Head of People

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 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 $1B since launching in 2011 delivered cash to more than 1.5 million people in 15 different countries. Weve 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 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 non-hierarchical. Our global team of 150 and country operations teams of 650 together come from 21 different countries speaking 69 different languages. 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 dynamic 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:December 5 or until weve reached a critical mass of applications

Location:this role is remote but with a very strong preference for candidates located in the EAT timezone and/or in any of GiveDirectlys countries of operation. If not located in an EAT timezone the selected candidate will need to overlap at least 3 hours with EAT.

About the role

GiveDirectly is seeking an experienced business-oriented Head of People to design and run the human systems that power our mission. Youll connect talent to organizational performance in a global distributed and exceptionally lean contextserving as both architect and hands-on operator across talent acquisition org design leadership development performance rewards HR operations and employee relations.

This role is remote with a strong preference for East Africa Time (EAT) working hours and/or candidates based in countries where we operate; if outside EAT at least 3 hours of overlap with EAT is required.

Reports to: Chief Operating Officer

Travel Requirement: Must be able to travel 3-4 times per year to one of our countries of operation for team retreats or field visits

Level: We are open to considering exceptional candidates at both the Senior Director and Vice President levels depending on experience and fit.

What were looking for:

• People-as-performance operator: Strong business acumen with a track record of treating the People function as a driver of company/organizational outcomes (talent density speed quality and reliability)not just a compliance people support or admin team.
• A builder in lean distributed environments: Demonstrated success building simple scalable systems (hiring performance rewards workforce models HRIS) across multiple countries and regulatory contextswith high judgment on tradeoffs under tight constraints.
• Trusted pair of hands for complex employee relations: Depth in sensitive employee relations risk management and safeguarding across very diverse contexts and cultural settings; calm discreet and principled.
• Exceptional leader and manager: Recruits calibrates and develops senior talent; sets a high bar; builds a small high-leverage team and operating cadence that scales.
• First-principles outcome oriented problem solver: Structured analytical thinker who disaggregates problems designs from first principles iterates quickly and measures results.
• Varied context experience: Comfort moving between private sector and NGO settings and between different org sizes; able to bring best-of-both to GDs model.
  
  

What youll do:

• Make talent a competitive advantage: Raise the hiring bar; build a repeatable hiring machine (calibration principles/values assessment structured loops quality-at-30/90 days). Build a proactive network and bench for executive and scarce roles.
• Design performance rewards: Implement a lightweight high-signal performance system tied to development and consequences; refresh compensation and total rewards to attract and retain top talent in our markets while preserving our lean model and staying economically efficient as an organization.
• Be the steady employee relations advisor: Lead on sensitive personnel matters with discretion and fairness; support investigations safeguarding crisis response and change communications.
• Coach and level up leadership: Partner with the CEO/COO and executives on org design succession and leadership effectiveness; intervene early to raise or replace when needed.
• Build scalable global people ops: Improve HRIS/workforce tools; standardize core processes; ensure compliant efficient operations across countries (subsidiaries contractors EOR/PEO) in close partnership with Finance and Legal.
• Strengthen culture and engagement: Ensure our values are felt and lived across the organization; that staff are supported to be at their best thanks to inclusive practices that build growth trust belonging creativity and execution speed.
• Own people analytics: Ship leadership dashboards (headcount hiring velocity/quality retention eNPS/voice performance distribution) to inform decisions and accountability.
• Operate with leverage: Keep the People team small senior and high-output; set SLAs clarify ownership and continuously remove friction for program and fundraising teams.
  
  

Compensation

At GiveDirectly we aim to pay generously and equitably. We benchmark total compensation (base bonus) to the 75th percentile for comparable roles and maintain a no-negotiation policy to promote equity across staff. The base salary will be benchmarked to the candidates location; we will share the relevant salary benchmark during the hiring process.Read more about our compensation philosophy here.

We are open to considering exceptional candidates at both the Senior Director and Vice President levels depending on experience and fit.

• The United States base salary range for this role is $154500 - $200000 depending on level with an additional 15% bonus.
• The Kenya base salary for this role is $120000 - $145000 depending on level with an additional 15% bonus.

This role is fully remote so 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.

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 supportive team that works hard and cares hard
• A robust health benefits plan (exact details will vary by country)
• Flexible paid time off that staff is encouraged to take
• Allowances for desk set-up and learning and development

#LI-REMOTE

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 pre-hire screens including in-depth 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.

Reasonable Accommodations

We are committed to fostering an inclusive and accessible work environment. If you require any accommodations during the application or interview process or to perform the essential functions of the role please email us at with the email subject Accommodation Needed. We will work with you to ensure reasonable accommodations are made to support your needs.

Want to put your best foot forward on your GiveDirectly application Take a look at our Candidate Application Prep Guide!