About GiveDirectly
GiveDirectly (GD) aims to reshape international giving â and millions of lives â by providing cash grants directly to the poorest people in the world. The Brookings Institution estimates that $100B 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 â as the index fund is a benchmark for the financial industry â and in the process accelerating the end of extreme poverty.
GD has raised over $800M since launching in 2011, delivered cash to more than 1 million people, and launched offices in 11 countries. Weâve also supported 19 large-scale, experimental research projects that indicate strong recipient impact of our programs â including the largest universal basic income experiment in history. We use concrete evidence to inform the design of our programs: from research results published in leading journals, to in-depth qualitative work. 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 GDâs leading role within it) have been featured in the
New York Times Magazine,
This American Life,
Foreign Affairs, and
The Economist.
Weâre looking for exceptional talent to grow our collaborative, diverse team. Joining GiveDirectly provides the opportunity to work alongside individuals who come from 21 different countries and speak 69 different languages. Weâre actively working toward an equitable and inclusive environment for all team members, and seek candidates who will bring diverse perspectives and experiences to our organization. We recruit from organizations across all industries: our team has hailed from sectors including start-ups, government, consultancies, investment banks, and nonprofits.
Across our global offices, our culture is candid, analytical, non-hierarchical, and fast-paced. We value ability, adaptability, and willingness to learn. We offer competitive salary and benefits, as well as performance-based bonuses.
Location: This role is remote. Candidates must be based in or willing to relocate to one of our African countries of operation.
About this role
The Executive Director will report to the President and oversee all day-to-day operations of the organization, including management of our 900+ team members, a $200M+ annual budget, and the strategy, operations, program development, and revenue generation functions. As someone passionate about shifting the status quo in the aid space, youâll define the roadmap and vision for maximizing the cash we raise to deliver to recipients. We believe elevating recipient choice is critical, as is demonstrably committing to transparency around metrics and evidence. We are looking for applicants who are deeply aligned with these objectives, and energized by the prospect of leading our organization through continued growth and improvement.
Reports to: President
Level: Executive
What youâll do:
- Manage and act as a strategic partner to a team of high-performing senior leaders, overseeing all core functions of the organization, including Finance, People, Program Operations, Revenue, and Research and directing organizational strategy in alignment with GiveDirectly's mission and vision
- Oversee day-to-day activities and organization operations, translating strategy to annual operating plans, and establishing systems to track progress and ensure accountability across the organization
- Cultivating an organizational culture in alignment with GiveDirectlyâs values, and one that attracts, retains and motivates a high-performing, diverse team
- Represent GiveDirectly externally with funders, government officials, and other stakeholders
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What youâll bring:
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Alignment with GiveDirectly Values and active demonstration of our core competencies: emotional intelligence, problem solving, project management, follow-through, and fostering inclusivity. We welcome and strongly encourage applications from candidates who have personal or professional experience in the low-income and/or historically marginalized communities that we serve.
- Proven leadership ability and experience managing large (900+ people), fast growing, diverse, globally distributed teams at an executive level
- Analytical problem solver: Looks at problems w/ analytical and iterative mindset, with strong framework for prioritizationÂ
- Ability to build trusting, inclusive, high performing teams
- Exceptional relationship management: youâre excited to build a movement to achieve our mission, both via establishing new relationships for GD and strengthening existing ones
- Strong, succinct communications: Skilled in speaking, writing, presenting, and negotiating across multiple stakeholders
- A belief that people living in poverty deserve the dignity to choose for themselves how best to improve their lives
Read more about our ongoing diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts here and about our decision to move our central support teams to remote first here.
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