PROGRAM MANAGER

POSITION: PROGRAM MANAGER

GiveDirectly

Location: Zomba, Malawi

Job Type: Full-Time

ABOUT THE ROLE

GiveDirectly has delivered more than $1B in cash directly to 2+ million people living in poverty across 15 countries since 2011. They are one of Time100's Most Influential Companies of 2026.
The Program Manager (PM) will own the overall process for field operations in GiveDirectly Malawi's flagship district transformation program. The PM will drive enrollment and payment targets while tracking team performance, working closely with district partners, mobile money partners, and district government counterparts. As the most senior GiveDirectly representative in the district, the PM will serve as the key "eyes and ears" resource in Malawi and will have significant responsibility and a high degree of autonomy in creating and managing a large team.

KEY REQUIREMENTS
• Demonstrated success in a high-performance work environment
• Exceptional leadership ability with demonstrated success in motivating and developing junior staff
• Strong interest in advancing the values and mission of GiveDirectly
• Exceptional communication, organizational, and analytical skills, including high proficiency with G-suite/Google Workplace
• At least 4–5 years of management experience, preferably managing managers
• Excitement about owning challenging management tasks, including mentoring and motivating direct reports and the broader field team
• Demonstrated ability to work in a highly independent and self-directed manner, while effectively communicating upward about gaps and risks
• Ability to manage day-to-day operations while simultaneously building more robust and efficient systems
• Experience overseeing operations aligned to a fixed budget
• Fluency in English
• Experience in cash transfer programming, social protection, humanitarian response, or a related field is a plus
• Comfort operating in both rural and urban field environments
• Master's degree preferred

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Project Management:
• Own end-to-end operations for enrollment, verification, and payment delivery, setting and tracking quantifiable targets (e.g., recipients enrolled and operational efficiency)
• Serve as the organization's engine for continuous improvement of enrolment and follow-up processes, and overall recipient experience
• Coordinate with mobile money and telecom partners to ensure smooth, secure payment delivery, and lead troubleshooting when payments are delayed
• Monitor security in areas of operations to ensure the team and recipients can operate safely
• Monitor operational and fraud risk in coordination with GiveDirectly's Internal Audit team; identify and close loopholes
• Uphold safeguarding standards across field operations, and design enrollment, payment, and community-engagement processes that prioritize recipients' safety
• Lead survey design and updates, and use data to track performance and inform decisions, working closely with GD's global Data team
• Build and maintain program documentation and knowledge-management materials for internal use and product development

People Management:
• Assist the HR Manager in hiring, training, and managing field staff, building a performance-oriented culture with regular feedback and development
• Run performance reviews for direct reports and build their capacity to do the same for their reports
• Role-model GiveDirectly's values, fostering a team culture that's ambitious, fast-paced, inclusive, and committed to excellence

Vision & Critical Thinking:
• Conceive, develop, and test new protocols and methods before initiating scale-up
• Anticipate areas of risk and create mitigation plans

Data and Analysis:
• Lead survey creation and updates for new and existing projects
• Guide and support direct reports on data inquiries, skill development, and data analysis
• Work effectively with GD's global tech team (framing needs and expectations, and holding self and others accountable to agreed timelines)

Partnerships & Government Relations:
• Establish and maintain strong relationships with government counterparts, donors, telecom/mobile money operators, and community-based partners
• Represent GiveDirectly in local coordination forums, and support hosting of donors, journalists, and other visitors
• Support partnership and fundraising efforts, tracking opportunities, contributing to proposals, and reporting to funders such as the World Bank

HOW TO APPLY
Apply online here:
👉 https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/givedirectly/jobs/4736178005