Senior Manager, Field Operations

Role: Senior Manager, Field Operations
Location: Remote within ±3 hours of the EAT time zone. Preference for candidates located in Africa/ in countries where Pula has an office (e.g. Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda).

Reports to:  Head of Field Operations 

About Pula: 

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 10 countries across Africa and Asia, and by 2022, have facilitated crop insurance cover to over 20 million farmers, 40% of which are women, across Kenya, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Rwanda, Uganda, Nigeria, Mali, Senegal, Zambia, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Tanzania, Mozambique, Ethiopia and Malawi. We are a for profit company, and have raised over $45 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: 

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

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

Our can-do Attitude! We dare to do things differently to make things work.

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

Why This Role Matters:

The Field Operations department delivers large-scale data collection programs, including yield measurement, farmer registration, and polygon mapping, across more than 10 countries. These programs are executed through a dynamic network of over 1,000 field managers, coordinators, and enumerators, supported by a robust data analytics team.

As Senior Manager, Field Operations, you will own a portfolio of medium- to large-scale projects - each reaching up to 1M+ farmers - across multiple countries, with full accountability for delivery outcomes, data quality, timelines, and cost. You will provide end-to-end oversight through Country Field Managers, from project setup to final data submission and reporting, ensuring outputs meet client expectations and Pula’s operational standards.

Beyond individual projects, you will lead department-level quality assurance, identifying systemic gaps, designing scalable QA frameworks, and translating quality requirements into practical operational processes. You will work with teams to strengthen monitoring, feedback loops, and a culture of continuous quality improvement.

Reporting to the Head of Department, you will directly manage senior Country Field Managers and indirectly lead large field teams across multiple countries. You will focus on building team capacity, managing performance, and fostering a high-performance culture centered on accountability, operational excellence, and quality outcomes. You will not manage enumerators or day-to-day field execution. You will also serve as a senior client-facing leader, providing regular updates, addressing delivery or data quality concerns, and ensuring clear alignment on scope, methodology, and deliverables.
This role requires close cross-functional collaboration with teams across Insurance Operations, Data Services, Technology, and Commercial Management to ensure seamless execution and continuous improvement across the full project lifecycle.

Success in this role is measured by portfolio-level delivery performance, sustained improvements in data quality across countries, efficiency of cost and timelines, and the strength and autonomy of Country Field Managers under your leadership.

You are the right fit if you consistently get things done, thrive in fast-paced environments, have experience leading 1,000+ agent networks and delivering data collection at 550,000+ scale, and operational excellence is your second name.

You are not the right fit if you are currently a Country Field Manager or equivalent without experience owning multi-country portfolios; your experience is primarily hands-on field execution rather than managing managers and systems; or you are seeking a role focused on direct supervision of enumerators or day-to-day operations.

What You'll Be Doing:

Project Delivery & Accountability: Own a portfolio of large-scale field programs across multiple countries, setting delivery strategy, resourcing models, QA thresholds, and escalation mechanisms. Hold full end-to-end accountability for scope, timelines, budget, and data quality, acting as the senior escalation point for delivery and quality trade-offs. Oversee project setup, resourcing, training, field execution, monitoring, and final data submission through Country Field Managers, proactively managing portfolio-level risks to ensure consistent, high-quality outputs that meet both client expectations and Pula’s operational standards.

Quality Assurance & Process Improvement: Own department-level quality outcomes, including defining QA standards, enforcing adoption, and holding senior managers accountable for results. Drive delivery quality across Field Operations by identifying systemic gaps, strengthening QA frameworks, and owning the end-to-end operationalization of SOPs across countries. Ensure QA processes are embedded in day-to-day execution through senior field leadership, rapidly diagnose root causes when adoption fails, and independently implement corrective actions to deliver sustained, scalable improvements in delivery quality.

People & Performance Management: Directly manage and develop Country Field Managers, providing clear direction, performance accountability, and coaching at a senior level. Indirectly lead large field teams by setting expectations, performance standards, and escalation mechanisms, and by holding country leadership accountable for capacity building, quality outcomes, and the development of high-performing, autonomous teams.

Client & Stakeholder Management: Serve as the senior Field Operations contact for assigned projects, owning client communication on delivery performance, risks, data quality, and scope decisions. Lead alignment on methodology, expectations, and trade-offs, and manage escalations to resolution to maintain strong, trust-based client relationships and sustained satisfaction.

Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with senior stakeholders across Insurance Operations, Data Services, Technology, and Commercial teams to align priorities, operating models, and delivery standards across the full project lifecycle. Resolve cross-functional dependencies and trade-offs to ensure seamless execution, continuous improvement, and strong internal client satisfaction.

Special Projects and Strategic Initiatives: Lead and own ad-hoc or department-wide initiatives, including piloting new methodologies, scaling best practices, and implementing solutions that enhance operational efficiency, team capacity, and delivery quality. Take full accountability from concept through implementation, ensuring initiatives deliver measurable impact, drive sustainable improvements, and integrate seamlessly with ongoing operations.

The Right Candidate Will Have:

Progressive Field Operations Leadership: 8+ years of experience in field operations, data collection, or large-scale service delivery, including at least 3 years in a senior management role with responsibility for teams of managers and cross-country delivery outcomes.

Large-Scale Data Collection (500,000+): Demonstrated success in delivering repeated, high-volume data collection programs (e.g., farmer registration, yield measurement, household surveys, polygon mapping), with ownership of standardization, QA consistency, and portfolio-level performance oversight.

Field Team/ Agent Network Leadership (5,000+): Proven experience building, mobilizing, and managing large-scale agent/enumerator networks of 5,000+, including recruitment, training, deployment planning, performance management, and escalation management across multiple geographies.

Quality Assurance & Operational Excellence: Expertise in designing, implementing, and monitoring QA frameworks, ensuring data integrity and operational standards are consistently met. Track record of identifying systemic gaps, designing practical solutions, and embedding continuous improvement at scale.

Financial & Operational Acumen: Experience in budget ownership, forecasting, reporting, and variance analysis, coupled with a focus on operational efficiency, high-quality delivery, and portfolio-level cost accountability.

Collaboration & Cross-Cultural Experience: Demonstrated ability to work effectively with multicultural, multidisciplinary, and senior stakeholders, driving alignment, collaboration, and high-quality results across teams and geographies.

Integrity & Self-Management: Exceptional work ethic, integrity, and the ability to autonomously manage complex portfolios and competing priorities in fast-paced, high-stakes environments.

Educational Background: Bachelor’s degree with an outstanding academic record; advanced degree a plus.

Additional Skills: Fluency in French is a plus.