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. 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, dynamic 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.
Priority application deadline: August 25, 2025 or until we reach a critical mass of applications
Location: This role is fully remote but must overlap with an East Africa timezone by at least 3 hours. 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 seeking a Senior Product Manager, Mobile Operator Data to lead our approach to working with MNO data and provide technical supervision of our collaborations with telecommunications companies and related partners globally. This role will sit within the International Rapid Response Product team and support our mission to deliver cash assistance in crisis situations more rapidly and equitably.
You will drive the design, implementation, and scale-up of systems that use mobile phone data — including call detail records (CDRs), mobile money usage, and cell tower metadata — to identify individuals or communities in need of humanitarian assistance. You’ll work at the intersection of technology, data science, and humanitarian aid, enabling faster, more targeted response efforts.
This is an opportunity to build a high-impact recipient identification and enrollment capability that can transform crisis response and directly support people displaced by conflict, natural disasters, and economic shocks.
Reports to: Senior Product Director, International Rapid Response
Level: Senior Manager
Travel Requirement: Must be able to travel ~1-2 times per year to one of our countries of operation for team retreats or field visits
What you’ll do:
Lead mobile data program design initiatives: Design and manage end-to-end data analysis approaches using mobile network operator (MNO) data for recipient identification and enrollment, in collaboration with internal teams and external partners
Partner with telcos: Serve as GiveDirectly’s technical lead in negotiations and collaboration with telecommunications companies to enable access to and use of mobile data for program design.
Technical Backstop: Serve as the technical backstop for country teams, vendors and partners to ensure high quality, principled analytic and processing approaches to mobile network operator (MNO) data.
Develop and refine data pipelines: Oversee the creation and validation of mobile data processing pipelines to ensure data integrity, privacy compliance, and analytical rigor.
Support program operations: Work with country teams and internal and external data science capacity to pilot and implement mobile-data-informed enrollment strategies that improve targeting speed, accuracy, and inclusivity.
Ensure ethical use of data: Uphold principles of responsible data use and data minimization in all work, ensuring privacy, consent, and security are upheld.
Contribute to strategy and innovation: Identify new opportunities to integrate mobility data into GiveDirectly’s humanitarian and cash transfer programming across countries.
Build Momentum: Ensure GiverDirectly’s experience with mobile data across contexts is advancing a broader goal to create a global capacity to work with mobile network operator (MNO) data wherever relevant.
What you’ll bring:
- 5+ years of experience in a technical or data-focused role, ideally in mobile technology, humanitarian tech, data science, or international development.
- Extensive experience managing complex partnership relationships and negotiating collaboration frameworks to achieve project outcomes.
- Experience working with or for mobile network operators and a demonstrated understanding of the MNO business model, incentive structures, and sensitivities.
- Experience working with or analyzing mobile phone data (e.g. call records, tower data, mobile money).
- Ability to coordinate the evaluation of machine learning algorithms for appropriate methods, model validation, and fairness metrics and guide model design in collaboration with technical teams.
- Deep understanding of data privacy and protection principles, particularly in relation to the use of telecommunications and geolocation data in humanitarian settings. Experience applying frameworks such as GDPR, Responsible Data for Children, or Humanitarian Data Ethics standards is strongly preferred.
- Excellent project management skills,
- Extensive experience managing partnerships and coordinating across teams.
- Demonstrated ability to take ownership, learn quickly, and drive complex projects independently.
- Highly organized, with a strong curiosity and creative approach to solving difficult, real-world data problems.
- Clear and compelling communicator who can explain technical concepts to non-technical audiences.
- Strong alignment with GiveDirectly’s values and mission.
- Language Requirement: English fluency
Preferred:
- Familiarity with GIS tools, Python, R, and/or SQL.
- Advanced data science degree or commensurate experience with machine learning
- Experience in humanitarian response, displacement, or poverty alleviation contexts.
- French language skills.
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 $129,000.
- The Kenya base salary for this role is $101,221.
This role is fully remote, so 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 supportive team that works hard and cares hard
- A robust health benefits plan (exact details will vary by country)
- Flexible paid time off that staff is encouraged to take
- 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!
