Commercial Manager- Angola

Job Description

About Pula:  

We are an insuretech and data services firm that provides agriculture insurance design and execution services,  specializing in index-based insurance and is backed by top-tier VC investors who have invested more than $25 million in the business. Since 2015 we have provided climate insurance to 22  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 company, constantly adapting to new opportunities and challenges. We  are made up of a high-performance, multi-cultural team. We expect our team to value  performance, results, and professionalism. 

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 other’s back: We look out for each other & we share high quality, timely feedback that makes us better.

Duties And Responsibilities: 

The Commercial Manager at Pula is far from the typical sales role. You must be passionate about having meaning in your work. Willing to go the extra mile to evangelize the importance of agriculture insurance in transforming the lives of millions of smallholder farmers across multiple stakeholders from the political elites to the Government systems, to development agencies all the way down to the farmer. For you to be successful at the role, one must consider it their mission - “how you will be remembered”. Whilst at it, you will be rewarded very well as we believe in “doing good and doing well”. When impacting hundreds of millions of farmers, our mantra is that those successful in the mission must be dollar millionaires in the end. At Pula, good deeds are rewarded. 

In this role you'll;

Expand your networks, influence and Pula’s positioning in the region

• Constantly building deeply entrenched relationships that will enable one to understand client needs, gather market intelligence and build a credible pipeline of opportunities. To succeed in the role, one must incredible enjoy building new relationships and leveraging on relationships to achieve your goals.
• Effectively communicate value propositions through presentations and proposals
• Act as the Pula spokesperson in the region.
• Using knowledge of the market and competitors in the regions, identify and develop the company’s unique selling propositions and differentiators.

Business Development

• Defining Commercial objective key results in your region and ownership of the results.
• Research, prepare and execute a sales plan focused on delivering new and recurring revenues through partnerships with agro-input companies, the public sector, and development organizations.
• Develop pipeline and continuously mature & qualify opportunities in order to increase Pula’s market share and to enable achievement of sales targets in insurance, data services, and consulting offerings.
• Generating and qualifying new leads and using different approaches to reach prospective clients in your region. You are expected to qualify opportunities, know which deals to work on, and which ones to pass on.
• Progress prospects through a defined sales process to eventual contracting and implementation.

Customer Relationship Management

• Manage and nurture existing client relationships across a wide range of stakeholders including commodity associations, farmers’ aggregators, insurers, government, development organizations, and private companies.
• Manage the handover of new customers to the operations team for the implementation of the solution.

How your Role will be broken down

Business Development & Revenue Growth  : 40%

Develop and execute the regional commercial strategy, build and manage a qualified sales pipeline, secure new partnerships, negotiate contracts, and achieve agreed revenue and growth targets across insurance, data, and consulting solutions. .

Strategic Relationship Management : 25%

Build and strengthen trusted relationships with governments, development partners, insurers, financial institutions, agribusinesses, and other strategic stakeholders to expand Pula's influence and unlock new opportunities. 

Market Development & Positioning : 15%

Represent Pula in the market, identify emerging opportunities, gather competitive intelligence, communicate Pula's value proposition, and strengthen the company's brand and presence within the region. d.

Customer Success & Delivery Support : 10%

Ensure effective transition of new clients to Operations, maintain executive-level customer relationships, and support successful programme implementation and long-term account growth. 

Commercial Planning & Performance Management : 10%

Set and monitor regional commercial objectives and KPIs, maintain CRM accuracy, analyse market and sales data, forecast opportunities, and provide regular reporting on commercial performance. 

What you need to have to be successful:        

• You have experience in strong demonstrable sales to development agencies, governments and / or financial institutions.
• You have demonstrable success working against a sales quota target.
• You have experience working with Development Agencies and / or Government officials at all levels and navigating government structures.
• Critical Thinking Skills. You must have the ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions
• Behavioural Skills. You must be self-directed, work well alone or in a team structure, highly results oriented, and willing to learn and expand his/her technical and product knowledge base through formal education, professional training, and self-study.
• You have knowledge and understanding of dealing with C-suite executives with excellent communication and presentation skills, integrity and impeccable professionalism.
• An understanding of, or strong interest in, digital public infrastructure for farmers (farmer registries, digital identity, and data platforms) and how governments and development partners use it.
• Sales and or consulting experience in the area of agriculture: seed / fertilizer / agrochemical industry or related is a significant advantage.
• Experience and knowledge in the insurance industry will place you at an advantage.
• You have the ability to use data and KPIs to make management decisions.
• You are fully comfortable with sales CRM platforms, Google Drive applications such as Google Sheets, Google Docs etc.

What Pula will bring to the table:

• Your work matters: At Pula, you’ll shape systems that give millions of smallholder farmers access to insurance for the first time. You’ll join a team that has already reached over 19 million farmers across Africa and Asia, and you’ll directly contribute to scaling this impact even further.
• Career development: You’ll be working in a high-performance environment with strong mentorship and leadership that values transparency, execution, and personal growth. As we enter our next phase of accelerated expansion, you’ll naturally gain opportunities to take on new responsibilities and grow your career.
• Global recognition:  Backed by top global investors and foundations;  Pula is a solid, well-funded organization. Our work is recognized globally (from winning the Singapore FinTech Festival Award to being featured in The Economist and TED Talks)  and you’ll be part of a brand that is respected in the industry.
• Purpose with Rewards:  Few opportunities combine career advancement with genuine purpose. At Pula, your work directly contributes to financial security for farmers in emerging markets, while also offering competitive pay, performance incentives, and an employee share option plan (ESOP) with 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