Executive Assistant

Position: Executive Assistant

Location: Nairobi

Engagement: Permanent, Full time

Reporting to: CEO

About Pula:

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 over 17 countries across Africa, South America and Asia, and, we have facilitated crop insurance cover to over 5.3 million farmers across Kenya, India, Rwanda, Uganda, Nigeria, Mali, Senegal, Zambia, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Tanzania, and Malawi. Since raising our $9m Series A investment round our operations have expanded globally including Asia and Latin America.

Insurance is a tool for vulnerable households in these affected regions to adapt to the effects that climate change is already having today on these households. It is a tool that enables for compensation payment for losses and damages that these households had no part in causing. Insurance compensation enables these households to make adjustments to their day to day livelihoods and practices and therefore allows for an equitable and just transition.

Pula is a fast-paced environment, constantly adapting to new opportunities and challenges and we are made up of a high-performance, multi-cultural team. We expect our team to value performance, results and professionalism.

Our core values:

• Obsessed with results: We are responsible for our future and therefore we get things done!
• Connect the Dots: We continuously identify different customer needs & business problems and build solutions that deliver value.
• Have a Can do Attitude! We dare to do things differently to make things work.
• We have each others’ back: We look out for each other & we share high quality, timely feedback that makes us better.

Who you are:

You’re dynamic, hardworking, and able to work with little direction to support our CEO and Co-Founders as needed. You make decisions and judgment calls with confidence and take ownership for them with pride. You don’t sweat the small stuff, and show strong attention to detail and accuracy, even when things move fast.

The role further requires you to:

• Be proactive and planning several steps ahead
• Be solutions oriented and looking at what needs to be done from numerous angles
• Building strong working relationships with key stakeholders and clients as needed

What you will be doing:

• Special Projects

Assist in the execution of mid to long term projects

Assist in managing running projects e.g. System Implementations, and other mid to long term projects

Assist in the execution of company processes, procedures and systems by creating templates, trackers, etc

Assist with incorporation and set up in new countries

Collaborate with Partnerships and Consulting on specific projects

• Administrative and Coordination Tasks

Act as the point of contact among executives, employees, clients and other external partners

Manage executives’ calendars and set up meetings using MS Office, Google Suite, and other Teleconferencing tools

Make travel and accommodation arrangements

Provide admin support to the Executive & Special Projects Office like compiling documents for board/Investor meetings and other activities

Conduct correspondence distribution in a timely and accurate manner

Manage executives’ calendars and set up meetings using MS Office, Google Suite, and other Teleconferencing tools

Make travel and accommodation arrangements

Organize and maintain the organization’s document filing system

Provide support for other company activities and events

• Licensing and Certification

Assist in regulatory and statutory compliance, ensure licenses are applied for and renewed on time

Drive certification process like the ISO 9001:2015: Quality Management Systems Certification Process

• Executive Branding

Conduct branding for executive team through written communication like Letter from the desk of the Co-Founders, Special Update, etc

• Information Management

Manage expense retiring for the executive office

Format information for internal and external communication – memos, emails, presentations, reports

Take minutes during meetings

Manage letters, NDAs, and CCAs

• Data Analysis and Research

Carry out data analysis and reports as assigned by the Special Projects Lead

Design aesthetically pleasing presentations and ensure branding consistency

Assist various teams with research and information finding

What should I have to qualify for this exciting opportunity?

• Degree in Business Administration or other relevant course
• At least 8 yrs experience as a project manager, EA or office administrator
• Strong exposure in project related roles or business analysis is an added advantage
• Strong communication, coordination and interpersonal skills
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English
• Attention to detail with good organizational, planning, report writing and presentation skills.
• Proactive, confident, energetic with the ability to work under pressure, to tight schedules/deadlines and monitor and follow up on all actions taken.
• A proven team player with excellent communication and interpersonal skills.

What Pula brings to the table:

• Market Leader: Not only is the opportunity massive, but Pula is by far the market leader in its category with 5.3m farmers insured as at the end of 2022.
• Solid: Pula has been funded by leading venture capital investors (Omidyar Network, ACCION, MercyCorps) and global philanthropic institutions (MasterCard Foundation, CGAP/World Bank as well as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation). Pula closed a  $6m series A funding in December 2020 in the right in middle of the pandemic a clear testimony of the opportunity that Pula is going after
• Respected: Winner of the Singapore FinTech Festival 2019, Winner of The InsureTech of the Award, Africa. Featured on TED talks, The New York Times, The Economist.
• Purpose: It is rare to find a professional opportunity that offers accelerated professional development and a life purpose. Pula is going through a second phase of accelerated growth that will naturally provide professional development, whilst contributing to the financial stability of small farmers in the emerging markets.