About the Role
At Pula, we are radically restructuring agricultural insurance, using technology to insure the previously unbanked, uninsured, untapped market of 1.5 billion smallholders worldwide. As the Senior Manager for Underwriting & Marketing, you will identify new business opportunities and manage or develop relationships with insurers, reinsurance brokers, and other reinsurers to expand Pula RE’s footprint across its target markets. This is a hands-on, market-facing role that requires regular travel across Pula RE’s focus regions. Team expansion will evolve in line with business growth.
Key Responsibilities
- Develop relationships with insurers, RI Brokers, and other reinsurers to maximize opportunities and achieve profitable growth.
- Initiate market visits and calls to market players to identify sales opportunities and collect intelligence.
- Achieve new business premium, renewal premium retention, and monitor rate, exposure, and retention.
- Collaborate with Heads of Departments & senior members of the broader Pula Group to develop synergies and local tactics to attract and retain business.
- Evaluate new and renewal account information to determine risk acceptability, terms/conditions, and pricing within Pula Re’s guidelines.
- Make sound risk and pricing decisions that achieve profitable loss ratios.
- Maintain underwriting quality as per the Pula Re underwriting framework and document files accordingly.
- Achieve customer service standards, including objectives for new business quote turnaround, renewal quotes, endorsements, and policy issuance.
- Provide detailed issuance instructions to ensure policies are delivered consistent with quoted terms.
- Review mid-term endorsement requests and evaluate premium/risk referrals to determine class acceptability.
- Determine if retro-facultative reinsurance is needed, factor retro cost in pricing, and follow established workflow procedures.
- Manage claims, encompassing recovery from retro partners, payouts to cedants, and evaluating claim documentation.
- Support other team members and build underwriting acumen through training and development opportunities.
Qualifications and Experience
- Bachelor’s degree required; an advanced degree (MBA, Master’s in Business, or degree in Engineering/Technology) is preferred.
- Professional insurance certification (e.g., CII, Insurance Institute of Kenya) is advantageous but not mandatory.
- Proven success in commercial lines property, casualty, or specialty insurance, ideally within a reputable reinsurer or reinsurance broker.
- Experience in surplus lines underwriting and retrocession treaty design is highly preferred.
- Underwriting experience in the parametric insurance sector will be beneficial.
- Strong network and relationships across insurance and reinsurance markets in and beyond Africa.
- Skilled in process mapping, operational efficiency, and cost management.
How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should apply online via the Pula application portal at pula.bamboohr.com. Alternatively, you can access the application through the MyJobMag portal here: Apply Now.
