Technical Program Associate or Manager

About GiveDirectly

What if the most effective way to fight poverty was also the simplest: give people money and trust them to decide what they need? Since 2011, GiveDirectly has proven that idea at scale. We’ve delivered more than $1B in cash directly to 2+ million people living in poverty and crisis across 15 countries, and rigorous research shows the results: healthier kids, stronger businesses, sturdier homes, and more resilient families and local economies. Cash is now widely recognized as one of the most scalable, cost-effective, and dignified forms of aid.

How we work

Our team spans 20+ countries and 69 languages. Our culture is candid, analytical, and non-hierarchical. We expect high ownership and give people real responsibility early. Our values are central to how we hire, work, and grow, and they are deliberately opinionated:

• Recipients first. Recipients’ preferences come before those of donors or ourselves.
• Team next. We optimize for organizational success, not individual success.
• Be proactively candid. We say what we believe and share information openly.
• Create positive energy. We aim to be a source of energy for colleagues, not a drain.
• Think rigorously; act quickly. We reason from first principles, then act rather than debate.
• Know yourself and grow. We own our imperfections and seek feedback to grow.
• Accept reality. Propose solutions. We focus on what can change and bring solutions, not just problems.
• Be productively ambitious. We take risks for step-change impact, not incremental progress.

About this role

We believe technology will play a critical role in enabling the next generation of cash delivery operations: from identifying recipients without needing to knock on doors to a modern payments infrastructure that gets dollars in recipients’ hands faster and more scalable. We are seeking a Technical Program Associate responsible for implementing and managing the technology used across our programs - including systems for recipient data collection, verification, payments, and monitoring.

Responsibilities

• Manage end-to-end technical delivery for program launches - leading scoping, requirements gathering, system configuration and implementation, QA and testing, troubleshooting, and closeout.
• Collaborate with Operations, Product, Research, Engineering, and Data teams to ensure systems are aligned with program objectives and work seamlessly in field conditions.
• Debug and resolve issues across multiple layers of our technology stack, including our recipient database and offline survey app.
• Scope and manage cross-cutting systems improvements to improve efficiency, scale, and/or recipient experience, with mentorship.
• Ensure all systems comply with GD’s standards for data protection, privacy, and financial controls.
• Manage technical training and onboarding for operations staff and collaborators.
• Lead retrospectives on program launches and technical incidents to contribute to continued system improvements.

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.
• 3+ years of professional experience; we welcome a wide range of relevant backgrounds (e.g. project management, product management, data analytics, international development, management consulting).
• Strong data skills: able to leverage tools to extract, clean, manipulate, and analyze data to make operational decisions.
• Strong project management experience: experience in managing timelines, stakeholders, and complex deliverables.
• Deep comfort with Microsoft Excel/Google Sheets.
• Intermediate experience using a programming or scripting language (most commonly Python at GD) to automate workflows, validate data, or implement business logic.
• Significant interest in technology, systems design and building.
• High attention to detail and strong instincts for analysis and validating data creatively and rigorously.
• Ability to collaborate inclusively with stakeholders across varied social, national, and cultural backgrounds, including communicating technical concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Preferred, not required

• Experience working with relational databases (e.g. SQL).

Compensation

At GiveDirectly, we strive to pay our employees generously and equitably. The total compensation for this role at the Associate and Manager level is broken down below:

• Associate-level
  Base salary: US $92,400
  Bonus target: 10%
  Benefits stipends: US $21,393
• Manager-level
  Base salary: US $107,070
  Bonus target: 10%
  Benefits stipends: US $21,393

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.