Humanitarian Manager

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: Remote. 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: Oct 10, 2025 or until we reach a critical mass of applications

About this role

GiveDirectly is scaling its emergency response operations to reach more people, faster, with cash in the wake of crises. As a Manager on the Humanitarian team, you will play a critical role in supporting the design and delivery of rapid cash responses globally. You’ll coordinate program implementation, manage day-to-day operations, and contribute to fundraising efforts by documenting field insights and preparing donor materials.

Managers are expected to:

• Execute high-quality program delivery in collaboration with cross-functional teams
• Manage projects and workstreams with a focus on operational excellence and continuous improvement.
• Support internal and external relationships, including partners, vendors, and donors.

Reports to: Humanitarian Senior Manager

Level: Manager

Travel Requirement: Must be able to travel up to 50-60% of the time including ~2 times per year for team retreats. Must be able to deploy on short notice in response to an emergency. This role incurs travel to potentially insecure areas. 

What you’ll do:

Design and implement high-quality programming:

• Coordinate design, planning, and execution of emergency response operations, ensuring timelines and quality standards are met.
• Apply operational playbooks and deployment criteria to rapidly set up response programs across a growing number of countries.
• Conduct operational diligence, feasibility, and risk assessments for individual disaster responses, ensuring alignment with organizational goals and context realities.
• Track and report on program metrics to support learning and performance management.
• Liaise with partners, vendors, and subgrantees to ensure smooth execution.
• Become an expert in GiveDirectly’s tech systems and processes (Salesforce, CommCare, Jira, etc.) to support project execution and excellence

Project and team coordination

• Manage day-to-day activities of designated response, including field staff tasking and coordination with surge teams
• Provide coaching and mentorship to junior staff or surge team members during deployments
• Contribute to team goal-setting, impact tracking, and knowledge sharing

Strategic and external contributions

• May be asked to support new business development, donor reporting, or appeal materials, most often by translating field updates into compelling content. 
• Represent GiveDirectly in select internal and external forums (e.g. Cash Working Groups)
• Ad hoc strategy and/or capability investment projects that advance GiveDirectly’s global response capacity. 

Qualifications 

• Alignment with GiveDirectly Values: exceptional alignment with values and an active demonstration of our core competencies: emotional intelligence, problem solving, project management, follow-through, and fostering inclusivity. 
• 3-5+ years of experience in a role focused on problem solving, team management, and/or new business development, including prior humanitarian/emergency experience
• Analytical problem solving: looks at problems with an analytical and iterative mindset, with strong framework for prioritization and ability to put structure and process to ambiguous problems.
• Strong project management skills and the ability to manage multiple workstreams, prioritize/explicitly deprioritize, and hold a high quality bar.
• Strong technical skills, including data analysis and ease with learning new third-party tech platforms and tools.
• Fundraising: Preference for candidates with a strong partnership and relationship management background.
• Strong communications skills: Skilled in speaking, writing, presenting, and negotiating across multiple stakeholders.
• Ability to orient in new context quickly, rapidly understanding unfamiliar environments, stakeholders, and processes, with a track record of setting up effective systems in dynamic situations.
• Enthusiasm for fast-paced environments, which may lack pre-defined playbook for success and involve significant “learning by doing.” Comfort with ambiguity and building systems from scratch.

Nice to have:

• Fluent in a language other than English, especially French, Portuguese, Arabic, or other languages.
• Prior experience with humanitarian cash-based programming

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.

• The United States base salary for this role is $94,700.
• The Kenya base salary for this role is $61,900.
• The UK base salary for this role is £61,200.00.

This role is fully remote, so if you are not based in either of those countries, 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)
• Flexible paid time off
• Allowances for desk set-up and learning and development

 #LI-REMOTE

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!