Job description
About GiveDirectly
GiveDirectly (GD) aims to reshape international giving – and millions of lives – by providing cash grants directly to the world’s poorest. The Brookings Institution estimates that $70B of cash transfers would be required to eliminate the poverty gap; the aid sector currently spends $135B each year, much of it on evidence-free interventions. GiveDirectly wants to change that, establishing cash transfers as a benchmark for foreign aid – as the index fund is a benchmark for the financial industry – and in the process accelerating the end of extreme poverty.
GD has raised over $1B since launching in 2011, delivered cash to more than 1.5 million people in 15 different countries. We’ve also supported large-scale, experimental research that indicates strong recipient impact of our programs. As a result, GD has been celebrated as one of the most innovative non-profit companies by Fast Company, while the growing cash transfer movement (and GD’s leading role within it) have been featured in the New York Times Magazine, This American Life, Foreign Affairs, and The Economist.
Our culture is candid, analytical, agile, and non-hierarchical. Our global team of ~150, and country operations teams of ~650, together come from 21 different countries speaking 69 different languages. Team members bring experiences from the private sector, NGOs and government. From software engineers to seasoned humanitarian workers, former management consultants to public servants, researchers to field operations – it’s an incredible group of people.
Our values are central and deliberately opinionated. We genuinely center the people we serve in our decision making, and strive to build an ambitious, fast moving and high performing environment. We strongly encourage you to read through our values carefully, if they reflect how you like to work and energize you, this could be a great fit.
We work hard to create an environment in which all our team members can thrive, succeed and grow. We support flexibility, take care of each other, have fun, and create professional growth opportunities.
Location: Remote. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of employment Visas in the U.S. or U.K. at this time.
About this role
GiveDirectly is scaling its emergency response operations to reach more people, faster, with cash in the wake of crises. As a Senior Manager on the Humanitarian team, you will play a key role in launching and overseeing rapid cash responses globally. You’ll drive organizational readiness, design response strategies, manage program implementation, and support fundraising by translating field insights into compelling cases for support. The Senior Manager’s portfolio will be staffed with a Program Manager, to be managed by the Senior Manager. Other responsibilities will include support to staffing and budgeting exercise, and managing internal and external relationships.
Senior Managers should be able to:
- Understand and clearly communicate about the market/landscape and GiveDirectly’s value proposition in their domain and across domains
- Build and motivate teams and advocate for resources to sustain them (through proposals, budgets, workplans)
- Oversee excellence in design and implementation, with a constant drive to improve, iterate, and learn
Reports to: Humanitarian Director
Level: Senior Manager
Travel Requirement: Must be able to travel up to 30-40% of the time including ~1-2 times per year for team retreats. Must be able to deploy on short notice in response to an emergency. Note that this role incurs travel to potentially insecure areas.
What you’ll do:
Design and implement high-quality programming:
- Oversee end-to-end design, planning, and execution of improvements to emergency response capabilities, coordinating internal and external stakeholders to ensure successful delivery
- Refine and scale deployment criteria and operational playbooks to accelerate readiness across a growing number of countries
- Conduct operational diligence, feasibility, and risk assessments for individual disaster responses, ensuring alignment with organizational goals and context realities
- Define, track, and report on operational efficiency and impact metrics to support performance management and continuous improvement
- Ensure high-quality management of partners, vendors, and subgrantees to drive excellence in program execution
- Assess and advocate for required resources (e.g., budgets, staff) for project success; monitor ongoing utilization and adapt plans to address gaps or overages
Pursue new funding opportunities and represent the GD Humanitarian team, internally and externally:
- In coordination with the Humanitarian Director, Country Directors, and Fundraising teams, identify and pursue response-specific and unrestricted emergency funding opportunities
- Translate field learnings and operational successes into compelling donor proposals, updates, and campaign materials
- Establish and maintain high quality relationships with designated donors and operational partners
- Represent GiveDirectly at external and internal fora, including but not limited to Town Halls, conferences, and media engagements
Manage and develop high-performing teams:
- Manage a Program Manager and support broader surge staffing efforts to ensure GD can respond effectively to Tier 1 disasters
- Support team goal-setting, impact planning, and performance tracking across emergency responses
- Foster talent development through coaching, career planning, and clear accountability, with a focus on building long-term capacity within the team
Qualifications
- Alignment with GiveDirectly Values: exceptional alignment with values and an active demonstration of our core competencies: emotional intelligence, problem solving, project management, follow-through, and fostering inclusivity.
- 4-7+ years of experience in a role focused on problem solving, team management, and/or new business development. Prior humanitarian/emergency experience strongly preferred.
- Analytical problem solving: looks at problems with an analytical and iterative mindset, with strong framework for prioritization and ability to put structure and process to ambiguous problems.
- Strong project management skills and the ability to manage multiple workstreams, prioritize/explicitly deprioritize, and hold a high quality bar.
- Strong technical skills, including data analysis and ease with learning new third-party tech platforms and tools.
- Fundraising: Preference for candidates with a strong partnership and relationship management background.
- Strong communications skills: Skilled in speaking, writing, presenting, and negotiating across multiple stakeholders.
- Enthusiasm for fast-paced environments, which may lack pre-defined playbook for success and involve significant “learning by doing.” Comfort with ambiguity and building systems from scratch.
Nice to have:
- Fluent in a language other than English, especially French, Portuguese, Arabic, or other languages.
Compensation
At GiveDirectly, we strive to pay our employees generously and equitably. We use an accredited third party salary aggregator to ensure that staff’s total compensation package (base compensation + bonus) falls within the 75th percentile of similar roles, at similar organizations. We also have a no negotiation policy to ensure we are paying staff equitably across roles. Read more about our compensation philosophy here .
- The United States base salary for this role is $109,200.
- The Kenya base salary for this role is $77,500.
If you are not based in the US or Kenya, we will share an estimated salary benchmark for the country you are based in during the hiring process.
Why work at GiveDirectly?
At GiveDirectly, we work to ensure that you have everything you need to excel in your role and on your team, including:
- A positive and supportive team with opportunities for advancement
- A demonstrated commitment to helping all staff develop and grow
- A competitive salary, including bonus
- A robust health benefits plan (exact details will vary by country)
- Flexible paid time off
- Allowances for desk set-up and learning and development
#LI-REMOTE
Working at GiveDirectly
GiveDirectly is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants are considered for employment without regard to the person’s race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.
Flagging for US applicants: We invite you to “Know Your Rights” as an applicant.
Commitment to Safeguarding
As a global organization serving some of the world’s most vulnerable communities, GiveDirectly takes the safeguarding of its recipients, staff, and partners seriously. To that end, GiveDirectly is a member of the Misconduct Disclosure Scheme, and will systematically check with previous employers about any sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment issues relating to potential new hires. We may also employ other robust pre-hire screens, including in-depth reference checks, criminal background checks, and sanctions screens.
GD is committed to observing all local, national and international laws that protect children, vulnerable adults, and basic human rights of all. GD is committed to a policy of “zero tolerance for sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment (SEAH)” and expects anyone who works for GD to uphold the protection and safeguarding of our recipients as a priority.
These efforts help us continue to build and maintain trust with the communities we serve, and prevent harm to our recipients.
Want to put your best foot forward on your GiveDirectly application? Take a look at our Candidate Application Prep Guide!
