Director, Safeguarding

About GiveDirectly

GiveDirectly (GD) provides cash grants directly to people living in extreme poverty. Since launching in 2011, GD has raised over $1B, delivered cash to more than 1.5 million recipients, launched operations in 15 countries, and continues to expand its reach across the Global South. GD has also grown the research base supporting unconditional cash with 20 randomized control trials from its programs, generating rigorous evidence across countries and contexts. 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) has been featured in the New York Times Magazine, This American Life, Foreign Affairs, and The Economist.

Across our global offices, our culture is candid, analytical, non-hierarchical, and agile. We work alongside 750+ individuals who come from 21 different countries and speak 69 different languages. Team members at GiveDirectly attest that diversity, equity, and inclusion are not just buzzwords, but a fundamental part of our culture and values. We actively seek to recruit individuals from the communities we serve, and use DEI as a lens in our hiring practices, programs, and initiatives. Our goal is to maintain a workplace where everyone can bring their authentic selves to work, and feel valued and respected for who they are. We strive to be inclusive of all cultures and experiences while upholding our values globally. In the spirit of our "Know Yourself and Grow" value, we recognize there is always room to improve our team's working experience. But day to day, we aim to "Create Positive Energy" - we take care of one another, have fun, aim to maximize flexibility and accessibility in roles, and pursue professional development opportunities to stay challenged & engaged in our work. 

We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer, and we do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other status protected by law.

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.

Priority Application Deadline: November 8, 2024

 

About this role

The Director of Safeguarding will lead the Safeguarding Team and ensure that GiveDirectly has the systems, policies and processes in place to proactively manage safeguarding risk and deliver cash safely to recipients. S/he is responsible for setting GiveDirectly’s vision for excellence in safeguarding and leading the team to successful delivery, managing a global team as well as providing robust oversight and support to country Safeguarding Managers. S/he will champion safeguarding across the organisation, advising senior leadership and coordinating with both internal and external stakeholders to ensure that safeguarding is prioritised and mainstreamed throughout all aspects of GiveDirectly. 

 

Reports to: VP Risk, Internal Audit, Safeguarding and Compliance (RISC) 

Level: Director

Travel Requirement: 25% for supervisory visits, team events, etc. 

 

What you’ll do:

Safeguarding Team Leadership

• Be the custodian of “Recipients First” value at GiveDirectly by ensuring that safeguarding is fully mainstreamed across all pillars in the organization. The Director of Safeguarding is ultimately accountable for actively preventing harm for recipients, communities, staff, and partners.
• Responsible for creating a strategic vision for the team and a clear roadmap on how this vision will be achieved. This includes coordination with senior leadership, country leadership, and other stakeholders to identify needs and propose solutions for how the Safeguarding team can add value to country programs, support the organisation’s growth, and ensure strong compliance with donors, governments, and local laws. 
• Lead coordination and project management to implement the strategic vision. 
• Own strategic planning, goal setting and budgeting for the Safeguarding team. 
• Serve as a staff focal point for safeguarding concerns, being an independent resource for staff to disclose or discuss safeguarding concerns outside of management lines or People Division. 
• Represent GiveDirectly in external safeguarding forums for sector compliance, best practice learning and partnership building  

Safeguarding Strategy, Standards and Policy

• Establish and mainstream a strong organisational culture of safeguarding, including the prevention of SEAH, through the development of appropriate policies, procedures, training and communications. 
• Oversee strong knowledge management and internal communications in order to make Safeguarding standards and guidance accessible throughout the organisation.  
• Ensure safeguarding standards are mainstreamed in documents, project designs, processes, and procedures. Sign off on Project Stories from a safeguarding perspective.
• Develop and oversee implementation of safeguarding metrics to be used by stakeholders across the organisation. Collect regular data from country offices on progress against specific safeguarding indicators, and disseminate reports of these indicators to stakeholders with the aim of informing program improvements and protection strengthening.
• Own all safeguarding audit undertakings with internal and external partners/stakeholders.

Safeguarding Mainstreaming within Program Operations

• Accountable for developing, disseminating and upholding GiveDirectly’s safeguarding standards and best practice; represent safeguarding in cross-functional/leadership discussions. 
• Champion safe programming design and implementation across the organisation, including advising country teams on proposals and delivery.  
• Ensure Safeguarding Team provides high-quality support to the programs team to ensure safeguarding policies and practices are well coordinated across GiveDirectly programs, and to mitigate safeguarding related risks in program design and delivery.
• Conduct spot checks, country oversight visits and other audits as needed to assess GiveDirectly’s adherence to safeguarding standards. 

Risk and Incident Reporting and Case Management 

• Develop and monitor safeguarding reporting mechanisms to ensure that all recipients and staff have an accessible reporting system. Audit and monitor these to ensure proper management. 
• Receive and follow up on incident reports received via the Whistleblowing email inbox and Ethico independent reporting platform. 
• Support country operations team in delivering survivor-centred responses for both staff and recipients who experience safeguarding violations.
• Work with the Risk Committee, Legal, or People Division where necessary to advise on case resolution.

 

What you’ll bring:

• Exceptional 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.
• Language Requirement: English. 
• Language Preferences: French or Portuguese would be a plus
• 7+ years of relevant experience - e.g. in non-profit country management, safeguarding organizational leadership  - with a track record of demonstrated excellence and increasing responsibility 
• Relevant technical expertise e.g. safeguarding investigations, program design, gender or protection 
• Exceptional communications skills: written and verbal, including with senior audiences 
• Strong organizational and project management skills, with demonstrated ability to deliver results and manage a complex portfolio. 
• Demonstrated ability to lead and set strategic vision: enthusiasm for fast-paced, innovative environments with a focus on robust management and performance 
• Problem solver: you look at problems with an analytical and iterative mindset, with a strong framework for prioritization. You have strong stakeholder management skills and ability to work across teams. 
• 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.

 

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. 

• The United States base salary for this role is $128,000.
• The Kenya base salary for this role is $101,221.
• The UK base salary for this role is £87,500.

This role is fully remote, so if you are not based in the US, UK, 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 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)
• Unlimited PTO (that we encourage staff to take!)
• Desk allowance and flexible work location

 

 #LI-REMOTE

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.

GiveDirectly is an Equal Opportunity Employer that values the strength diversity brings to the workplace. 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.

US applicants only:  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.

Venue and Accessibility

We conduct interviews over Google Meet with camera on (unless communicated otherwise).

Closed captioning is available during all Google Meet interviews, and interviewers will also post interview questions in the chat box throughout the call. If you need assistance accessing either of these features, please let your interviewer know at the start of your interview! 

We’re committed to running an inclusive and accessible application process for all of our open roles. If there are questions or concerns you have about the accessibility of our hiring process, we warmly invite you to reach out to careers@givedirectly.org. Please include the word "Accessibility" in the email title.

 

 

Want to put your best foot forward on your GiveDirectly application? Take a look at our Candidate Application Prep Guide!