Senior Product Manager

Summary

Join GiveDirectly as a Senior Product Manager to spearhead the development and implementation of innovative payment solutions for cash transfer programs globally. You will be responsible for the product vision, roadmap, and prioritization of international payments infrastructure, translating strategic objectives into actionable goals and metrics. The role involves investigating and innovating global payment channels, identifying and assessing international payment solutions to reach underserved populations. You will build and scale payment infrastructure, designing systems for integrating new payment rails into GiveDirectly's operations while ensuring compliance and scalability. Furthermore, you will conduct research and analysis, mapping emerging technologies and vendors in the payments space, and collaborating with cross-functional teams to align payment strategies with on-the-ground realities. Finally, you will manage performance and reliability, defining and monitoring key metrics and driving efficiency and creativity in delivering cash transfers in challenging environments.

Requirements

• 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
• 5+ years of experience working with international digital payment systems, financial technology platforms, and/or crypto/blockchain-enabled services
• Demonstrated understanding of global remittance infrastructures, mobile money networks, cross-border compliance issues, and KYC/AML processes
• Hands-on experience evaluating and/or implementing stablecoin or cryptocurrency payment solutions in low-infrastructure environments
• Experience in a high ambiguity, low-structure environment — you create clarity, not wait for it
• Ability to collaborate inclusively with stakeholders across varied social, national, and cultural backgrounds, including communicating technical concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders
• Analytical problem solver: looks at problems with analytical and iterative mindset, with strong framework for prioritization
• Intermediate to advanced data manipulation and analysis skills to derive insights from payment data
• Technical fluency with payments APIs and technical documentation, including data security standards and the ability to identify areas of concern or strength
• English fluency

Responsibilities

• Own the product vision, roadmap, and prioritization for international payments infrastructure
• Translate strategic objectives into actionable product goals, features, and success metrics
• Regularly evaluate and refine product-market fit in the context of fast-evolving program and country needs
• Identify, assess, and recommend international payment solutions that can reach populations in fragile and underserved markets
• Develop partnerships with global and regional payment aggregators, mobile money platforms, remittance providers, and stablecoin or crypto partners
• Pilot and evaluate alternative transfer modalities, including blockchain-based or decentralized finance (DeFi) approaches, particularly in contexts where traditional banking access is limited
• Design systems for integrating new payment rails into GD’s operations, ensuring compliance, security, and scalability
• Define and document technical and operational requirements for payment implementation in humanitarian and development settings
• Collaborate with engineers and data teams to ensure seamless integration with targeting, verification, monitoring, and payments systems
• Map and compare emerging technologies and vendors in the payments space, with a focus on rapid deployment and cross-border capabilities
• Conduct technical due diligence on vendors and track trends in stablecoin, mobile finance, and blockchain applications
• Work closely with program managers, engineers, field teams, and finance/legal teams to ensure payment strategies align with on-the-ground realities and compliance frameworks
• Ensure excellent handoff of provider execution, oversight and compliance to implementation teams
• Support crisis response deployments with technical insight and problem-solving on-the-fly to ensure people get paid
• Define and monitor key metrics (e.g., transaction success rates, payment speeds, reconciliation gaps)
• Coordinate root cause analyses and mitigation planning for issues affecting reliability, latency, or compliance, and feed this into the product and FSP strategy
• Leverage your creativity to solve the unique challenges of delivering money in unpredictable, unstable, or disconnected environments
• Continuously refine internal payment playbooks and propose systemic improvements to speed, reliability, and recipient experience

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience operating in crisis or humanitarian contexts (e.g., conflict zones, natural disasters)
• Prior work with startups or experimental products in global south or emerging markets
• Comfort working in SQL, python, R or other scripting data manipulation tools for performance monitoring

Benefits

• A supportive team that works hard and cares hard
• A robust health benefits plan (exact details will vary by country)
• Flexible paid time off that staff is encouraged to take
• Allowances for desk set-up and learning and development