Chief of Staff

Priority application deadline: applications close on February 23, but early applications are encouraged and will be processed as they are received.

Location: preference for co-location with the CEO in NYC, though we will consider strong candidates that can work anywhere between ET and GMT timezones.

Role Overview  

GiveDirectly is seeking a strategic and results-driven Chief of Staff to enable the CEO and senior leadership to work efficiently, effectively, and on the highest priorities. This role will oversee key decision-making processes, drive internal communications, and lead special projects that accelerate organizational goals.

This is an extraordinary opportunity for a highly strategic leader with strong analytical, operational, and communication skills. At a time when GiveDirectly is scaling rapidly, this role will play a pivotal function in optimizing leadership effectiveness and ensuring alignment across teams.

The Chief of Staff role at GiveDirectly is a unique opportunity for individuals looking to grow into senior leadership positions. This role provides exposure to executive decision-making, cross-functional strategy execution, and high-level problem-solving. As a key advisor to the CEO, you will gain firsthand experience in scaling a high-growth organization, leading critical initiatives, and developing the leadership acumen required for future C-suite or organizational leadership roles.

Level: Senior Manager or Director level

What we’re looking for:  

• Operational & Execution Excellence: You combine meticulous attention to detail with the ability to see the big picture. You ensure follow through on the things that matter, and have a proven ability to own complex multi-stakeholder processes and drive execution; creating and maintaining structures to ensure critical priorities are well-tracked, meetings translate into action, and execution is seamless.
• High-Tolerance for Ambiguity & Problem-Solving: You can navigate uncertainty while staying highly attuned to stakeholder needs. You have demonstrated the ability to self-start, and navigate challenges with limited direction, but you’re not just figuring things out in isolation. You’ve experience understanding and aligning to stakeholders (i.e. leadership support, client services, fundraising or similar), shaping decisions with well-structured thinking, and ensuring those you support have what they need to succeed.
• Communication & influence: Exceptional communication skills internally and externally, with the ability to engage and influence senior leaders, align cross-functional teams, and ensure clear, concise internal communications. Strong writing and presentation skills are critical.
• Strategic Judgment & Analytical Decision-Making: Ability to synthesize complex information (including comfort with quant analysis), make high-quality decisions quickly, and proactively recommend solutions. A strong sense of prioritization and the ability to frame executive-level discussions effectively. Experience with some or all of the different parts of GiveDirectly’s business (organizational strategy & management, fundraising, cash programs, product, shared services) to inform your judgment is a strong bonus. 
• Confidentiality & Trustworthiness: Handles sensitive and high-stakes information with discretion and sound judgment. Able to act as a trusted advisor to the CEO, represent their interests, and make independent decisions on their behalf when necessary.
• Exceptional alignment with GiveDirectly Values

What you’ll do  

• Optimize CEO Effectiveness: Streamline decision-making, manage priorities, support communication and provide strategic counsel to maximize the CEO’s focus and effectiveness on high-impact work. You’ll be high context and know all the most important things happening at any given time, and be able to be a strategic air traffic controller, using judgment to identify what’s important, when, and teeing up high impact interventions. You’ll also manage the Executive Assistant who supports the CEO and leadership team.
• Lead Special Projects: Manage and deliver high stakes, time-bound initiatives to drive organizational results or improve organizational effectiveness, and that might otherwise fall through the cracks. This could include everything from surge support on a $20m+ fundraising opportunity, to standing up a new team (defining roles, hiring, change management), to preparing for board meetings.
• Drive Organizational Operating Rhythms: Own agenda-setting, preparation of and facilitation for leadership meetings, retreats, and planning processes to ensure cross-team coordination and goal execution. Manage the day to day rhythms of tracking goals, identifying blockers, and figuring out how to bring people together to unblock.
• Lead Internal Communications: Oversee communication and comms strategies from the CEOs office to enhance alignment, reinforce values, foster collaboration, and increase transparency across the organization. 

Travel Requirement  

• 1-2 times per quarter.

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.

We are opening this role at either the Senior Manager (SM) or Director level, and will communicate with candidates about which level seems the most appropriate based on skills and experience.

• The United States base salary for this role at Director level is $128,000, and at SM level is $109,200.
• The Kenya base salary for this role at Director level is $101,221, and at SM level is $77,500.

If you are not based in the US or Kenya, we will share an estimated salary benchmark for the country you are based in during the hiring process.

 #LI-REMOTE