Flex Senior Manager, Africa

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. Team members bring experiences from the private sector, NGOs and government. 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, fast moving 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 actively seek to recruit individuals from the communities we serve, and are constantly working to foster a workplace that supports diversity, and is truly inclusive in reality, not just intent. We support flexibility, take care of each other, have fun, and create professional growth opportunities.

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 remote but candidates must be based in Goma, Monrovia, Kampala, Nairobi or potentially another location within or near the Central Africa time zone

Role Overview:

GiveDirectly is looking to hire a Flex Senior Manager to lead programming across countries in which we operate. In this role, you will be crucial in designing, launching, and managing new and existing programs. This is an opportunity to drive impact and innovation in the cash sector when cash is receiving unprecedented attention and interest in the public eye. 

This role may focus more on work in fragile and conflict affected settings, such as DR Congo, advancing innovation in both development and humanitarian programs. 

Travel: You will be expected to travel to any of GiveDirectly’s countries of operation, sometimes on short notice (e.g. a month) and sometimes spending extended periods of time there (multiple months).   

Reports to: Regional Director

Level: Senior Manager

Responsibilities:

Program management

• Own a rich project management plan and coordinate with stakeholders to ensure successful end-to-end execution
• Design operational models for new programs, including assessing trade-offs of different design decisions (e.g., targeting, eligibility, payments, follow-up)
• Define, track, and report programmatic and budgetary KPIs
• Dynamically identify risks (e.g. fraud, misconduct, brand risk etc) and mitigation plans
• Directly supervise multi-layered teams whose responsibilities include field team management, programs protocol definition and quality assurance, and maintaining high standards of service to last mile recipients
• Maintain high-quality relationships with donors and program partners
• Drive communication and alignment across a variety of internal and external stakeholders, including GD senior management, donors, operational partners, researchers, and payment providers
• Cultivate, enable, and grow exceptional talent, reinforce a strong team culture rooted in GD’s values
• Consolidate best practices across projects and country contexts and generate tools or guidance so our programs can continuously improve and evolve
• Other coordination and contribution to the overall success of programs e.g. coordination with other departments, driving recruitment, conducting quality spot checks

 

Required Skills and Experiences:

• 4-7+ years of work experience in a relevant  role  (implementing programs, management consulting, providing technical advisory services)
• Exceptional ability to work analytically through complex implementation questions & run robust analyses to inform decisions
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to work with a diverse, multicultural,  and widely geographically distributed team
• Comfort in dynamic  environments, which may lack a pre-defined playbook for success and involve significant “learning by doing” and versatility 
• Ability to approach tasks with resourcefulness and to work in a highly self-directed and autonomous manner
• Experience living and working in fragile and conflict-affected contexts, including comfort traveling to high risk settings and responsibly adhering to security protocols. 
• Aptitude and curiosity to learn more technical aspects of cash transfer program design and related areas of social protection and humanitarian and development assistance
• Comfort navigating multiple software systems
• Good data analysis skills or willingness and aptitude to learn
• Professional working proficiency in French
• 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.

 

Desired Skills and Experiences

• Experience living and working Central Africa 
• Experience working in fragile and conflict-affected settings and/or in humanitarian programs
• Experience overseeing field teams and call centers

 

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 Kenya base salary for this role is $77,500

This role is fully remote, so if you are not based in 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
• A robust health benefits plan (exact details will vary by country)
• Flexible paid time off
• Desk allowance

 

 

 

 

 

 #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.

 

Interview 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!