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 $1B since launching in 2011 and delivered cash to more than 2 million people in 15 different 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.

Our culture is candid, analytical, agile, and non-hierarchical. Our global team of ~150, and country operations teams of ~650, span 21 different countries and 69 languages. From software engineers to seasoned humanitarian workers, management consultants to public servants, researchers to field operations -- it’s an incredible group of people.

Our values are central and deliberately opinionated. We genuinely center the people we serve in our decision-making, and strive to build an ambitious, dynamic and high-performing environment. We strongly encourage you to read through our values carefully, if they reflect how you like to work and energize you, this could be a great fit.

We work hard to create an environment in which all our team members can thrive, succeed, and grow. We support high ownership, flexibility, take care of each other, have fun, and create professional growth opportunities.

About The Role

GiveDirectly is seeking a strategic, well-connected Surrogates, Influencers, and Partnerships Lead to scale our external earned and sponsored partnerships. This role owns the strategy, relationship management, and execution of these campaigns.

We define surrogates and influencers as anyone who has an audience (following on social, YouTube, podcast, Substack/newsletter, faculty, etc) that is not part of a traditional media organization (NPR, NYTimes).

Meaningful mentions from trusted public figures are one of GiveDirectly's most important communications channels. By growing our work here, you will help further our mission to end extreme poverty and improve crisis response by transferring cash directly to people in need.

Our past efforts have been a mix of paid and unpaid, some with fundraising appeals and others just amplification/mention: Substackers, podcasters, Mr. Beast, Ahmed Shaikh , Elsa Majimbo, Rutger Bregman.

Your goal would be to leverage meaningful endorsements that maximize reach/awareness to high-value audiences (those able to make $1m+ gifts, especially in tech/finance industries), helping initiate funding conversations.

Beyond individual surrogates, this role also owns our nascent brand and media partnership strategy — identifying fintech platforms, personal finance media, consumer brands, and other major organizations where GiveDirectly's mission creates natural co-branding opportunities.

You will lead a small team and partner closely with Earned Media, Marketing, and Fundraising.

This role is ideal for someone who combines strong relationship management across the thought leader & creator media landscape with the creative instincts to turn those partnerships into compelling, high-impact campaigns.

Reports to: VP, Marketing
Level: Director or Senior Director depending on experience & scope
Location: Remote with preference for San Francisco / New York / LA / DC / London for in-person networking
Time zone: the selected candidate will need to overlap at least 2 hours with East Africa Time working hours some working days.
Travel: ~3–8 trips annually (team retreats, partner visits, events, and/or program visits)

What You’ll Do

Own our surrogate & marketing partnership strategy: Improving our approach & measurement, ensuring we are pursuing best tactics across a portfolio of approaches and relationships.
Build new and existing surrogate relationships: Proactively identify, vet, and cultivate relationships with creators and public figures across GiveDirectly's cause areas at scale and with speed.
Identify and close brand & media partnerships: Proactively develop relationships with fintech platforms, media, consumer brands, and other major organizations to broker co-branded campaigns, product integrations (e.g. round-up giving features), and editorial partnerships that drive awareness and donations among high-value audiences.
Structure value-exchange deals: Design partnership models where both parties benefit — whether through audience access, co-branded content, or product features — reducing reliance on paid-only arrangements. Ensure cause-marketing agreements operate smoothly
Oversee campaigns (earned and sponsored): Ensure high quality execution of formal surrogate or partner campaigns from briefing through post-campaign analysis.
Developing briefs, guiding creators/corporates on messaging, and aligning content to GiveDirectly’s voice/mission.
Conduct reporting and measurement: Define and own the KPI framework for this work, tracking reach, engagement, and donation attribution.
Manage and develop a team of two (a Manager and an Associate): setting clear priorities and actively coaching the team for continual improvement.
Understand social trends and what drives the connection between the surrogates/corporates and GiveDirectly: Maintain a current understanding of the creator economy — emerging platforms, shifting audience behaviors, and what motivates public figures and companies to champion causes
Support our earned media & thought leadership: input to our press, media, and thought leadership, ensure coherence and complementarity with surrogates work

What Success Looks Like In 12–18 Months

Deep surrogate relationships built by cause area (force ranked):

Extreme poverty – our core product focused on lifting people out of extreme poverty (today this work is all in Africa) – this is where web donations default to
Emergency cash – we’re responding to headline-grabbing crises, with a moonshot of delivering cash in 5 days to any crisis anywhere in the world
Maternal / child health – this product focuses on optimizing child and maternal health based off recent evidence showing child mortality can drop by almost half
US poverty – work in the United States focuses on poverty reduction and emergency cash. Most surrogate partnerships will focus on the latter
1–2 brand or media partnerships live: At least one formal partnership with a fintech, personal finance media company, or consumer brand that drives measurable reach or donation volume.
Unique post donate experience for surrogate / brand supporters: both surrogates/brands and their supporters get unique content driven experience (interactive reports, tech driven experience, exclusive content)
High performing team collaborating internally and externally: high performance team that has built trust internally and externally with surrogates
Test 2-4 big bets: we have ambition to launch exciting and large campaigns with surrogates and partners. At 18 months you will have tested multiple bets (and hopefully identified) identified 1+ to scale

What You’ll Bring

6+ years of influencer, surrogate or corporate partnerships related experience (head of influencer marketing, booker, talent manager, partnership manager, media relations, cause marketer etc.), a deep understanding of the creators (podcasters, journalists, Substackers, YouTubers, etc) and public intellectuals (tech, finance, econ, etc.), and a proven track record of success.
Autonomous with high operational rigor: A self-starter comfortable operating in ambiguity, with strong project management skills and the ability to move fast without sacrificing quality or follow-through.
Exceptional communicator & relationship builder: Ability to brief and inspire creators while representing GiveDirectly's mission authentically across a wide range of voices and audiences, maintaining a relationship as peers/friends rather than transactional arrangements.
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.

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.

United States (Director Level)

Base Salary: $128,000
Bonus at Target Performance: 15% (~$19,200, with potential for upside. For reference, with the organization’s current performance multiplier, this amount would be $22,464 in 2025)
Estimated Total Compensation at Target: $147,200+
Annual Benefits Stipend: $21,393

United States (Senior Director Level)

Base Salary: $145,000
Bonus at Target Performance: 15% (~$21,750, with potential for upside. For reference, with the organization’s current performance multiplier, this amount would be ~$25,447.50 in 2025)
Estimated Total Compensation at Target: $166,750+
Annual Benefits Stipend: $21,393

United Kingdom (Director Level)

Base Salary: £87,500
Bonus at Target Performance: 15% (~£13,125, with potential for upside. For reference, with the organization’s current performance multiplier, this amount would be £15,356.25 in 2025)
Estimated Total Compensation at Target: £100,625
Annual Benefits Stipend: £2,760

United Kingdom (Senior Director Level)

Base Salary: £106,374
Bonus at Target Performance: 15% (~£15,956.10, with potential for upside. For reference, with the organization’s current performance multiplier, this amount would be ~£18,668.64 in 2025)
Estimated Total Compensation at Target: £122,330.10
Annual Benefits Stipend: £2,760

NOTE: this role has been posted under different cities at various points to attract more candidates but is just for one open, fully remote position. If you applied for one, you do not need to apply any others under these names.

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!

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