Product Lead
Product Lead
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Job Description
About GiveDirectly
GiveDirectly (GD) aims to reshape international giving and millions of lives by providing cash grants directly to the worlds 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 evidencefree 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. Weve also supported largescale experimental research that indicates strong recipient impact of our programs. As a result GD has been celebrated as one of the most innovative nonprofit companies by Fast Company while the growing cash transfer movement (and GDs 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 nonhierarchical. Our global team of 150 and country operations teams of 650 together come from 21 different countries speaking 69 different languages. Team members bring experiences from the private sector NGOs and government. From software engineers to seasoned humanitarian workers former management consultants to public servants researchers to field operations its 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 fast moving 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.
Priority application deadline: Wednesday May 14 2025 (or until we have a critical mass of applications)
Location: This role is fully remote but must overlap with an East Africa timezone by at least 3 hours. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of employment Visas in the U.S. or U.K. at this time.
About this role
GiveDirectly has established a Product team responsible for identifying new program areas for exploration and implementation while deepening our impact in existing ones. This role is responsible for assembling and leading crossfunctional teams to drive product development optimization and scale. They may oversee single products if large and/or complex or a portfolio of products at different stages of development.
Products at GiveDirectly might range from our flagship large lump sum cash work to highly targeted support for specific populations or locations; the Product team works across fundraising program implementation and Research and Technology to build endtoend initiatives and bring them to market.
Product leads must:
- Have a strong tack record for mobilizing resources (financial human) around big ideas and opportunities (programmatic research etc)
- Be deeply curious about how to maximize impact in our programs and demonstrate competency in translating research and data into program design
- Have excellent follow through be as eager to start something new as maintain something great
- Be data driven with excellent altitude awareness Product leads should be able to flex between big picture vision and in the weeds datadriven problem solving
- Look laterally / know the market Product leads should know the market (donors and competition) well building relationships externally to keep on top of innovations and new developments (intel)
- Have excellent communication and project management skills and be able to bring key stakeholders together around a common goal
- Have discernment and conviction to make the hard decisions to say no to things and drive focus an exceptional product owner strips things down to the most core things to focus on
- Have track record of driving impact without direct formal authority
Level: Director
Reports To: VP Product
Travel: Must be willing to travel to program sites up to 1X per quarter for 12 weeks
Responsibilities:
Set vision and define success for their products
- Product leads must set multiyear vision and annual/quarterly goals for their products as well as defining interim milestones to track progress
- They should have a clear sense of their products value proposition and competitive advantage (what makes this product better than the next best alternative) leveraging GiveDirectly evidence and external research to do so
- They should streamline product development and implementation across tech and research functions using key levers for efficiency including but not limited to survey builds design adaptations and techenabled innovations (e.g. AI/LLMs new operational frameworks etc)
Drive program quality
- Product leads must set minimum standards for their products in close consultation with the Programs teams and closely monitor implementation to identify gaps and areas of concern
- Product leads must partner with programs teams to troubleshoot implementation leveraging ops and program data to identify pain points and drill down into solutions
Support fundraising
- Product leads will conduct or oversee robust market assessments for their products and be propositional on how GiveDirectly positions those products
- They will also support fundraising efforts primarily by supporting existing relationship owners but occasionally owning their own relationships with key funders (e.g. anchor funders)
Manage high performing crossfunctional teams
- Product leads are responsible for assembling (with the VP of Product) and motivating crossfunctional teams toward a common goal
- Drive for alignment with their product teams establishing key operational principles and ways of working early (given they will not manage direct reports)
- Clean escalate as needed to VP of Product if and when there is misalignment between key product stakeholders
Qualifications:
- Exceptional alignment to GD values passion for our mission and commitment to recipient dignity and empowerment
- 8 years of professional work experience in similar role or function (product programs business development partnerships)
- Proven leadership ability and management experience in building high performing teams
- Experience working with a distributed team in a multicultural environment
- Interest in working as part of a growing company with awareness about the opportunities and challenges that come with a highly adaptive environment
- Strong succinct communications: Skilled in speaking writing presenting and negotiating across multiple stakeholders
- Analytical problem solver: Looks at problems w/ analytical and iterative mindset with strong framework for prioritization
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 setup and learning and development
Working at GiveDirectly
GiveDirectly is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants are considered for employment without regard to the persons 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 worlds most vulnerable communities GiveDirectly takes the safeguarding of its recipients staff and partners seriously. To that end GiveDirectly is a member of theMisconduct 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 prehire screens including indepth 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!
Employment Type
Full Time
