Data Associate

GiveDirectly is the first — and largest — nonprofit that lets donors like you send money directly to the world’s poorest. We believe people living in poverty deserve the dignity to choose for themselves how best to improve their lives — cash enables that choice.
Since 2009, we’ve delivered over $140 million in cash directly into the hands of over 130,000 families living in poverty.
We read the research. We read more research. Then we did our own research. And it turns out, people use cash on medicine; cows and goats and chickens; school fees; water; solar lights; tin roofs; irrigation; motorcycles to jumpstart taxi services; businesses to generate income; and more.

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 scalably. We are seeking a data associate responsible for designing and implementing our data systems for enrolling and paying recipients.
• This role is an opportunity to deepen your project management skills and gain experience writing code. 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.

This role is fully remote but must overlap with an East Africa timezone by at least 4 hours.

Reports to: Senior Technical Program Manager

Level: Associate

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

What You’ll Do

• Partner with our field operations team to design and operationalize new cash delivery program launches, helping GiveDirectly to reach more people across more geographies
• Build, manage, and implement the technology used to deliver those program launches, from surveys for enrolling recipients to the data model used to store data about payments in Salesforce (our central recipient data store)
• Debug and resolve issues across multiple layers of our technology stack, including Salesforce and our offline survey app
• Scope and manage cross-cutting systems improvements to improve efficiency, scale, and/or recipient experience with mentorship
• Write code (usually Python) for automating and improving our processes
• Own the end-to-end technology of cash transfer projects that build off of standard operational models

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
• At least 2 years of professional experience (we welcome a range of skill sets and backgrounds; related fields could include finance, data analytics, project management, program management, international development, or management consulting)
• Strong data skills: able to leverage tools to extract, clean, manipulate, and analyze data to make operational decisions
• Deep comfort with Microsoft Excel/Google Sheets
• Strong project management experience: experience in managing timelines, stakeholders, and complex deliverables
• Significant interest in technology, systems design and building
• Ability to collaborate inclusively with stakeholders across varied social, national, and cultural backgrounds, including communicating technical concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders
• Intermediate experience with a programming/statistical language (like Python, R, Matlab, Java, or Apex). Note: this job could include business logic and analysis automation, but it is not an engineering or data science job.

Method of Application