Associate, Special Projects (Remote)

GiveDirectly•New York, NY

17h•Remote

About The Position

GiveDirectly (GD) aims to reshape international giving – and millions of lives – by providing cash grants directly to the world’s 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 and delivered cash to more than 2 million people in 15 different countries. We’ve 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 GD’s 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, span 21 different countries and 69 languages. From software engineers to seasoned humanitarian workers, management consultants to public servants, researchers to field operations -- it’s 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 high ownership, flexibility, take care of each other, have fun, and create professional growth opportunities. GiveDirectly’s Special Projects team is a lean, high-performing team that supports the organization’s highest-priority fundraising opportunities in close partnership with senior leadership. The team works on bespoke, high-value initiatives with major philanthropies and partners, often involving complex coordination across fundraising, programs, product, research, and finance. As Associate, Special Projects, you will play a critical support role across the team’s portfolio of work. You will help scope and research new opportunities, build and maintain the systems that enable high-quality execution, support donor engagement and events, and jump in where needed to move priority fundraising efforts forward. This is a great role for someone who is highly organized, intellectually curious, and excited to work across strategy, donor engagement, operations, and execution in a fast-paced, mission-driven environment.

Requirements

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.
A track record of tenacious problem solving and getting things done.
Exceptional organization and attention to detail, paired with consistent reliability and strong follow-through.
3+ years of experience in a fast-paced, high-performance environment (e.g., consulting, start-up, nonprofit).
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, especially for high-stakes and external-facing materials, with a continuous desire to improve those skills.
Comfort juggling multiple priorities and adapting as needs shift.
Genuine enthusiasm for GiveDirectly’s mission and the opportunity to catalyze step-change organizational growth and impact for recipients.
Strong alignment with our values, and ability to actively demonstrate 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.

Nice To Haves

Experience applying AI tools to streamline workflows and improve productivity.

Responsibilities

Support the execution of high-priority fundraising initiatives, working closely with Special Projects team and senior leadership
Contribute to the development of concept notes, pitch decks, briefing materials, and engagement plans for major donors and partners
Help coordinate cross-functional inputs from Programs, Product, Research, Finance, and Programs teams
Research and “sleuth” potential new funders, partners, and strategic opportunities
Support early-stage scoping of new ideas by gathering background research, synthesizing insights, and flagging promising leads
Track emerging themes and opportunities relevant to GiveDirectly’s fundraising and program ambitions
Build and maintain systems, trackers, and documentation that help the Special Projects team operate efficiently and at high quality
Support Salesforce and internal tracking to ensure engagement records, timelines, and deliverables are up to date
Help institutionalize learnings from donor engagements and special projects to improve future work
Support logistics, preparation, and follow-up for donor meetings, events, and field visits
Help ensure donor experiences are thoughtful, well-coordinated, and aligned with GiveDirectly’s values and strategy