Country Director, Uganda

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.

Location: This role must be based in Kampala.

Priority application deadline: Oct 17, 2025 or until we reach a critical mass of applications

About this role

The Country Director will lead the Uganda country office in its entirety. They will build, fundraise, develop, and execute the Uganda Country Strategy. They will also lead the program teams, fundraising, and external relations to achieve short-term goals (i.e., funding targets and annual KPIs) and drive long-term growth. This role will ultimately be accountable to recipients and donors for delivering a gold-standard product. 

Level: Director

Travel Requirement: Must be able to travel about once a month across the country and internationally 1-2 times per year

What you’ll do:

Program Management - 30-40%

• Accountable for ensuring GD Uganda programs operate on time, at target efficiency, and meeting GD’s quality standards
• Backstop, manage, and guide the programs team in overcoming challenges, staying on schedule, and delivering quality results. 
• Be accountable for Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) associated with recipient experience and operational efficiency. 
• Budget management that ensures efficient allocation and utilization of donor funds and resources
• Work with national and local government officials to secure permissions for maintenance and expansion of programs.
• Create and maintain a strong culture of safeguarding and anti-fraud across the country office and all activities, including working closely with GD’s global safeguarding, IA, finance, and compliance teams to build best practices into country operations, program design, and implementation. In country coordination across programs, IA, and safeguarding, including chairing weekly/bi-weekly IA, Safeguarding, and programs coordination meeting
• Proactively mitigate fraud and operational risks through close coordination with the Internal Audit team to prevent misconduct and protect our recipients, including designing appropriate prevention controls and response measures

Fundraising and Partnerships - 30-40%

• Develop and maintain strong strategic partnerships with donors, including private foundations, government agencies, and individual donors, to secure funding for GiveDirectly programs
• Design ambitious cash transfer programs and accompanying budgets
• Represent GiveDirectly to the public, media, government, and other stakeholders and serve as the organization's spokesperson in the Uganda office.

• Work with the global fundraising team to develop compelling fundraising materials and messages that resonate with donors in Uganda.
• Lead the country team in developing and implementing fundraising activities, such as events and campaigns, to raise awareness and support for GiveDirectly's work.
• Communicate about GiveDirectly to donors, the media, and other partners
• Host or coordinate hosting of country visits by HNWs, funders, and other partners

 Strategic Planning and Prioritization - 5-10%

• Lead strategic planning and prioritization for GiveDirectly in Uganda. 
• Ensure collaborative and strategic workplanning across departments
• Overall accountable for GD’s presence, work, and activities in Uganda
• Develop country strategy for GD in Uganda that advances GD’s success in Uganda while also laddering up well into GD’s org-wide strategic priorities and direction
• Set and manage towards country goals that create a roadmap for our success in Uganda 
• Develop and implement a fundraising strategy for the Uganda office and own revenue targets, drive opportunities, and maintain a robust pipeline to sustain year over year growth
• Participate in annual retreat(s) and organization-wide planning, cross country coordination efforts, and input the perspectives, priorities, and experiences of GD Uganda into org wide policies and practices
• Lead national level government relationships and/or partner with SM-ER to handle these relationships
• Manage SM-ER and ensure the GD Country Office meets GD’s standards when it comes to external relations and government expectations as outlined in the mother MOU governing our relationship. 

Team Management - 5-15%

• Motivate, coach, and hold to high standards a large team, including direct management of the country management team. 
• Build the capacity of managers at all levels by ensuring they have clearly defined expectations for success, regular feedback on progress, and understanding of any growth opportunities that match strengths to organizational needs
• Promulgate practices and norms that animate GD’s core values, in partnership with HRM
• Lead workforce planning, including thoughtful hiring and succession planning, while ensuring the team remains appropriately lean and efficient.
• Take reasonable steps to ensure the safety and security of the GD team

Country Operations - 5-15% 

• Lead coordination between the country office and GD’s global risk management verticals, including internal audit, compliance, external relations, and safeguarding, in order to ensure business continuity.
• Oversee country operations as a whole, including balancing the roles and responsibilities across the country management team, managing directly the HR Manager, the Office and Procurement Manager, and dotted line management of the Finance Manager, IA-Manager, and Safeguarding Manager. 
• Work with relevant country office management to ensure country compliance with global standards and flesh out country protocols to put in practice global policies in ways that are clear and relevant to the Ugandan country context.
• As necessary, provide leadership and oversight of investigations of alleged misconduct, ensuring zero tolerance for fraud and upholding safeguarding standards, and disciplinary matters

What you’ll bring:

• 10+ years of relevant experience - e.g., in non-profit country management, organizational leadership, partnership development, program management, social entrepreneurship, or consulting - with a track record of demonstrated excellence and increasing responsibility.
• Experience leading government and external stakeholder partnerships
• Proven track records of securing significant funding from major institutional donors (e.g. US Government, FCDO, World Bank, or EU)
• Ability to lead and set strategic vision at a national level.
• Enthusiasm for a fast-paced environment that lacks pre-defined playbooks
• Team management experience, including hiring and building teams.
• Outstanding relationship management abilities, including ability to represent GiveDirectly at the highest levels
• Exceptional communication skills: written and verbal, including with diverse audiences from senior officials to institutional and High Net Work funders to field teams
• Strong organizational and/or project management skills. 
• A high degree of autonomy and resilience
• Problem solver: you look at problems with an analytical and iterative mindset, with a strong framework for prioritization. You can run robust analyses to inform management and programming decisions. 
• Alignment with GiveDirectly Values, including the ambition to pursue industry-changing success. Active demonstration of our core competencies: emotional intelligence, problem-solving, project management, follow-through, and fostering inclusivity.
• Language Requirement: English, other Ugandan languages a bonus
• Authorization to work in Uganda or ability to obtain such authorization within a fixed time frame 

Desired Skills and Experiences 

Experience working in Uganda and understanding of the Uganda context is very highly desired. 

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, as well as candidates from underrepresented genders, ethnicities, and other groups. You can read more about our diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts here.

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.

• We’ll be updating this JD with the salary details over the next few days.

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

 

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!