Manager - Special Projects

About this role

GiveDirectly’s Special Projects team is a lean, high-performing team within the Philanthropy team that drives or supports the organization’s highest-priority strategic fundraising opportunities in close partnership with the CEO. As Special Projects Manager, you will own and support the execution of bespoke, high-value fundraising initiatives, with a focus on major private philanthropies. You will collaborate closely with Fundraising teams and internal partners across programs, finance, and country teams to develop compelling pitch materials, manage internal coordination around field visits and donor engagement, and lead special projects across fundraising teams and the CEO’s office.

This is the role for you if you thrive in fast-paced, high-stakes environments, are a proactive and structured project manager, and bring excellent written communication and donor-facing instincts. You should be energized by strategic ambiguity, being part of a high-performing and low-ego team, able to shift between high-level strategy and granular detail, and deeply committed to driving impact for recipients.

Reports to: Director, Special Projects

Level: Manager

Location: Remote, with preference for New York City

Travel Requirement: Must be able to travel ~1–2 times per year to one of our countries of operation for team retreats, donor field visits, or other events.

Responsibilities include:

Fundraising Strategy & Project Management:

• Lead cross-functional project execution on urgent, high-value donor initiatives with superlative attention to detail and follow-through

• Support development of concept notes, pitch documents, decks, and proposals for our highest-priority cash programs and new concepts

• Coordinate logistics and both internal and external briefing materials for donor field visits and meetings, including but not limited to the CEO’s engagements

• Build and execute against creative strategies to reach the highest-value funders and partners

Writing & Donor Communications:

• Draft and iterate on high-quality donor materials including concept notes, reports, pitch decks, and emails

• Translate complex programmatic and research information into compelling, accessible narratives for different audiences

• Provide strategic briefings informed by deep research for CEO and senior leadership ahead of key meetings

Systems & Knowledge Management:

• Maintain up-to-date engagement records, calendars, and reporting via Salesforce and internal trackers

• Manage grants-related workflows including reporting deadlines and donor stewardship

• Help institutionalize knowledge from donor engagements to strengthen future pitches

We’re looking for candidates who:

• Are tenacious problem solvers who get things done

• Bring excellent written and verbal communication skills, especially for high-stakes and external-facing materials, with a continuous desire to improve those skills

• Are strong project managers and ruthless prioritizers, comfortable self-structuring workstreams across multiple priorities and stakeholders

• Thrive in fast-paced environments with ambiguous problems and proactively identify areas for improvement and innovation

• Are energized by GiveDirectly’s mission and the opportunity to catalyze step-change organizational growth and impact for recipients

• Are equally comfortable navigating relationships and working directly with senior leaders and executive assistants

• Have 4+ years of experience in a fast-paced, high-performance environment (e.g., consulting, start-up, nonprofit)

• Are strongly aligned with our values, and who actively demonstrate 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.

• Bonus: experience with Canva or other design tools; experience with Salesforce or similar CRM systems; experience in philanthropy or international development

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. Read more about our compensation philosophy here.

• The United States base salary for this role is $94,700.

• The Kenya base salary for this role is $61,900.

• The UK base salary for this role is £61,200.00.