Commercial Operations Manager

About Turaco

Most people in Africa have never had insurance. Turaco exists to change that.

Our mission is to relieve people from the fear of financial shocks. We do it by embedding affordable, simple insurance into the everyday transactions people already make, partnering with banks, MFIs, SACCOs, fintechs, and telcos that serve emerging consumers.

Since launching in 2019, Turaco has reached over 7 million customers across Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, Nigeria, Zambia, and Pakistan. In 2026, we were ranked 29th on the Financial Times Africa's Fastest Growing Companies list and won the Innovation of the Year Award at the prestigious African Insurance Awards.

We are in the claims-paying business, and we take that promise seriously.

Role Overview

We are looking for a Commercial Operations Manager to help turn priorities into execution across Turaco's Commercial Operations organisation.

You will work across different parts of the business depending on where the biggest operational priorities, problems, and opportunities sit. One week, that may mean helping resolve a billing or reconciliation issue. The next, it may mean improving customer operations performance, coordinating a product launch, working through a partner or underwriter issue, analysing operating data, or driving a cross-functional project with Product, Technology, Finance, or Partnerships.

We are looking for someone who can understand unfamiliar problems quickly, ask good questions, create clarity where there is ambiguity, and move things forward with urgency.

You will work closely with the Head of Commercial Operations and leaders across Turaco. Over time, we expect you to take increasingly complex problems and workstreams from problem definition through to resolution.

What You Will Do

Drive Execution

• Take important Commercial Operations priorities and turn them into clear actions, owners, and timelines.
• Follow work through to completion and step in when priorities are slowing down or falling between teams.
• Coordinate execution across Customer Operations, Claims, Policy Administration, billing, insurance operations, partner operations, and other Commercial Operations areas.
• Support major projects, new products, partner launches, system changes, and operational initiatives from planning through execution.
• Bring structure and momentum to priorities that do not have an obvious single owner.

Solve Problems and Unblock Teams

• Get quickly to the root of operational problems and help develop practical solutions.
• Bring together the right teams and people when an issue spans multiple functions.
• Work across Commercial, Product, Policy Administration, Technology, Finance, Partnerships, and other teams to unblock execution.
• Identify risks early and escalate clearly with the problem, impact, options, and recommended next step.
• Challenge assumptions and existing ways of working when they are preventing the business from moving forward.

Understand and Improve Performance

• Use operational data, scorecards, and business information to understand what is working and what is not.
• Identify emerging performance issues and help teams develop practical recovery plans.
• Turn data into clear insights, decisions, and actions rather than reporting for reporting's sake.
• Help leadership maintain a clear view of the most important operational priorities and risks across markets.
• Support teams to build better performance rhythms, controls, and ways of working.

• Improve processes, SOPs, trackers, controls, and operating routines where greater structure is needed.
• Identify recurring problems and help move the business from repeated fixes to sustainable solutions.
• Look for opportunities to simplify work and reduce unnecessary manual processes.
• Be comfortable working with AI-enabled tools and new technologies, and help teams adopt them effectively where they can improve productivity, quality, decision-making, or customer outcomes.

What Success Looks Like in Year One

• Important Commercial Operations priorities move faster and are less likely to stall between teams.
• Leadership has a clear and reliable view of key operating performance, risks, and priorities.
• Material operational issues have clear owners, actions, and timelines and are escalated before they become emergencies.
• Cross-functional projects and launches are driven through to completion with stronger operational readiness.
• Recurring operational problems increasingly result in better processes, systems, or controls rather than repeated manual fixes.
• You independently own increasingly complex workstreams and reduce the amount of day-to-day execution that needs to sit directly with the Head of Commercial Operations.
• Teams know you as someone who helps get difficult things done.

Who You Are

• You have approximately 3–5+ years of strong professional experience in operations, strategy, consulting, fintech, financial services, technology, insurance, startups, or another fast-moving environment.
• You learn quickly and can become effective in areas where you may not initially be the subject-matter expert.
• You have personally taken difficult projects, problems, or initiatives from ambiguity through to execution.
• You have strong analytical and problem-solving skills and are comfortable working with numbers, spreadsheets, and operational data.
• You communicate clearly and can simplify complex issues for different audiences.
• You are comfortable working with both senior leaders and frontline teams.
• You have good judgement about when to investigate further, when to make a call, and when to escalate.
• You are comfortable working without perfect information or detailed instructions.
• You have a strong bias toward action and follow-through.
• You can influence people and drive progress even when you do not formally manage everyone involved.
• You care about getting the details right without losing sight of the broader business outcome.
• You live Turaco's values: pushing boundaries, working with excellence, and profound respect for the individual.
• You are comfortable with AI and emerging technology, curious about how they can improve operations, and able to help teams adapt as new tools and ways of working are introduced.

Insurance or financial-services experience would be useful, but deep insurance expertise is not required.

Our Culture

Turaco is a fast-moving, mission-driven team. We push boundaries, hold ourselves to high standards, and genuinely believe that what we do matters for the people we serve.

We are building a team where diverse backgrounds and perspectives make us stronger, and where everyone is treated with dignity and respect.

Turaco values diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We’re building a team where our differences enhance and strengthen us. We strictly prohibit discrimination and harassment based on race, color, sex, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, or any other protected characteristic.

Compensation and Benefits

Turaco offers a competitive salary commensurate with experience, stock options, and a comprehensive benefits package. You will be joining a fast-growing company where the scope of the role can grow significantly with your ability to take ownership, solve increasingly difficult problems, and deliver results.