Founded in 2006, One Acre Fund supplies smallholder farmers with the agricultural services they need to make their farms vastly more productive. We provide quality farm supplies on credit, delivered within walking distance of farmers’ homes, and agricultural trainings to improve harvests. We measure our success by our ability to make farmers more prosperous: On average, farmers harvest 50 percent more food after working with One Acre Fund.
We are growing quickly. We currently serve more than 800,000 farm families in Eastern and Southern Africa, with more than 7,500 full-time staff, and we aim to serve 1 million farm families by 2020.
Job Description
The role of the Climate Resilience and Microinsurance Associate is to help lead our efforts to develop safety nets for smallholder farmers. This includes coordinating all of our insurance work, assessing and improving our insurance offerings, and developing and maintaining relationships with key actors in the insurance space (brokers, primary insurers, re-insurance companies, donors, banks, governments, and other interested third parties). The focus of your work will be to design and manage One Acre Fund’s “crop-insurance” portfolio to provide a reliable safety net for farmers in the event that climatic conditions lead to major yield losses. But you’ll also touch other field-facing insurance products such as health insurance and funeral insurance; as well as high-level insurance policies against OAF organizational risks. You will also have scope to work on other interventions that support farmer and OAF resilience to climate risks.
You will report to One Acre Fund’s Head of Global Impact and support One Acre Fund leadership to understand the full landscape of insurance products that are relevant to us.
Specific responsibilities include, but are not limited to:
Lead product design to help different country programs decide what insurance policies may be best for their clients. This work includes designing and testing different options, developing policies and terms, negotiating with 3rd party providers, and supporting field teams to operationalise these products by collaborating on procedures, training, and marketing.
Work with teams around the organization to explore radical models of crop insurance or other “safety net” mechanisms, potentially including policy work, direct partnership with governments, engaging third-party donors or financiers in a new type of insurance product, or something more bold that’s never even occurred to us.
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.
Act as an effective advisor during internal insurance conversations and as a knowledgeable representative with third-party insurance providers and external partners. 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.
Evaluate risks related to, and insurance against, global organizational risks like assets, currency, repayment, etc.
Career Growth and Development
We have a strong culture of constant learning and we invest in developing our people. You’ll have weekly check-ins with your manager, access to mentorship and training programs, and regular feedback on your performance. We hold career reviews every six months, and set aside time to discuss your aspirations and career goals. You’ll have the opportunity to shape a growing organization and build a rewarding long-term career.
Qualifications
Specific qualifications include, but are not limited to:
2+ years of work experience in strategy, finance, management consulting, or similar. Experience with insurance, safety nets or financial inclusion preferred.
Experience managing multiple projects simultaneously with a range of different partners.
Advanced Excel (can perform complex functions). Experience with other professional programs (e.g. R, STATA) is a plus.
Leadership experience at work, or outside of work.
