Senior Manager, Marketing Strategy & Operations

About GiveDirectly 

What if the most effective way to fight poverty was also the simplest: give people money and trust them to decide what they need?

Since 2011, GiveDirectly has proven that idea at scale. We’ve delivered more than $1B in cash directly to 2+ million people living in poverty and crisis across 15 countries, and rigorous research shows the results: healthier kids, stronger businesses, sturdier homes, and more resilient families and local economies. Cash is now widely recognized as one of the most scalable, cost-effective, and dignified forms of aid.

Our ambition goes beyond our own programs. We want cash to become the benchmark for aid, much as the index fund became the benchmark for investing, so that every aid dollar is held to one question: is this doing more good than giving the money directly to people living in poverty?

We’re growing fast, and this is a rare and important moment to join.

We expect to hit $1B in revenue in 2026 with significant growth forecast for 2027. At the same time we are building a new technology stack and operating model designed for a roughly 10x change in scale, and we are actively pursuing partnerships with major funders to move even more money in bigger ways, to people who need it. We are known for our extensive integration of technology into field processes; our quantitative approach to performance measurement; and our commitment to rigorous, independent, experimental evaluation of our impact, with multiple Randomized Control Trials completed and others in progress.

How we work

Our team spans 20+ countries and 69 languages. Our culture is candid, analytical, and non-hierarchical. We expect high ownership and give people real responsibility early. Our values are central to how we hire, work, and grow, and they are deliberately opinionated:

1. Recipients first. Recipients’ preferences come before those of donors or ourselves.
2. Team next. We optimize for organizational success, not individual success.
3. Be proactively candid. We say what we believe and share information openly.
4. Create positive energy. We aim to be a source of energy for colleagues, not a drain.
5. Think rigorously; act quickly. We reason from first principles, then act rather than debate.
6. Know yourself and grow. We own our imperfections and seek feedback to grow.
7. Accept reality. Propose solutions. We focus on what can change and bring solutions, not just problems.
8. Be productively ambitious. We take risks for step-change impact, not incremental progress.

If they describe how you like to work and they energize you, this could be a great fit.

Want to learn more? Read and listen:

We are one of Time100’s Most Influential Companies of 2026, and our work has been covered by The Economist, NPR, TED, and The Washington Post. We're now preparing to deliver billions of dollars a year to people in extreme poverty, if funding allows. Read our CEO's essay on what that will take.

About this role:

As the Marketing Strategy and Operations Senior Manager, you will be the strategic right-hand implementer to the VP of Marketing. You will design and operate the marketing operating system that unlocks coordination and scale across the marketing ecosystem (content, media, social, paid, ambassadors, web, campaigns, automation). 

In this role you will not just create plans and processes but you will also own specific key initiatives providing hands-on support building, testing, and scaling new bets. You will draw on a deep understanding of B2B and B2C marketing tactics and channels.  

The role is scoped so you will spend 40% of your time on special marketing projects flexing to the areas that require resources and expertise. 

Another 40% will be spent on marketing ops or building the system the team runs on (ways of working, OKR setting, weekly staff meeting, coordination with other teams, retros, etc). 

Finally, 20% of your time will be spent on Chief of Staff-style work supporting the VP in thinking about marketing strategy, and articulating that vision and progress to the broader organization.   

Level: Senior Manager

Reports To: VP of Marketing

Location: At this stage of GiveDirectly’s growth and scale, we’re prioritizing hiring in the countries below, where we can employ you through a GD entity or an established employer of record: Cameroon, Canada, Colombia, DRC, Germany, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Netherlands, Nigeria, Poland, Portugal, Rwanda, South Africa, Spain, Turkey, Uganda, United Kingdom, and United States. This list reflects where our employment infrastructure is established today, and may evolve as we grow. If you’re based elsewhere and not open to relocation, we may not be able to consider your application for this role right now, but we’d encourage you to check back. Please note that we are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of employment Visas in the U.S. or U.K. at this time.

Travel Requirement: Must be able to travel ~2–5 times per year to one of our countries of operation for team retreats, meetings, field visits.

What you’ll do:

Marketing special projects and strategic initiatives 40%

• Lead complex cross-functional marketing projects from problem definition through design, launch, test, iteration, and scale while measuring qual and quant impact
• Support marketing teams who need extra capacity or expertise in high priority projects by offering hands-on flex support or ownership of defined sub-problem areas
• Partner with marketing leadership to propose, prioritize, and scope the project portfolio
• Define success metrics and test plans up front, and report results candidly, including what didn't work.
• Document what works, build playbooks, and hand off to a permanent owner or team

Marketing operations 40 %

Own annual and quarterly planning and OKR discipline, translating strategic intent into priorities, milestones, and measurable outcomes

• Analyze marketing performance, trends, and customer insights to identify growth levers
• Lead the org through operating change, including the transition to AI-enabled ways of working
• Own marketing budget and headcount planning with Finance, building integrated resource plans and tradeoff recommendation

Partner with People Team on headcount planning and scaling hiring plansManage key marketing vendor evaluations, procurement, and onboarding of new tools

Marketing Chief of Staff 20%

• Manage the leadership operating rhythm: staff meetings, business reviews, offsites, extended leadership meetings, all-hands, off-site retreats
• Act as a strategic thought partner and advisor to marketing leadership on key decisions, priorities, and emerging opportunities; provide high candor feedback to executive leadership
• Support leadership in navigating ambiguity, aligning stakeholders, team management, and driving execution

What you’ll bring:

• 5–7 years in strategy, chief of staff, management consulting, indie hacker, agency, or marketing/growth or GTM operations
• Experience with a wide range of tactics and channels (you don’t need them all): lifecycle marketing, SEO, SMS and push, paid channels, social, content, and creator, earned media, thought leadership, events, B2B and/or B2C, SaaS marketing, digital marketing, segmentation  
• A first-principles thinker who can break a complex process into parts, decide what to change, automate with AI, or keep human, and connect the dots across functions
• Proven record leading complex cross-functional initiatives in fast-paced, ambiguous environments
• Highly organized and detail-oriented, with strong program management skills
• Experience working with large marketing budgets: including forecasts, budgeting,  headcount planning, investment tradeoffs
• Experience with hiring, recruiting, and onboarding operations
• Excellent presentation skills; experience building exec-level decks
• Detail oriented, if you are reading the third to last bullet, congrats :) as a bonus here are a few tips. 1) don’t use AI in your writing for the application – really, it’s painfully obvious 95% of the time and I want to hire you not Claude 2) mention you saw this bullet in our interview :) 
• Experience managing executive operating rhythms, leadership meetings, business reviews, offsites, and planning forums
• Familiarity with common marketing tech stack tools 

Compensation

At GiveDirectly, we strive to pay our employees generously and equitably. We use an accredited third-party salary aggregator to calculate what we believe to be competitive pay based on role, location, and cost of living. We also have a no-negotiation policy to ensure we are paying staff equitably across roles. Read more about our compensation philosophy here. Unless otherwise noted, the benefits stipend may be used to cover benefits or taken as additional taxable income.

This role is fully remote, so if you are not based in Kenya, the US, or the UK, we will share an estimated salary benchmark for the country you are based in during the hiring process.

United States

• Base Salary: $120,750
• Bonus target: 10%
• Annual Benefits Stipend: $21,393

United Kingdom

• Base Salary: £77,600
• Bonus target: 10%
• Annual Benefits Stipend: £2,760

Kenya

• Base Salary: $83,820
• Bonus target: 10%
• Annual Benefits Stipend: $8,454

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!