Technical Program Associate or Manager

GiveDirectly has delivered more than $1B in cash directly to 2+ million people living in poverty across 15 countries since 2011. We believe cash transfers are one of the most scalable, cost-effective, and dignified forms of aid, with the research to back it up. Our work has been covered by The Economist, NPR, TED, and The Washington Post. We are one of Time100’s Most Influential Companies of 2026.

Our culture is candid, analytical, and non-hierarchical. We support high ownership and real professional growth. Curious about what it's really like to work here? Read our values and hear from the people who do. If they resonate, this could be a great fit!

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.

In this role, you will own all technology-related aspects of new project launches: working with our operations team to define and implement program requirements, project managing the implementation across multiple stakeholders, and analyzing, structuring, and acting on program data. You are a systems thinker who is comfortable assessing tradeoffs and deriving and communicating data-driven insights. You enjoy learning about technology in a variety of business contexts. You naturally take ownership, can navigate unfamiliar settings, and enjoy both building and managing ops. You can excel at both 10,000 feet as well as in the weeds of complex problems.

Reports to: Senior Technical Program Manager 

Level: Open to Associate or Manager, depending on the candidate. We would rather find the right person than fill a predetermined level. A candidate with deeper experience, stronger technical skills, and the judgment to run their own projects and think critically and propositionally on project designs will be brought in at the higher end, with correspondingly more independence.

Location: At this stage of GiveDirectly’s growth and scale, we’re prioritizing hiring in the countries below, where we can employ you through a GD entity or an established employer of record: Cameroon, Canada, Colombia, DRC, Germany, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Netherlands, Nigeria, Poland, Portugal, Rwanda, South Africa, Spain, Turkey, Uganda, United Kingdom, and United States. This list reflects where our employment infrastructure is established today, and may evolve as we grow. If you’re based elsewhere and not open to relocation, we may not be able to consider your application for this role right now, but we’d encourage you to check back. Please also note that regardless of location, we expect 3 hours of daily overlap with the East Africa timezone. 

Travel Requirement: Must be able to travel ~1-2 times per year to one of our countries of operation for team retreats or field visits.

Priority Application Deadline: November 1st, 2026

What you’ll do:

• 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. 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.
• Language Requirement: fluent in English. 
• 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. Note: This is not an engineering or data science job.
• Significant interest in technology, systems design and building.
• High attention to detail and strong instincts for analysis and validating data creatively and rigorously.
• Structured approach to problem-solving and a drive to uncover and fix root causes rather than surface-level issues.
• 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).
• Preferred, not required: Proficiency in one or more languages spoken in the countries where GiveDirectly operates (e.g Swahili, French, Portuguese). These skills are beneficial for working directly with field teams and understanding recipient experience.

Compensation

At GiveDirectly, we strive to pay our employees generously and equitably. We use an accredited third party salary aggregator to calculate what we believe to be competitive pay based on role, location, and cost of living. We also have a no negotiation policy to ensure we are paying staff equitably across roles. Read more about our compensation philosophy here.

The total compensation for this role at the Associate and Manager level is broken down below. If you are based outside of the US or Kenya, specific compensation details can be provided during the initial recruiter screen. 

Associate-level 

• Base salary: US $92,400 ·  UK £56,800  · KE $52,400
• Bonus target: 10%

Manager-level

• Base salary: US $107,070 ·  UK £70,250 · KE $72,550
• Bonus target: 10%