Senior Product Manager, Mobile Operator Data

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 progra