Interim Program Manager, US

About GiveDirectly

GiveDirectly (GD) provides cash grants directly to people living in extreme poverty. Since launching in 2011, GD has raised over $1B, delivered cash to more than 1.5 million recipients, launched operations in 15 countries, and continues to expand its reach across the Global South. GD has also grown the research base supporting unconditional cash with 20 randomized control trials from its programs, generating rigorous evidence across countries and contexts. 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 GD's leading role within it) has been featured in the New York Times Magazine, This American Life, Foreign Affairs, and The Economist.

Across our global offices, our culture is candid, analytical, non-hierarchical, and agile. We work alongside 750+ individuals who come from 21 different countries and speak 69 different languages. Team members at GiveDirectly attest that diversity, equity, and inclusion are not just buzzwords, but a fundamental part of our culture and values. We actively seek to recruit individuals from the communities we serve, and use DEI as a lens in our hiring practices, programs, and initiatives. Our goal is to maintain a workplace where everyone can bring their authentic selves to work, and feel valued and respected for who they are. We strive to be inclusive of all cultures and experiences while upholding our values globally. In the spirit of our "Know Yourself and Grow" value, we recognize there is always room to improve our team's working experience. But day to day, we aim to "Create Positive Energy" - we take care of one another, have fun, aim to maximize flexibility and accessibility in roles, and pursue professional development opportunities to stay challenged & engaged in our work.

We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer, and we do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other status protected by law.

Job Type: This is a full-time position which concludes in August 2025 once the program ends. This is a project-based position, which means it is contingent upon funding.

Location: Remote, U.S.-based; preference for central or eastern time zone. Note: We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of employment visas in the U.S. at this time.

About this role

Since 2017, GiveDirectly has provided cash relief to low-income Americans affected by disasters. Between 2020 and 2021, we distributed $200M to 200,000 households in response to the COVID-19 crisis - 100% remotely. In 2021, GiveDirectly launched a permanent U.S. team to implement cash programs in disaster response and guaranteed income. As part of this effort, we launched the largest guaranteed income program focused on Black women in the U.S., and administered two of the largest government-funded GI programs in the country in Chicago, IL and Cook County, IL.

GiveDirectly has been selected as the program administrator for a cash program in Chicago, IL, targeting homeless families. Applications to participate in the program will open in Q4 2024.

The Program Manager will play a key role in driving and executing operations across the program. Primary responsibilities will include leading end-to-end project management, coordinating with internal and external stakeholders, working with a technical partner to design application form flows, recruiting and managing a team, and driving operational excellence and improvement. Managers may be asked to support partnerships and positioning through research, contributing to proposals, and occasionally will own relationships with funders and partners.

Program Managers should be able to:

• Manage steady state programs with little supervision, escalating and seeking support particularly during launch and close, or in the instance of adverse events or partnership challenges
• Build and manage workplans, basic budgets, and report out (internally and externally) on program progress
• Work with our technology provider to outline tech specs and flows
• Help define "good" in a program and oversee operational metrics to ensure program quality and drive improvement
• Communicate clearly and effectively, internally and externally, about project goals and how they connect to team and org-wide strategy and impact

Reports to: Senior Manager

Level: Manager

Travel Requirement: This position requires domestic travel, up to 20%.

What you'll do:

Program Management

• Play a core operations role for the program, leading end-to-end project management as well as supporting Senior Program Managers and the Country Director on other tasks, as required
• Support with designing the operational model for the program, including assessing trade-offs of different design decisions (e.g., targeting, payments, customer service)
• Support with dynamically identifying operational vulnerabilities (e.g. fraud, brand risk, etc.) and creating solutions to de-risk
• Coordinate with internal stakeholders to ensure successful and timely operational execution
• Define and review operational and efficiency metrics, with an eye to managing to improvement
• Manage dedicated project staff, including a program associate and community engagement coordinators
• Lead community outreach and mobilization plan, including identifying and recruiting community based organization outreach partners.
• Cultivate and maintain relationships with key community members, local service organizations, government agency officials, and elected officials
• Define project-level field staffing needs, oversee/drive recruitment, and directly manage field teams (e.g. call center/help desk, enrollment teams) to deliver high-quality operations and programming

Tech

• Translate program operational needs into technical specifications
• Draft workflows and copy for program forms, surveys, and other technical processes (e.g. intake forms, payment surveys, etc.)
• Conduct and participate in robust user testing of technical tools and processes and organize testing feedback into actionable improvement requests
• Collaborate with internal and external tech stakeholders and vendors to ensure alignment with data protection policies and best practices

Partnership Management

• Support routine reporting (financial, narrative) to funders and other partners, with oversight from Senior Managers/Country Director
• Lead vendor and partner scoping, evaluation, and management to enable effective program delivery
• Establish and maintain high quality relationships with operational partners including funders (e.g. local government partner) when they are engaged in operations and delivery
• Cultivate and maintain relationships with key community members, local service organizations, government agency officials, and elected officials

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.
• 4+ years of work or volunteer experience in a role that required problem solving and project management
• Ability to work with technology providers and understand tech specs and workflows
• Exceptional communication, organizational, and analytical skills
• Proficiency in Excel
• Ability to manage day-to-day operations and propose and implement process improvements
• Demonstrated ability to work in a highly independent and self-directed manner, while effectively communicating upwardly about gaps and risks
• Enthusiasm for fast-paced environments, which may lack a pre-defined playbook for success and involve significant "learning by doing"
• Experience working in or with government agencies
• Ability to work as a team member with personal enthusiasm, optimism, humility, and a sense of humor.
• Ability to travel locally throughout the program period and ~1-2 times per year to one of our areas of operation for team retreats or field visits
• Language Requirement: English
• Language Preferences: We encourage candidates who are bilingual in any of Chicago's commonly used languages (e.g., Spanish) to apply

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.

The United States base salary for this role is $94,700

Read more about our ongoing diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts here and about our decision to move our central support teams to remote first here.

GiveDirectly is an Equal Opportunity Employer that values the strength diversity brings to the workplace. 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.

US applicants only: We invite you to "Know Your Rights" as an applicant.

About the hiring process

Format: The hiring process follows the same general outline for all open roles:

First interview (30 mins)
Take home skills assignment (~2 hours)
Second interview (1 hour)*
Third interview (1 hour)*
Final interview (1 hour)
Reference checks (30 mins each)

*For some roles, second & third interviews are combined into a panel interview. If there are adjustments or variations on this process, those changes will be communicated during the first interview.

Venue: We conduct interviews over Google Meet with camera on (unless communicated otherwise).

Accessibility: Closed captioning is available during all Google Meet interviews, and interviewers will also post interview questions in the chat box throughout the call. If you need assistance accessing either of these features, please let your interviewer know at the start of your interview

We're committed to running an inclusive and accessible application process for all of our open roles. If there are questions or concerns you have about the accessibility of our hiring process, we warmly invite you to reach out to Please include the word "Accessibility" in the email title.

**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.**

#LI-REMOTE

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