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.
Location: This role is fully remote but must be based in Africa, preferably in one of our countries of operation (Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, DRC, Malawi, Mozambique, Morocco, Liberia)..
About this role
As an organization where cash is at the heart of what we do, our finance systems are critical to getting cash into recipients’ hands, and making better decisions about how to deliver our programs efficiently and effectively.
This role is an opportunity to become the technical owner of critical finance systems. Success in this role looks like us having high trust in our accounting system, easy to use tools for employees to log timesheets and expenses, and trusted, reliable financial data that enables us to make data-driven decisions to ultimately drive more dollars to recipients. For example, in your first year, projects will include evaluating and implementing a new expense reporting software, automating and streamlining employee onboarding and offboarding from finance systems access, and setting up monitoring to identify and prevent data quality issues. You are a systems thinker who can balance urgent requests with investments that improve the way we work over the long term. You are obsessed with improving data quality, recognizing that it is the foundation to being data-driven. You design systems that minimize the risk of errors in data entry, set up tools to monitor data quality, and effectively work with stakeholders to fix errors as they arise. You like being the front-line interface between tech and users across the org - and are good at explaining technical processes to non-technical users.
Reports to: SM, Information Security and IT
Level: Manager
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. If based outside of Nairobi, must be able to travel an additional 1-2 times per year to Nairobi for colocation with the finance team.
Contract: This role is a 12-month fixed-term contract with the possibility of extension, though the extension is not guaranteed.
What you’ll do:
Own finance tech systems
- Own the administration, configuration, and integration of finance tech systems (including accounting, expenses, timesheets, and payments)
- Lead development of finance tech systems strategy to ensure the finance team has the right software tools to operate productively and securely, and lead initiatives to implement that strategy
- Build a deep understanding of finance needs, and use that to anticipate and remove obstacles and leverage tech to drive improvements
Provide user support to org-wide users
- Respond to user requests through our ticketing system, such as adding new vendors or troubleshooting access
- Ensure effective user access and permissions management, and timely onboarding and offboarding of users
- Provide training and support to users across the organization
Ensure trusted, reliable financial data
- Create and uphold data quality contracts for core finance data
- Interface with engineers and data architects on integrations and ensure that finance data is available and usable for reporting org-wide
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: English
- 4+ years of relevant professional experience in financial systems management, accounting/finance, or IT systems with a focus on financial applications
- Knowledge of IT security best practices and secure configuration of cloud-based software tools
- Deep expertise with accounting software (Sage Intacct a bonus)
- Knowledge of accounting principles and financial reporting standards
- Experience with budgeting, forecasting, and financial modeling
- Deep expertise with Microsoft Excel/Google Sheets; strong ability to extract, clean, and manipulate large data sets
- Strong initiative and ability to drive process improvements that impact multiple teams
- High attention to detail and to high quality customer service
- Systematic approach to troubleshooting technical problems and finding the root cause
- Strong project management experience; comfortable managing complex timelines and multiple stakeholders
- Ability to communicate technical concepts to a variety of technical and non-technical stakeholders, including finance, programs, and fundraising teams
- Bonus but not required: accounting experience
- Bonus but not required: experience working with relational databases (e.g. SQL)
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 Kenya annual base salary for this role is $61,900
This role is fully remote, so if you are not based in 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 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)
- Unlimited PTO (that we encourage staff to take!)
- Desk allowance and flexible work location
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.
Commitment to Safeguarding
As a global organization serving some of the world’s most vulnerable communities, GiveDirectly takes the safeguarding of its recipients, staff, and partners seriously. To that end, GiveDirectly is a member of the Misconduct 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.
Venue and Accessibility
We conduct interviews over Google Meet with camera on (unless communicated otherwise).
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 [email protected]. Please include the word "Accessibility" in the email title.
Want to put your best foot forward on your GiveDirectly application? Take a look at our Candidate Application Prep Guide!
What We Do
GiveDirectly (GD) aims to reshape international giving – and millions of lives – by allowing donors to provide cash grants directly to the world’s poorest. We believe in elevating recipient choice and committing to transparency around metrics and evidence, taking rigorous, impact-driven approach to accelerating the end of extreme poverty.
Why Work With Us
We are a values-driven, multinational team committed to empowering those living in poverty. $70B in cash transfers would be required to eliminate the poverty gap; the aid sector currently spends $135B each year, much of which is allocated to evidence-free interventions. GiveDirectly wants to change that and accelerate the end of extreme poverty.
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