US Senior Program Manager

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 and delivered cash to more than 2 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, span 21 different countries and 69 languages. From software engineers to seasoned humanitarian workers, 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 high ownership, flexibility, take care of each other, have fun, and create professional growth opportunities.

Location: This role is fully remote but will regularly work on East Coast 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

The Senior Manager drives program implementation for large-scale cash interventions in the U.S. As a senior member of GiveDirectly’s U.S. country team, you will serve a critical role in ensuring the U.S. team’s infrastructure and operations create the conditions for effective, high-quality programs. Working closely with the Grants, Finance, and Partnerships teams, the Senior Manager ensures that public and philanthropic funds are deployed with strict alignment to funder requirements while enabling fast, reliable program delivery across multiple communities. This role will also provide project-specific oversight and support to large scale cash programs as needed, including managing Program Managers and Associates. 

This is a unique opportunity to drive impact and innovation on a $100M+ year portfolio alongside a creative, determined team. 

Reports to: U.S. Country Director

Level: Senior Manager

Travel Requirement: Must be able to travel ~3-4 times per year for team retreats, convenings, or programs visits 

Responsibilities: 

Program Management 

• Fully own end-to-end design, planning, and execution of cash projects, and coordinate with external and internal stakeholders to ensure successful end-to-end execution
• Design and build operational models for new programs, including assessing trade-offs of different design decisions (e.g. targeting, payments, customer service)
• Manage partnerships with vendors, subgrantees, subcontractors, and other external parties to support implementation
• Define, track, and report operational and efficiency metrics 
• Identify and de-risk operational vulnerabilities (e.g. fraud, brand risk etc)
• Motivate teams and directly manage team members (U.S. Manager/Associate) whose responsibilities include field team hiring and management, operations quality assurance, and business diligence support

Systems Design and Process Ownership <