Head of Commercial Data Solutions

About Pula

We are an insuretech firm that provides agriculture insurance design and execution services, specialising in index based insurance and are backed by top tier VC investors who have invested more than $25 million in the business. Since 2015 we have provided climate insurance to 15.4 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 space, 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.

At Pula, our values are: 

• 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. 

According to the UN’s InterGovernmental Panel for Climate Change more than 3.3 billion people globally live in hotspots with high vulnerability to climate change and are now already feeling the impact of climate change through increased temperatures and increasingly erratic rainfall. 
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.

At Pula, we are building the systems that enable farmers worldwide to access insurance, using technology to insure this previously uninsured worldwide. We work in over 17 countries across Africa and Asia, and by 2021, have facilitated crop insurance cover to over 6 million farmers, 30% of which are women, across Kenya, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Rwanda, Uganda, Nigeria, Mali, Senegal, Zambia, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Tanzania, Mozambique and Malawi. We are a for profit, and have raised over $10 million from leading venture and institutional investors as well as developed philanthropic relationships with private foundations and bilateral donors such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and German Insure Resilience Solutions Fund that have accelerated investments in our target markets.

Pula is proudly fast paced, constantly learning from the challenges we face and overcome. We are proudly culturally diverse but united in our ambition of continuous high-performance. By challenging ourselves we believe that we can overcome the hard problems we love solving. 

At Pula, our culture is defined by our: 

1.Obsessed with results: We are responsible for our future and therefore we get things done!

2. Ability to connect the Dots: We continuously identify different customer needs & business problems and build solutions that deliver value.

3. Our Can do Attitude! We dare to do things differently to make things work.

4. Ability to have each others’ back: We look out for each other & we share high quality, timely feedback that makes us better.

We are looking for a strategic and entrepreneurial leader to establish and scale our data services department. This role combines vision, execution, and business acumen. You will not only build the department but also drive its growth as a revenue-generating line of business.

As the Head of Commercial Data Solutions, you’ll develop a roadmap for delivering data-driven solutions that solve real-world challenges while actively identifying and pursuing opportunities to grow the department’s client base and revenue. You will be accountable for defining and achieving the department’s revenue targets, ensuring that Pula’s data services become a profitable and scalable business unit.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership

• Set the compelling long-term vision for the Pula’s Data Solutions that positions us as a game-changer in agricultural data and insights 
• Identify trends and gaps in the market, positioning Pula ahead of competitors with innovative, client-focused offerings
• Work closely with clients to identify their needs and develop data services that directly address their most pressing challenges.
• Align initiatives with company priorities, focusing on high-impact, high-reward projects.
• Prioritise and allocate resources effectively to meet both short-term objectives and long-term strategic goals.

Revenue Generation & Business Growth

• Define, own, and achieve the department’s annual revenue targets, ensuring profitable growth and financial sustainability.
• Identify and secure new clients across sectors, such as exporters, insurers, policymakers, governments, and agribusinesses, by demonstrating the value of Pula’s data-driven insights.
• Build long-term relationships with clients, driving customer retention and identifying opportunities for upselling and cross-selling.
• Develop and execute strategies to optimize margins and maximize ROI on all departmental initiatives.
• Explore and penetrate new markets where Pula’s data services can create value, actively expanding the company’s footprint.

Product Development

• Shape the data services product roadmap by defining innovative solutions that deliver measurable value to stakeholders.
• Use client feedback and market insights to refine and expand the department’s offerings, ensuring they remain relevant and impactful.
• Collaborate with internal teams to transform collected data into actionable insights, delivering reports and recommendations that meet client needs.

Team Building & Management

• Build and lead a high-performing team of data analysts, product managers and commercial managers.
• Foster a culture of accountability, innovation, and results, empowering the team to achieve ambitious goals.
• Build and manage a scalable operational structure to support growth and service delivery.

Client Engagement

• Serve as the face of the Data Solutions Department, building strong relationships with clients and acting as their trusted partner for data-driven solutions.
• Actively promote Pula’s data services through industry events, presentations, and direct engagement to increase visibility and secure new business opportunities.

Who you are

Must-Have Experience & Skills

• Demonstrated success in owning and meeting revenue targets in emerging markets, including the ability to track and improve financial performance metrics.
• Proven ability to build and lead teams, set strategic direction, and execute against ambitious goals.
• Strong experience in identifying and closing business opportunities, particularly in data or technology-related sectors.
• Deep understanding of data collection, analytics, and delivering actionable insights that create measurable client value.
• Familiarity with market research methodologies and an understanding of how insights can drive client decisions.
• Ability to balance visionary thinking with the practical steps required to execute plans effectively
• Proven ability to prioritize effectively and deliver results in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Background in market research companies or similar data as a service (DaaS) organisations is a significant advantage.
• Experience in agriculture or related sectors is a strong plus
• Background being a product owner for a data services product
• Experience selling solutions to B2B and B2G clients

Personal Attributes

• Results-driven with a passion for using data to solve real-world challenges.
• Strong communicator who inspires and motivates cross-functional teams.
• Entrepreneurial mindset, comfortable taking calculated risks and learning from both successes and failures.
• Highly accountable, with a commitment to delivering measurable results.

What Pula will bring to the table

• Growth potential: At Pula, we are building the systems that enable farmers worldwide to access insurance, using technology to insure this previously uninsured worldwide. We work in over 19 countries across Africa and Asia, and by 2023, have facilitated crop insurance cover to over 5 million farmers, 40% of which are women. We are a for profit, and have raised over $25 million from leading venture and institutional investors as well as developed philanthropic relationships with private foundations and bilateral donors such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and German Insure Resilience Solutions Fund that have accelerated investments in our target markets.
• Market Leader: Not only is the opportunity massive, but Pula is by far the market leader in it’s category with 11m farmers insured as of 2023.
• 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 an oversubscribed $20m series B funding despite the economic downturn.
  
   
• 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.
• Impact and creation: This is a high-impact role, that offers a unique opportunity to bring the company to the next level, whilst developing new strategies, approaches and ideas.
• Leadership: The founders & CEO foster a culture of transparency, respect, high performance, pragmatism, execution and personal development.
• 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.
• Remuneration: Competitive base salary accordingly with seniority and experience, commission on closed sales and an employee share option plan that offers an attractive equity upside.

To learn more about Pula you can visit

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

How to apply

Fill out the form below, and upload a resume in English.

Pula’s mission is to provide farmer resilience. To achieve this, we put our small holder farmers that use our services and the employees that provide them at the heart of everything we do. For that purpose, Pula was created to be an equal opportunity employer that celebrates diversity and is committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.