Public Sector Consultant | Internship H/F

Natural disasters have a devastating impact on millions of people every year, cost billions in economic losses and reverse hard-won development gains in emerging economies. Climate change is already exacerbating these effects. But technology and data science advancements have opened the door to a powerful new tool to address this: parametric insurance provides an innovative means of transferring disaster risk to the international risk markets. Using satellite and other weather data as a proxy for losses on the ground, parametric insurance triggers payouts automatically when data indicates a disaster has struck. This has become a go-to risk transfer tool for governments and relief agencies to quickly access large volumes of liquidity after a catastrophe to provide emergency funding to affected populations.

AXA has been developing market-leading expertise in parametric since 2014, building out a team of data scientists, climatologists and underwriters that specialize in all types of weather and climate risks as well as big data technologies. Driven by the success of its parametric solutions, AXA launched AXA Climate as a subsidiary in 2017 which is now active in over 40 countries. AXA Climate is now expanding its offering to help reduce climate risk by providing consulting services focused on climate change adaptation measures, early warning services, parametric insurance scheme design as well as financing tools for risk reduction investment.

The Public Sector team is actively involved in the Public-Private-Partnerships (PPP) sector, working closely with international institutions and multilateral development banks, such as the Insurance Development Forum, the World Bank and the UN as well as NGOs, sovereign catastrophe pools and governments to develop risk tools for disaster emergency funding as well as risk modelling and adaptation solutions.

The fast-growing, young and dynamic team is based out of Paris with offices in London, Shanghai, Singapore and Santiago. As a relatively new entity, the team works in a start-up mode but also benefits from the strong brand and support of AXA Group, a world leader in insurance with a footprint in 57 countries and annual revenue of ~EUR 100 bn. With this backing, AXA Climate is accelerating its expansion and providing more and more people with the means of addressing weather and disaster impacts and the threat of climate change.

Main Mission

The Consultant will contribute to the continued success of AXA Climate’s parametric insurance and climate change units by supporting consulting work and pipeline creation, as well as business development around PPPs. This encompasses collaboration with multilateral development banks, international institutions, sovereign catastrophe risk pools, governmental and municipal entities as well as the Insurance Development Forum. The Consultant will work closely with the parametric, science and other AXA Climate teams to further grow the parametric and adaptation business and reputation internationally.

Expected Results

The Consultant will contribute to the growth of the department’s business by:

1) Supporting on existing concrete deals and new consultancy projects

2) Maintaining good relationships with our existing PPP partners

3) Identifying new potential public partners and supporting on convincing them to work with AXA

Main Responsibilities

Assist the Public Sector team in:

- Consultancy work & pipeline creation (60%) :

o Support on implementation of tenders including both new and existing projects stemming from the World Bank, the Insurance Development Forum, etc.: desktop research, report writing, slide-making, coordination with (re)insurance partners.

o Monitoring and responding to public sector tenders independently or in collaboration with key partners: desktop research to find relevant information, writing of tenders, coordination with AXA Climate technical experts to define the technical roadmap of the mission.

- Internal and external client engagement (20%):

o Managing existing partnerships with the public sector (e.g. Development Banks, Brokers, Risk modelers, International Institutions, Foundations, Government entities).

o Identifying potential new partners, pitching services, and maintaining good working relationship with these contacts.

o Attendance at industry-wide networking events.

o Working with local AXA entities and AXA XL teams to grow the PPP network.

- Support on public sector deals (10%):

o Following up of new business opportunities and ensuring smooth flow and advancement in the project management of concrete deals together with partners.

o Maintaining of Client Relationship Management tool.

- External communication (10%):

o Preparing comprehensive business pitches for different stakeholders, adapted to their specific case and needs (e.g. international institutions, brokers).

o Revamping PPP marketing material.