Remote Sensing Analyst [Contractor]

GiveDirectly • New York, NY

1d • Remote

About The Position

GiveDirectly is launching an exploratory research initiative to understand the market-level economic effects of cash transfers—moving beyond household impacts to measure how cash circulation affects local markets, prices, firm dynamics, and economic activity. To advance this ambitious research agenda, we're seeking a Remote Sensing Analyst to lead a three-month pilot project that will test whether satellite imagery and geospatial analysis can serve as cost-effective, scalable proxies for measuring market transformation in cash transfer contexts.
You will work closely with our research team to design and implement a feasibility study using satellite imagery, telecom data, and geospatial analysis tools to track agricultural patterns, infrastructure changes, and population movement as indicators of market-level economic effects. This is a rare opportunity to help pioneer a novel methodology for development research in-house at an implementing organization—one that could unlock new ways to measure economic multiplier effects and structural transformation in low-income settings. You'll own the technical execution of the pilot, from sourcing imagery and developing analysis scripts to documenting findings and recommending next steps for the potentially larger application of these methods.

Requirements

• Exceptional alignment with GiveDirectly Values and active demonstration of our core competencies: intellectual humility, problem-solving, project management, follow-through, and attention to practical constraints.
• Strong geospatial and remote sensing expertise: Demonstrated experience with satellite imagery analysis, GIS platforms (ArcGIS, QGIS), and geospatial data interpretation.
• Familiarity with commonly used geospatial and remote sensing datasets (e.g., Sentinel-2, Landsat, VIIRS nighttime lights, WorldPop, OpenStreetMap).
• Technical programming skills: Proficiency in Python, R, or similar languages for geospatial data processing and analysis; ability to write clean, documented, reproducible code.
• Hypothesis-driven thinking: Ability to translate economic and social research questions into technical geospatial proxies; experience working with or supporting economics projects a plus.
• Resourcefulness with data: Experience sourcing, evaluating, and working with open-source or cost-effective data sources; comfort troubleshooting data quality and availability constraints.
• Clear communication: Ability to explain technical findings to non-specialists; strong documentation practices; comfort translating between research and implementation teams.

Nice To Haves

• We welcome and strongly encourage applications from candidates with experience in or commitment to international development, poverty reduction, or the Global South.
• Candidates should have access to a high-performance computing environment (or cloud computing resources) capable of processing and analyzing large-scale satellite imagery and geospatial datasets.

Responsibilities

• Lead geospatial analysis design: Work with the GiveDirectly research team to translate research hypotheses about market effects into testable geospatial proxies (e.g., agricultural intensification, road quality, population clustering, infrastructure development).
• Source and evaluate imagery options: Identify, assess, and procure satellite imagery or telecom data from various sources (open-source platforms, public datasets, etc.) for study areas; evaluate data quality, temporal resolution, and suitability for hypothesis testing.
• Conduct exploratory analysis, and interpret findings: Execute spatial analysis on smaller samples of pilot data to detect changes in agricultural composition, cultivation intensity, infrastructure, and spatial patterns of economic activity, based on the rollout of GiveDirectly’s past programs. Synthesize technical results into clear insights about whether remote sensing can effectively detect market transformation; assess validity of proxies against conceptual models of economic multiplier effects.
• Develop repeatable analysis scripts: Build reproducible, well-documented code (Python/R/GIS tools) for automated detection and quantification of landscape and infrastructure changes over time, making methodology transparent and shareable across GiveDirectly.
• Document and communicate: Create clear technical documentation, methodology notes, and findings summaries suitable for both technical and non-technical audiences; contribute to defining a scope of work for potential scaling.

Benefits

• Estimated total compensation for this 3-month contract: To be determined based on candidate experience and geographic location. GiveDirectly is committed to competitive, equitable compensation for contract roles.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Part-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: No Education Listed