The Manager, Bimalab role at FSD Africa is crucial for operationalizing and refining the Insurtech Solution Partnership for Scaling (BimaLab) program, aligning it with FSD Africa’s strategy and the Adaptation & Resilience Pillar’s focus. The core objective is to ensure the program achieves meaningful real-sector outcomes with a clear focus on poverty alleviation and public benefit, while the growth of insurtech remains incidental to social impact.
Key Responsibilities and Role Requirements
1. Program Design & Strategic Management
- Work with the Lead Programmes to ensure the program results in meaningful real-sector outcomes within the context of FSD Africa’s strategy and the Adaptation & Resilience Pillar’s focus.
- Lead the operationalization and ongoing refinement of the Insurtech Solution Partnership for Scaling (BimaLab) in line with AFIYA’s strategy.
- Translate program objectives into annual work plans, budgets, milestones, and impact targets across multiple countries and partners.
- Ensure the program maintains a clear poverty-alleviation and public-benefit focus, with insurtech growth remaining incidental to social impact outcomes.
- Manage the structured, criteria-based selection process for eligible insurtech startups drawn from the BimaLab pipeline.
- Coordinate regulatory engagements, including dialogue with ministries, regulators, and policy stakeholders to ensure program alignment with compliance requirements and to enable an enabling ecosystem for inclusive insurance innovations.
2. Project Cycle Management
- Coordinate the roll-out of a delegated portfolio of insurtech projects so that results are achieved, risks are managed, and quality results are delivered; ensuring that ongoing learning from Bimalab projects is fully utilised to maximise impact and innovation.
- Design and manage the annual selection process for insurtechs based on poverty-alleviation and gender-inclusion criteria.
- Oversee the implementation of insurtech-led projects, ensuring alignment with AFIYA’s climate and gender resilience goals.
- Develop detailed implementation plans, budgets and cash-flow forecasts that will ensure project success.
- Oversee the effective management of programme budgets, ensuring alignment with approved timelines and the timely disbursement of funds to participating startups based on achievement of defined milestones and deliverables.
- Review the Quarterly monitoring and evaluation reports for Bimalab projects and take appropriate action based on results and analysis:
- If desired results have been achieved, initiate strategies for widespread awareness-raising and ‘crowding in’, focusing on applying leverage, replication of the project, and scaling.
- If desired results have not been achieved, either manage performance of the implementation team or adjust the strategy/approach.
- Identify, report on and mitigate project risks in a timely manner (project delivery and partnership management).
- Monitor, analyse, and report on key performance indicators (KPIs) related to insurance uptake, premium affordability, and the socio-economic impact of payouts, providing actionable insights to inform programme strategy, scale-up decisions, and stakeholder engagement.
- Refine project strategies, creating detailed implementation plans, risk assessments, and tracking frameworks to guide execution.
- Ensure clarity among stakeholders regarding roles, deliverables, standards, and reporting requirements for effective project delivery while ensuring Technical Assistance delivery, market access, and partnership facilitation for participating startups.
- Lead effective project closure processes, ensuring sustainable outcomes beyond FSD Africa's involvement.
3. Influencing and Communicating for Impact
- Actively participate in development, and lead implementation, of advocacy and communications plans for Bimalab project.
- Map stakeholders and devise strategic communication plans to influence key actors and advance project goals.
- Partner with the Communications team to integrate advocacy into project plans, driving stakeholder engagement effectively.
- Develop impactful content and materials for advocacy efforts, supporting visibility and strategic communication objectives.
- Represent FSD Africa professionally in public forums, enhancing its credibility and influence among stakeholders.
- Monitor communication efforts, adjusting strategies based on effectiveness and stakeholder responses.
4. Relationship Management
- Take initiative to build relationships and ensure effective collaboration with and between all project stakeholders and FSD Africa colleagues; includes managing any consultants deployed to the projects being managed.
- Ensure that Mastercard Foundation, FSD Africa, and other stakeholders involved in Bimalab and R3Lab projects are fully briefed concerning expectations; especially on project milestone targets, quality standards, data collection/reporting, and compliance with accountability requirements.
- Proactively build strategic partnerships essential for project success, ensuring alignment with BimaLab objectives.
- Foster collaboration across organisational pillars, identifying opportunities for synergy and coordinated actions.
- Respond effectively to stakeholder information needs, organising targeted capacity-building events or knowledge dissemination.
- Manage consultants and teams through motivational leadership, ensuring high performance and effective project outcomes.
- Engage continuously with stakeholders to nurture relationships, ensuring ongoing collaboration and support for projects.
5. Risks & Resources Management
- Ensure effective management of resources/budget for projects under management, aiming to optimise the impact that is achieved with resources and ensuring compliance with FSD Africa and Donor policies.
- Develop project plans, budgets, and forecasts to ensure optimal resource utilisation and compliance with organisational policies.
- Support fundraising by contributing technical sections and budgets to project proposals.
- Ensure rigorous due diligence and risk assessments are conducted, ensuring thorough analysis without impeding BimaLab partner operations.
- Liaise internally to manage financial resources effectively, ensuring compliance with statutory and donor regulations.
- Regularly analyse portfolio performance for value-for-money, adjusting strategies to enhance development impact.
Qualifications and Education
- Master’s degree and 6 years of experience or Bachelor’s Degree and 8 years of experience.
- Relevant postgraduate qualifications preferred.
- Excellent skills in written and spoken English.
