hard problems we love solving.

At Pula, our culture is defined by our: 

• Obsession with results: We are responsible for our future and therefore we get things done!
• Ability to connect the Dots: We continuously identify different customer needs & business problems and build solutions that deliver value.
• Our can-do Attitude! We dare to do things differently to make things work.
• Ability to 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:

 1. Develop New Products & Take Them to Market (30%)

• Identify new product opportunities within Partnerships and Consulting team to diversify revenue 
• Build business cases, revenue models, and pricing strategies for new offerings
• Test, iterate, and refine solutions based on client needs, field insights, and user feedback
• Translate concepts into prototypes, pilots, and launch-ready offerings
• Coordinate with product, tech, actuarial, research, and field teams to ensure feasibility and execution
• Conduct market sizing, feasibility assessments, research, and data analysis

2. Drive Revenue & Partnership Growth (25%)

• Source, build, and manage relationships with donors, development agencies, and commercial partners such as World Bank, IFC and Gates Foundation
• Develop and pitch grant proposals, consulting proposals, tenders, and concept notes 
• Identify opportunities to expand existing partnerships or create new ones
• Lead business development in new markets and product verticals, delivering on annual revenue goals

3. Project Execution & Research (20%)

• Support early-stage execution of newly designed products, including pilots, proof-of-concepts, and initial client deployments, before full handover to execution or country teams
• Flexibly support priority projects across the Partnerships and Consulting portfolio, contributing analytical, coordination, or execution capacity as needed
• Map stakeholders, analyse partner incentives, and develop entry strategies for new geographies or products
• Oversee end-to-end research collaborations for consulting projects, including with research institutions and third party survey providers.
  

4. Stakeholder & Relationship Management (15%)

• Lead strategic partner management across global institutions, aligning country, regional, and HQ priorities to unlock new partnership opportunities
• Represent the company in meetings with donors, clients, insurers, ministries of agriculture, foundations, and multilaterals
• Manage routine communication, follow ups, and progress reports with partners.
• Build trust, credibility, and professional gravitas across levels of seniority

5. Cross-Functional Leadership (10%)

• Collaborate closely with commercial, product, field operations, tech, actuarial, and research teams
• Ensure smooth execution of pilots, product launches, and consulting engagements
• Support internal alignment, knowledge sharing, and project coordination

What You Need to Be Successful: 

Hard Skills

• ~7+ years of experience in management consulting, strategy, partnerships, or product development.
• Strong entrepreneurial skills, experience designing new products and taking them from concept to launch.
• Proven track record of delivering consulting, research, or strategy projects end-to-end.
• Demonstrated experience generating revenue totalling at least $250k–500k from private sector, development, or NGOs
• Strong analytical and structured problem-solving skills.
• Ability to manage multiple workstreams simultaneously, prioritizing tasks and deadlines in a fast-paced environment
• Strong planning and time-management skills to structure complex projects from inception to delivery.
• Detail-oriented approach that ensures accuracy, consistency, and high-quality outputs across proposals, reports, and presentations.
• Effective workflow and documentation management, keeping information, files, and project artifacts easy to access and aligned across teams.
• Proactive task tracking and follow-through, ensuring commitments, action items, and next steps are consistently completed.
• Sector experience in climate resilience, agricultural insurance, food security, financial inclusion, or climate finance preferred.
• Excellent oral and written communications skills for proposals, reports, presentations, and thought leadership.
• Comfortable using Google Suite tools. 

Soft Skills

• Relationship Builder – Builds rapport quickly across sectors and levels.
• Resilient & Tenacious – Navigates complexity and pushes toward outcomes.
• Analytical & Structured – Breaks down ambiguous problems effectively.
• Coachable & Adaptive – Learns fast, open to feedback, adjusts quickly.
• Gravitas & Communication – Confident, clear communicator with presence.

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 2023 and Pula’s global leadership in Agriculture Insurance, the Senior Project Execution Manager has a tremendous upside growth potential.
• Join the Global Market Leader: Not only is the opportunity massive, but Pula is by far the market leader in its category with 15m farmers insured as at the end of 2022.
• Personal Development: We have a strong culture of constant learning and we invest in developing our people. You’ll have weekly check-ins with your line manager, and receive regular feedback on your performance. We hold career reviews every six months, and set aside time to discuss your aspirations and career goals. You’ll have the opportunity to shape a growing organization and build a rewarding long-term career.
• Impact and creation: This is a high-impact role, reporting to the Head of Partnerships and Consulting, that offers a unique opportunity to bring the company to the next level, whilst developing new strategies, approaches and ideas.
• Remuneration: Competitive base salary accordingly with seniority and experience, commission or bonus on closed partnerships and an employee share option plan that offers an attractive equity upside.
  

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