Bangladesh Senior Manager (Consultant)

Job Description

About this role

GiveDirectly’s field organization is growing fast: we recently doubled our country office footprint and are experimenting with a range of research and design questions from “How do you deliver cash in a country that has 1 bank for a district of 400,000 people?” to “What’s the impact of providing a universal basic income to 10,000+ individuals?”

We’ve defined a core “big bet” around expansion into the humanitarian response domain, both domestic and international. Our value proposition will focus on speed, flexibility, innovation and rigor. We’re looking for candidates who are able to deploy on short notice to an emergency. The ideal candidate will complete a minimum two year tour of duty, with potential to grow into a Director role and/or to work across a series of geographies and projects.

As part of GD’s launch team, you will hone your operational expertise with responsibilities that include: building new capabilities for targeting beneficiaries, deploying payments, and rapidly setting up in emergency settings; hiring and managing teams of field officers; and hitting quality and efficiency targets in a novel operational context. In addition to building readiness and providing boots on the ground, you will support the partnerships team to showcase our operational methodology and source funding from a range of donors.

Reports to: Lead Consultant, Bangladesh

Level: Senior Manager (Consultant)

What you’ll do:

End-to-end project management

• Fully own end-to-end design, planning, and execution of cash projects, and coordinate with external and internal stakeholders to ensure successful end-to-end execution
• Design and build operational models for new programs, including assessing trade-offs of different design decisions (e.g. targeting, payments, customer service)
• Manage partnerships with vendors, subgrantees/subcontractors and other external parties to support implementation
• Define, track, and report operational and efficiency metrics
• Dynamically identify operational vulnerabilities (e.g. fraud, brand risk, etc.) and create solutions to de-risk
• Hire, onboard, and manage high-quality field teams

Partnership management

• Establish and maintain high quality relationships with funders and operational partners.
• Drive communication and alignment across a variety of internal and external stakeholders including GD senior management, donors, operational partners, researchers, and payment providers
• Collaborate with partnerships team to create content to drive donor conversations and position GiveDirectly as a thought leader in the Bangladesh cash space.

Program development

• Ideate, evaluate, and drive new program opportunities, supporting end-to-end deal cycle from pitching to launch
• Conduct operational diligence, feasibility, and risk assessments for pilots and inbound proposal
• Identify and pursue fundraising opportunities for new programs

What you’ll bring:

• Working proficiency in English required, Bengali preferred.
• Ability to travel up to 30% required.
• 4-7+ years of work experience in a problem-solving heavy role (field management, consulting, analytics) at a high performing organization.
• Exceptional ability to logic through complex operational questions & run robust analyses to inform management and programming decisions.
• Preference for candidates with a strong partnership and relationship management background.
• Strong communications skills: Skilled in speaking, writing, presenting, and negotiating across multiple stakeholders.
• Enthusiasm for fast-paced environments, which may lack pre-defined playbook for success and involve significant “learning by doing”.
• Prior humanitarian or development experience in Bangladesh is a plus.
• 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.

About the Organization

About GiveDirectly

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 $700M since launching in 2011, delivered cash to more than 1 million people, and launched offices in 10 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.

We’re looking for exceptional talent to grow our collaborative, diverse team. Joining GiveDirectly provides the opportunity to work alongside individuals who come from 21 different countries and speak 69 different languages. We’re actively working toward an equitable and inclusive environment for all team members, and seek candidates who will bring diverse perspectives and experiences to our organization. We recruit from organizations across all industries: our team has hailed from sectors including start-ups, government, consultancies, investment banks, and nonprofits.

Across our global offices, our culture is candid, analytical, non-hierarchical, and fast-paced. We value ability, adaptability, and willingness to learn. We offer competitive salary and benefits, as well as performance-based bonuses.

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, including bonus
• 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.