Technical Program Manager, Emergency Cash

Overview

Job Description

Responsibilities

• - Lead Technical Program Delivery for Emergency Responses: Embed (remotely or on-site) with the emergency response team during activations to manage end-to-end technical program delivery - leading scoping, requirements gathering, system configuration and implementation, QA and testing, troubleshooting, and closeout.
• - Collaborate with Product, Tech, Research, Engineering, Data, Payments, and Programs teams to ensure systems are aligned with programmatic objectives and work seamlessly in field conditions.
• - Ensure all systems comply with GD’s standards for data protection, privacy, and financial controls.
• - Manage technical training and onboarding for surge staff, collaborators, and local partners.
• - Strengthen Rapid Response Technical Readiness: Maintain and improve technical documentation, deployment guides, and incident-response protocols to ensure consistency and speed in future responses.
• - Partner with Programs and Engineering to develop product roadmaps and requirements, and prioritize and implement improvements that enhance emergency response scalability and reliability.
• - Track and report on technical readiness metrics (e.g. uptime, deployment speed, integration failures, data quality, testing coverage).
• - Lead and document technical design and implementation retrospectives, lessons learned and root cause analyses after each response to drive continuous improvement and contribute to product development strategies.
• - Support technical assessments, evaluations, testing and adoption of new products and solutions that strengthen emergency response technical capabilities.
• - Drive Safety, Risk Management, and Systems Resilience: Support risk assessments for systems and data flows in high-risk operating environments.
• - Identify and mitigate technical risks - including connectivity, data loss, device theft, fraud, system misuse - before and during activations.
• - Contribute to incident reviews to improve our safety and resilience protocols.

Required Skills

• - Exceptional alignment with GiveDirectly Values and active demonstration of our core competencies: emotional intelligence, problem solving, project management, follow-through, and fostering inclusivity.
• - 5+ years of professional experience; we welcome a wide range of relevant backgrounds (e.g. technical program management, product management, data analytics, software engineering, international development, emergency response, or management consulting).
• - Experience managing timelines, operational risk, stakeholders, and complex deliverables across multiple workstreams.
• - Proven ability to operate in fast-paced and ambiguous settings, exercising sound judgment to balance speed, risk, and quality.
• - Experience owning technical decisions when no predefined playbook exists, including evaluating novel technologies, system designs, and risks.
• - Working proficiency with a programming or statistical language (e.g. Python, R, Matlab, Java, Apex).
• - High attention to detail and strong instincts for analysis and validating data and code creatively and rigorously.
• - Structured approach to problem-solving and a drive to uncover and fix root causes rather than surface-level issues.
• - Ability to clearly communicate technical concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders across varied cultural, national, and social backgrounds.
• - Fluency in English.

Benefits

• - Base Salary: $107,070 (US)
• - Bonus at Target Performance: 10% (~$10,707, with potential for upside)
• - Estimated Total Compensation at Target: $117,777+
• - Annual Benefits Stipend: $21,393 (US)
• - Base Salary: £70,250 (UK)
• - Bonus at Target Performance: 10% (~£7,025, with potential for upside)
• - Estimated Total Compensation at Target: £77,275+
• - Annual Benefits Stipend: £2,760 (UK)
• - Base Salary: $72,550 (Kenya)
• - Bonus at Target Performance: 10% (~$7,255, with potential for upside)
• - Estimated Total Compensation at Target: $79,805+
• - Annual Benefits Stipend: $8,453 (Kenya)