Background information about the job or company (e.g., role context, company overview)

At Pula, we are radically restructuring agricultural insurance, using technology to insure the previously unbanked, uninsured, untapped market of 1.5 billion smallholders worldwide. We work in eight countries across Africa and Asia, and in 2017 alone, we facilitated crop and livestock insurance cover to 611,000 farmers in Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Nigeria, Ethiopia and Malawi. We are recruiting to fill the following position below:

Senior Manager, Underwriting & MarketingJob TypeHybridQualificationBA/BSc/HND , MBA/MSc/MAExperienceLocationNairobiJob FieldInsurance

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. It is a hands-on, market-facing role that will require regular travel across Pula RE’s focus regions. Team expansion will evolve in line with business growth.

Responsibilities or duties

• 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.
• Achieving new business premium, renewal premium retention and monitoring rate, exposure and retention.
• Collaborate with HoDs & senior members of broader Pula Group to develop synergies and local tactics to attract and retain business while executing Pula Re’s underwriting strategies and initiatives.
• Within Pula Re’s guidelines and granted underwriting authority, evaluate new and renewal account information to determine risk acceptability, terms / conditions to be quoted, and pricing.
• Make sound risk and pricing decisions that achieve profitable loss ratios.
• Maintain underwriting quality as per Pula Re underwriting framework.
• Document underwriting file to support acceptability and pricing in accordance with Pula Re guidelines.
• Achieve customer service standards, including established objectives for:
• New business quote turnaround.
• Renewal quotes
• Endorsement, cancellation, audits and other transactions.
• Policy issuance
• Provide detailed issuance instructions to ensure policy is delivered consistent with quoted terms and conditions and in accordance with established guidelines relative to policy construction.
• Review mid-term endorsement requests for acceptability and provide instructions for processing.
• Evaluate premium/risk referrals to determine class acceptability and/or appropriateness of current exposure base. Adjust current terms with acceptable changes to ensure the company gets timely payment of adequate premium.
• Order and review inspections to confirm accounts written are consistent with preliminary underwriting information and act when the inspection reveals unacceptable risk characteristics.
• Determine if retro-facultative reinsurance is needed and if so, factor retro cost in gross pricing, complete cession procedures; documentation file and follow established workflow procedure to ensure proper reporting / accounting.
• Managing claims management encompassing recovery from retro partners, payouts cedants and evaluating all claim slips and related documentation.
• Support other team members as assigned when the other underwriter is traveling or out on vacation / sick time.
• Building underwriting acumen of internal and external stakeholders through training and development opportunities.

Qualifications or requirements (e.g., education, skills)

Experience needed

Any other provided details (e.g., benefits, work environment, team info, or additional notes).

• 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.
• Achieving new business premium, renewal premium retention and monitoring rate, exposure and retention.
• Collaborate with HoDs & senior members of broader Pula Group to develop synergies and local tactics to attract and retain business while executing Pula Re’s underwriting strategies and initiatives.
• Within Pula Re’s guidelines and granted underwriting authority, evaluate new and renewal account information to determine risk acceptability, terms / conditions to be quoted, and pricing.
• Make sound risk and pricing decisions that achieve profitable loss ratios.
• Maintain underwriting quality as per Pula Re underwriting framework.
• Document underwriting file to support acceptability and pricing in accordance with Pula Re guidelines.
• Achieve customer service standards, including established objectives for: New business quote turnaround, Renewal quotes, Endorsement, cancellation, audits and other transactions, Policy issuance
• Provide detailed issuance instructions to ensure policy is delivered consistent with quoted terms and conditions and in accordance with established guidelines relative to policy construction.
• Review mid-term endorsement requests for acceptability and provide instructions for processing.
• Evaluate premium/risk referrals to determine class acceptability and/or appropriateness of current exposure base. Adjust current terms with acceptable changes to ensure the company gets timely payment of adequate premium.
• Order and review inspections to confirm accounts written are consistent with preliminary underwriting information and act when the inspection reveals unacceptable risk characteristics.
• Determine if retro-facultative reinsurance is needed and if so, factor retro cost in gross pricing, complete cession procedures; documentation file and follow established workflow procedure to ensure proper reporting / accounting.
• Managing claims management encompassing recovery from retro partners, payouts cedants and evaluating all claim slips and related documentation.
• Support other team members as assigned when the other underwriter is traveling or out on vacation / sick time.
• Building underwriting acumen of internal and external stakeholders through training and development opportunities.

• Strong network and relationships across insurance and reinsurance markets in and beyond Africa.
• Skilled in process mapping, operational efficiency, and cost management.

• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree (MBA, Master’s in Business, or degree in Engineering/Technology) preferred.
• Professional insurance certification (e.g., CII, Insurance Institute of Kenya) advantageous but not mandatory.
• Proven success in commercial lines property, casualty, or specialty insurance, ideally within a reinsurer or reinsurance broker of repute.
• Experience in surplus lines underwriting and retrocession treaty design highly preferred.
• Underwriting experience in the parametric insurance sector will be beneficial.