Director of Data

Summary

Join GiveDirectly as their Director of Data and lead their data infrastructure, strategy, and analytics function. You will improve recipient outcomes, efficiency, and revenue by enhancing organizational decision-making and using data to communicate GD's impact to donors. Lead a team responsible for the entire analytics stack, from developing the data lakehouse to conducting deep analyses for major decisions. Collaborate with leaders across departments to understand business needs and prioritize data product development. You will be hands-on, setting a high technical bar while participating in strategic leadership discussions. This role requires significant experience in data engineering, analytics, or data science, along with people management expertise.

Requirements

• Exceptional alignment with GiveDirectly Values and active demonstration of our core competencies: emotional intelligence, problem solving, project management, follow-through, and fostering inclusivity
• 8+ years of relevant experience in data engineering, analytics, or data science
• 4+ years of people management experience with a track record of developing high performing teams
• Demonstrated expertise in guiding business decisions with data and designing metrics
• Track record of being able to impact change even without direct formal authority
• Strong ability to navigate ambiguity, many stakeholders, and competing priorities and create clear focus for the team
• Strong product mindset and ability to pair deep understanding of business needs with technical expertise to spot high leverage opportunities
• Strong ability to communicate complex technical concepts effectively across cross-functional teams and senior business and technical stakeholders
• Strong understanding of engineering and data science best practices to be able to create systems and processes that make the team more effective, and to prioritize technical investments against new features
• Proficiency in SQL, Python, and modern data stack tools (e.g., Databricks, Snowflake, or BigQuery; Tableau, Looker, or PowerBI, etc.)
• Strong analytical skills with a solid understanding of data science and machine learning principles
• Must be able to travel ~1-2 times per year to one of our countries of operation for team retreats or field visits

Responsibilities

• Set the vision, strategy, and roadmap for the central data team, which includes data engineering, analysis, data science, and our donor CRM
• Oversee core data infrastructure, ensuring scalability, reliability, and security
• Develop and motivate the team; recruit and retain inspiring teammates
• Work with leaders across the org to deeply understand data needs and negotiate priorities to create clear focus for your team and avoid getting caught in reactive, service-provider mode
• Make sure that the data and insights your team surfaces are actually having high impact on other teams’ work – without having direct formal authority – through deep understanding of user needs, strong product mindset, and strong informal influence
• Make our data more usable and trusted through working with source data owners to drive data quality improvements and creating a culture of high follow through on preventing and fixing bugs
• Identify and drive investments that improve your team’s output over time and ensure our data is secure, balancing investments with new features
• Identify and lead the development of new data science capabilities for delivering cash, such as fraud detection or leveraging big data sources for poverty prediction

Preferred Qualifications

Experience with Databricks, Spark, AWS

Benefits

• A positive and supportive team with opportunities for advancement
• A demonstrated commitment to helping all staff develop and grow
• A competitive salary, including bonus
• A robust health benefits plan (exact details will vary by country)
• Flexible paid time off
• Allowances for desk set-up and learning and development