Program Manager

GiveDirectly has delivered more than $1B in cash directly to 2+ million people living in poverty across 15 countries since 2011. We believe cash transfers are one of the most scalable, cost-effective, and dignified forms of aid, with the research to back it up. Our work has been covered by The Economist, NPR, TED, and The Washington Post. We are one of Time100’s Most Influential Companies of 2026. 

Our culture is candid, analytical, and non-hierarchical. We support high ownership and real professional growth. Curious about what it's really like to work here? Read our values and hear from the people who do. If they resonate, this could be a great fit!

Location: Remote, U.S.

This role is fully remote. Travel requirements are outlined below. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of employment Visas in the U.S. at this time. 

About this Role

Rx Kids is a universal, unconditional cash prescription program providing $1,500 during pregnancy and $500/month for the first year of a child's life to every expecting parent and infant in an Rx Kids community. Launched in Flint, Michigan in partnership with Michigan State University, Rx Kids has generated rigorous evidence of positive impacts at the community level and is currently expanding to new states, including Ohio.

The U.S. Program Manager will play a key role in driving and executing operations for the Rx Kids program, with an initial focus on Ohio operations. Primary responsibilities include leading end-to-end project management, coordinating with internal and external stakeholders, recruiting and managing field teams, 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. This role will ideally manage Ohio operations shortly after program launch in early September and will start with a compressed onboarding window as the team transitions from launch mode to steady-state. Successful candidates should be comfortable getting up to speed quickly and taking ownership with limited ramp-up time.

The Program Manager will work closely with the U.S. Programs and Partnerships Manager, Rx Kids Program Associates and the U.S. leadership team, as well as cross-functionally with programs, fundraising, and technology teams. This is an execution-focused role: you will be the subject matter expert on program details and day-to-day delivery. We are looking for candidates who are highly independent and solutions-oriented, have experience driving operational excellence and improvement, and who thrive in fast-paced environments. 

Program Managers should be able to:

• Build and manage work plans, basic budgets, and report out (internally and externally) on program progress
• Manage programs with little supervision, escalating and seeking support particularly during launch, expansion, and close, or in the instance of adverse events or partnership challenges 
• Coordinate effectively across internal and external stakeholders (partners, vendors, funders, cross-functional teams), proactively surfacing risks and keeping everyone aligned
• Oversee operational metrics to ensure program excellence 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
• Move fluidly between strategic ownership and hands-on tactical work as needed

Reports to: Senior Manager, U.S. Programs

Level: Manager

Travel Requirement: This role requires regular travel within the U.S. to support in-person activities related to partnership management and program delivery. Exact amounts of travel will vary, though we estimate up to approximately one week per quarter, with occasional travel thereafter for the program and twice yearly travel to other locations in the U.S. for team events.

What you’ll do:

This position will primarily support Rx Kids, a universal, unconditional cash allowance program targeted at expectant parents and infants. The program is running in 40+ communities in Michigan and is launching in new states, starting with Ohio. This role is expected to work closely with our program partners including our technical vendor, Michigan State University, and local community partners. Key responsibilities are described below (please note that percentage breakdowns are approximate and may vary):

Program Management & Delivery (50%)

• Play a core operations role, leading end-to-end project management, including assessing trade-offs of different design decisions
• Oversee application verification processes to drive fulfillment of service level agreements, including defining and reviewing operational efficiency metrics, with an eye to managing to improvement
• In coordination with GiveDirectly’s Recipient Safeguarding, escalate and support resolution of safeguarding cases
• Lead fraud monitoring and mitigation with GiveDirectly’s Internal Audit team
• Define and oversee customer service strategy and platform to ensure positive recipient experience and drive fulfillment of service level agreements, with an eye to managing to improvement
• Support Program Associate in managing  Customer Service, escalating performance issues and monitoring KPIs
• Monitor payment delivery and lead troubleshooting and crisis resolution
• Conduct data analysis to support program delivery, research partners, and other internal and external stakeholders
• Draft and maintain records of recipient facing notifications, communications, and other supporting documents
• Execute on program evaluation strategies, including surveys and focus group efforts, with direction and support from senior leadership
• Document program knowledge for internal knowledge management and recipient education
• Build and maintain workflows and records within back-end operational platforms

People Management (15%)

• Manage field staff, including one Cleveland-based Program Associate, to deliver high-quality customer service, operations, and programming
• Hire and onboard additional field staff as the program scales
• Collaborate closely with other team members and leaders to ensure consistency in program operations 

Partnership Management & Community Engagement (35%)

• Coordinate with internal and external stakeholders to ensure successful and timely operational execution
• Establish and maintain high-quality relationships with operational partners including funders, technical partners, and community-based organizations, including facilitating meetings and leading regular communications, with support from program associates

• Determine and execute on external communications and storytelling strategy in coordination with external and internal partners
• Lead vendor and partner scoping, evaluation, and management to enable effective program delivery
• Support partnership building and partner management by tracking fundraising opportunities, supporting proposal development and contracting, developing reports, coordinating with partners (e.g. consortia), and representing Rx Kids to wider audiences

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.
• A "player-coach" mindset, i.e. you are comfortable owning both strategic decisions and hands-on execution, including recipient-facing customer service work.
• 3+ years of experience in a role focused on project management and/or problem solving. Experience in or familiarity with maternal/child health, early childhood policy, cash, or a related domain is a plus.
• Ability to manage day-to-day operations while contributing to longer-term objectives and system improvements.
• Strong project management skills and the ability to manage multiple workstreams, recognizing the difference between “important” and “critical” while simultaneously building more robust, efficient systems.
• Analytical problem solving, looking at problems with an analytical and iterative mindset, with a strong framework for prioritization and ability to put structure and process to ambiguous problems.
• Strong critical thinking and judgment, you ask the right questions, synthesize information quickly, and make sound decisions with incomplete information
• Strong data analysis skills, comfort working with data, including an ability to ask the right questions, work with inconsistent or incomplete datasets, and translate findings into clear outputs.
• Strong communications skills, specifically in speaking, writing, presenting, and negotiating across multiple stakeholders.
• Strong organizational instincts, you build systems, maintain them, and proactively surface when something is at risk
• Ability to ramp up quick and work in a highly independent and self-directed manner, following through on assignments while effectively communicating upwardly about gaps and risks
• Fluency in English, proficiency in additional languages a plus.

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 / annually.

Annual Benefits Stipend: $21,392

Annual Bonus: 10%

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
• 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.

About the hiring process

Format: The hiring process for applications for this open position is as follows:
Individual interview (30 minutes)

Skills Test (Approximately 2 hours)

Panel interview (1 hour)
Final interview (45 minutes)
Reference checks (30 mins each)

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 careers@givedirectly.org. 

**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.**

Working at GiveDirectly

GiveDirectly is an Equal Opportunity Employer. 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.

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

Commitment to Safeguarding

As a global organization working with communities to eliminate extreme poverty, 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 abuse or misconduct related matters involving potential new hires. We may also employ other robust pre-hire screens, including in-depth reference checks, criminal background checks, and sanctions screens.

These efforts help us continue to build and maintain trust with the communities we work with, and prevent abuse to our recipients and staff.

**GD is committed to observing all local, national and international laws that protect people and basic human rights of all. GD is committed to a policy of “zero tolerance when it comes to preventing,  reporting, or responding to any form of abuse or  exploitation.” and expects anyone who works for GD to uphold the protection and safeguarding of our recipients as a priority.**

Reasonable Accommodations

We are committed to fostering an inclusive and accessible work environment. If you require any accommodations during the application or interview process, or to perform the essential functions of the role, please email us at careers@givedirectly.org with the email subject “Accommodation Needed”. We will work with you to ensure reasonable accommodations are made to support your needs.

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

Referrals

Know the right person for this role? Please consider referring them. We offer a reward of $3,000 for a Senior Manager or above role, and $500 for a Manager role, paid if we end up hiring your referral. Thank you for sending great people our way!