INSURANCE ASSOCIATE/MANAGER at One Acre Fund

Duration

Minimum 2 years commitment for full-time career role

Job Description

One Acre Fund has tested many different insurance products and services since our inception, always with the goals of providing a meaningful safety net for smallholder households and ensuring our ability to continue serving farmers in the event of catastrophe. We offer micro-insurance to most clients, with products ranging from crop (or input) insurance to funeral insurance to health insurance. At a high level, insurance is key to minimizing organizational risk inherent in microfinance and in agriculture. The role of the Insurance Associate/Manager is to coordinate all of our insurance work, assess and improve our insurance offerings, and support relationships with insurance providers. Specifically, this person’s responsibilities will include:

• Design and manage One Acre Fund’s “crop-insurance” portfolio in order to provide a reliable safety net for farmers in the event that climatic conditions lead to major yield losses, and do so in a way that is in line with One Acre Fund’s goals of driving towards financial sustainability. (~70% of role)
  • Research & Analysis.
    • Conduct a review of all historical and current policies, proposals, and analyses for One Acre Fund. Scope historical and current insurance policies in tropical agriculture and identify successful examples that could apply to One Acre Fund’s context.  
    • Create and maintain a centralized resource for all insurance information.
  • Product Design
    • Collaborate with field teams to research and understand farmers’ perceptions of climate-related risk, levels of resilience, and basic needs corresponding to various levels of shock.
    • Determine the optimal insurance parameters for each country of operation, and design and test micro index-insurance or loan-forgiveness models using historical weather and yield data for each program. Products must be adoptable by smallholder farmers and impactful in the protection they provide.
  • Expertise & Advising
    • Act as an effective advisor during internal insurance conversations and as a knowledgeable representative with third-party insurance providers and external partners.
    • Support program operations in the development of policies, procedures, and training materials for insurance implementation.
    • Serve as One Acre Fund’s link to developments in crop insurance strategy and theory.  Stay up to date with programs around the world and apply best practices to One Acre Fund’s strategy.
  • Support One Acre Fund leadership to understand the full landscape of insurance products that are relevant to the organization. (~30% of role)
    • Assess options for field-facing products and services like funeral/death insurance and health insurance. Help individual programs decide which policies may be best for their clients, negotiate terms with insurance providers, and support field teams with operationalizing these products.
    • Evaluate risks related to, and insurance against, global organizational risks like assets, currency, repayment, etc.

Career Growth and Development

One Acre Fund invests in building management and leadership skills. Your manager and a global support team will commit significant time in your career development. We provide constant, actionable feedback delivered through mentorship and through regular management consulting-style career reviews. We also have regular one-on-one meetings, where we listen to and discuss career goals, and work collaboratively to craft roles that each person can be passionate about.  Because of our rapid growth, we constantly have new high-level roles opening up and opportunities in many functions.

Qualifications

We are seeking an exceptional professional with 3+ years of work experience, a demonstrated passion for international development, and a strong knowledge of actuarial principles. Candidates who fit the following criteria are strongly encouraged to apply:

• Strong background in a quantitative field such as finance, econometrics, engineering, or environmental science, including 2-5+ years experience or equivalent advanced degree.
• Experience with actuarial modeling, preferably with index-insurance or micro-insurance product development.
• Fluency with crop insurance trends and innovations.
• Understanding of agricultural risks (e.g. expertise in plant physiology) and/or experience in tropical agriculture is desirable.
• Collaborative nature and excellent communication skills. This position will require liaising with a wide range of internal for passionate professionals who combine strong leadership skills with good humor, patience, and a humble approach to service to join our growing family of leaders.
• A willingness to commit to living in East Africa for at least two years – this is a long-term, career-track role. The ideal candidate will have at least one year demonstrated experience working in the developing world, although this is not a strict requirement.
• Language: Fluency in English required.

Preferred Start Date

Early 2017

Compensation

We offer a modest starting salary that affords a high quality of life in our areas of operation. This is a career-track role with performance-based raises and the ability to expand responsibilities over time. 

Benefits

Health insurance, immunizations, flight, housing.

Sponsor International Candidates 

Yes

East Africans Encouraged to Apply.