Controller

Controller

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, delivered cash to more than 1.5 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, together come from 21 different countries speaking 69 different languages. From software engineers to seasoned humanitarian workers, former 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 flexibility, take care of each other, have fun, and create professional growth opportunities.

Location : Remote. African or European timezones preferred to maximize overlap with finance colleagues based in East Africa. Timezones in the Americas are feasible if you have a very early workday.

Job Type : Full-time. Interim for at least 6 months; seeking candidates interested in interim-to-permanent if the fit seems right on both sides. Priority Application Deadline : September 3rd, 2025

About this Role

We're looking for an exceptional controller to bring our accounting processes and systems up to the bar of the rest of GiveDirectly's operations - making them efficient, timely, reliable, and tech-driven. As Controller, you'll define how GiveDirectly's accounting processes work, who interacts with them, and how they produce reliable finished products in the form of our financial statements and tax filings. You'll develop and enforce internal controls, and work closely with our finance team as a hands-on manager, mentor, and leader.

Reports to : CFO

Level : Senior Director Responsibilities :

Accounting

• Manage all aspects of accounting; billing, financial statements, general ledger, cost accounting, payroll, accounts payable, accounts receivable, tax compliance, inventory accounting, cost accounting, revenue recognition, and various special analyses
• Oversee all accounts, ledgers, and reporting systems ensuring compliance with appropriate GAAP standards and regulatory requirements.
• Design and manage efficient and effective organizational accounting processes
• Manage the accounting team to a timely monthly close
• Ensure accurate and complete coding of transactions, so that budget-to-actuals can be viewed at the program / campaign level, functional level, and any other view needed by internal or external stakeholders

Auditing and Reporting

Controls

Team Management

Leverage the strengths of the current finance team members, and identify development areas Clarify roles and responsibilities to create an effective division of labor to maximize these strengths, and create efficient ways of working Provide hands-on mentorship, training, and professional development to the team where needed Set up effective processes for collaboration and communication within the team, and between the team and their stakeholders

Requirements :

For candidates not based in Africa, we also require :