Controller

Location: Remote. African or European timezones preferred to maximize overlap with finance colleagues based in East Africa. Timezones in the Americas are feasible if you have an early workday.   

Job Type: Full-time. Open to both Interim or Permanent candidates. If Interim, term will be for at least 6 months and seeking candidates interested in interim-to-permanent if the fit seems right on both sides. 

 

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 $700M since launching in 2011, delivered cash to more than 1 million people, and launched offices in 10 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.

We’re 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. We’re 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.

About this role

We’re looking for an exceptional controller to bring our accounting processes and systems up to the bar of the rest of GiveDirectly’s operations - making them efficient, timely, reliable, and tech-driven.

As Controller, you’ll define how GiveDirectly’s accounting processes work, who interacts with them, and how they produce reliable finished products in the form of our financial statements and tax filings. You’ll develop and enforce internal controls, and work closely with our finance team as a hands-on manager, mentor, and leader. 

 

Reports to: CFO (CEO in the interim as the CFO is hired)

Level: Senior Director

Responsibilities:

Accounting 

• Manage all aspects of accounting; billing, financial statements, general ledger, cost accounting, payroll, accounts payable, accounts receivable, tax compliance, inventory accounting, cost accounting, revenue recognition, and various special analyses
• Oversee all accounts, ledgers, and reporting systems ensuring compliance with appropriate GAAP standards and regulatory requirements.
• Design and manage efficient and effective organizational accounting processes
• Manage the accounting team to a timely monthly close 
• Ensure accurate and complete coding of transactions, so that budget-to-actuals can be viewed at the program/campaign level, functional level, and any other view needed by internal or external stakeholders 

 

Auditing and reporting 

• Coordinate all audit activity globally, including personal responsibility of the global audit in the US and providing oversight and coordination of country audits 
• Prepare the annual financial statements; designing accounting processes that make this preparation efficient and seamless 
• Execute and provide oversight on tax filings, including preparation of the organization-wide 990 and providing oversight on country-specific tax filings prepared by the team in various African countries and/or US states 
• Present regular financial reports to GiveDirectly’s senior leadership team in an accurate and timely manner following each monthly close, clearly communicating trends of concern or interest 

 

Controls 

• Establish an effective system of financial controls organization-wide to protect organizational resources while still enabling dynamic operations, and enforce compliance with this system 
• Design and own finance policies organization-wide 

 

Team management 

• Leverage the strengths of the current finance team members, and identify development areas
• Clarify roles and responsibilities to create an effective division of labor to maximize these strengths, and create efficient ways of working
• Provide hands-on mentorship, training, and professional development to the team where needed 
• Set up effective processes for collaboration and communication within the team, and between the team and their stakeholders 

 

Requirements:

• Experience serving as a controller at at least two organizations of a similar size previously (our revenue is at $150m/year; total team size is 800-900 FTE)
• Expertise in US Federal Uniform Guidance related to our grants from USAID
• Strong people management skills and an ability to be hands-on with the whole finance team, whether directly managed by you or not (7 accounting staff, 6 finance business partners, 7 treasury & payments)
• International experience and cultural competency working with our largely Africa-based finance team as well as US-based stakeholders (e.g., CEO)
• Familiarity with both IFRS and US GAAP - including an understanding of the differences and errors which may occur when knowledgeable about one system but working in the other 
• Strong in process improvements and designing efficient accounting processes
• Tech savvy and knowledgeable about how to get the most out of accounting systems - ideally familiar with Sage Intacct in particular  
• Exceptional alignment with GiveDirectly Values 
• 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 communities that we serve.

For candidates not based in Africa, we also require: 

• Availability for regular meetings at 8am Eastern US timezone; 7am occasionally in order to overlap with our largely Africa-based finance team. 10am EST is 5pm in Nairobi, and so we are requiring at least 2 hours of overlap with the East Africa timezone to facilitate team management. 
• Ability to travel to Nairobi or Kigali for working sessions with the team (e.g., a trip of 1-2 weeks to start) 

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 annual Kenya base salary for this role is $117,800.
• The annual UK base salary for this role is £95,000.

This role is fully remote, so if you are not based in the 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
• Robust health benefits (specifics will vary by role and location)
• Flexible work location

 #LI-REMOTE