Wakam

Wakam

Blockchain, FinTech / InsurTech, Insurance

Paris, London, Milan, Munich

Happy at Work !

Wakam is a certified great place to work “HappyIndex” by ChooseMyCompany which rewards companies where employees are the happiest to work! Well-being occupies a very important place in our organization. We cultivate a humble and autonomous environment with approachable hierarchy where all ideas are considered.

Our rituals

  • Bespoke Forum, this is our weekly all hands meeting! Every Tuesday all the Wakamees gather on Zoom. It’s the opportunity to get key figures on Wakam's strategic plan, presentations from other teams, People and Business News. At the end of the meeting, Business Developers present partnership opportunities and all the Wakamees are invited to vote if yes or no we should explore the potential deal.
  • Free.day, every last Friday of the month, Wakamees have one day with no business meetings scheduled. People Team organizes internal conferences and you have the opportunity to train yourself, read a book or work as usual! This is YOUR day.
  • Internal events, once a month we organise breakfast, and happy hour to connect Wakamees to each other!

Our free to impact culture

We live by 11 cultural markers that describe how we work and how we interact within the company but also with our partners. At Wakam, cultural fit is equally important as hard skills, so make sure you remember these 😉 (not by heart, but choose the one you prefer and the one that is least like you)

  • “We are curious, we observe, and we learn” : At any point in time, we should actively ask questions internally and externally, and absorb the answers as high-value insights from others. Our processes and our methodology are based on transparency and democracy. So, let's open our chakras and talk to everybody.
  • “We strive for fairness and impact” : We want our distribution partners and their clients to be fulfilled in business with us. We want our Wakamees to feel blessed to be working here. We systematically assess if our partner and the Wakamees find our compromises to be equitable and educate them towards a win-win culture.
  • “We are action driven: test, fail fast, learn and enjoy it” : In business, many decisions and actions are reversible and do not need extensive study. We value calculated risk-taking, and the ability to quickly recover from failure. So, we love risk, test and learn.
  • “We say yes by design, but we can say no at anytime” : It's in our DNA to say YES by default and do everything in our power to make things happen. But even if we collectively worked on an initiative for months or years, we should feel no pressure to go live if we think the assumptions have changed and that the value for the company is elsewhere. So don't be anxious, don't be ashamed, and say no.
  • **“We look for simple, and frugal solutions” ** : We are always looking for new innovative and simple solutions to accomplish more with less, with resourcefulness and self-sufficiency. There are no extra points for growing headcount, budget size or fixed expenses. Maximizing digitalization is our way to be frugal.
  • “We are blunt, we disagree and commit” : We feel obliged to challenge decisions bluntly but respectfully when we disagree. Even if doing so is uncomfortable or exhausting. We broadcast our convictions. We do not compromise for the sake of social cohesion. But once a decision is determined, we commit entirely and heartfully.
  • “We work as we like from anywhere” : We consider talents are found all around the globe. We don't want to be limited by borders, we hire the best in class experts wherever they are located. At home, at the office, on a couch or at a desk, we know what is expected from us and what needs to be done. We consider equally those who want to be at the office every day and those who want to work remotely.
  • “We are on an epic journey, we know it, and overall, we have fun” : We are not just employees working for a company, we are a team enjoying the ride that is Wakam's adventure. We all are part of the journey, we are leading change in the insurance industry. We work hard to make this change happen and we have a lot of fun doing so.
  • “We stretch ourselves to reach higher standards” : We must constantly stretch ourselves and raise the bar to aim at unreasonably high standards for our products and services; as well as our processes using digitalization. The highest standard should also be applied to the hiring process, carefully assessing soft skills to make sure they align with our culture
  • “We think big and endlessly aim for value creation” : Thinking small is a self-fulfilling prophecy. We think differently and look around corners for ways to create and deliver value for all our stakeholders, both external & internal. So let's not be afraid to shoot for the moon!
  • “We praise velocity as business is a war of movement” : All that matter is agility and speed in adjusting the processes and the business models. We should not see constant changes as a sign of instability but as proof of competitivity. So, let's be nimble and offensive.

Remote

At Wakam we are organized into 4 communities:

  • Full Office, working from home is not for you. You are more comfortable working in our offices. With the approval of your manager, if you sometimes need to work at home that’s also fine!
  • Hybrid -, you like working from home but like to come to the office at least 3 days per week. When you come, make sure to book a desk in advance (of course “there is an app for that”).
  • Hybrid +, you prefer working at least 3 days per week at home, but it’s also nice to come to the office to meet IRL with your colleagues (at least 2 days/week). Obviously, you also book your desk in advance thanks to our app.
  • Full Remote, this is a reality at Wakam! You work from home (we have one Wakamee working on a ⛵) but have to come at least once a month to the office (we take care of the 🏨 and the ✈️, 🚄 or 🚀). There is a reason why one of our cultural markers is “we work as we like from anywhere”.

Presentation

Wakam is a European B2B2C insurer that designs white-label insurance products for its partners (e-retailers, brokers and fintech/insurtech, etc.). Our insurance products have the particularity of being embedded in the products or services offered to the end customer (for example, if you take a self-service e-scooter, you are automatically insured).

Wakam operates in 32 European countries with the majority of its turnover generated outside France. The company provides most of its products through API, and hosts white-label insurance solutions via its Play&Plug technology platform.

At Wakam we believe in the formula “for-profit & for good”. Since March 2021, we are a Mission-driven company, which means that our mission statement ‘Enabling transparent and impactful insurance’ is written in our bylaws. And we go further: by defining concrete commitments to illustrate this mission, such as writing our insurance contracts in plain language (no more confusing terms and conditions). We also create insurance products at cost for associations.

Our culture? Free to impact. A culture where everything is possible, where all ideas are taken into consideration, where everyone has an impact on the transformation of insurance! Hungry for freedom? Thirsty for autonomy? If you are adventurous and like challenges, then the Wakam adventure might be made for you!

What they are looking for

Mindset compatibility with our ‘Free to Impact’ culture:

  • Think big
  • Biased for action
  • Curious and eager to learn
  • Can say no and find solutions
  • Aims for the moon (but please don’t stick on the moon)
  • And above all: have fun working together 🤜🤛 !

Good to know

Wakam is not based on a hierarchy but on a methodology where everyone finds his role and knows his objectives.

With a flat hierarchical system and a highly collaborative operating model, Wakam is an extremely agile and transparent company.

Every last Friday of the month, it's Free.day at Wakam, a day without meetings to take a step aside and dedicate ourselves to skills sponsorship or other activities (because we are curious, I remind you).

Full-remote is a reality at Wakam (there is even one Wakamee who works from his sailing boat ⛵)

We are nice (you'll find out by yourself 😉)

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