GiveDirectly is hiring a Senior Software Engineer (Remote) – Earn Up to $181,130 + Bonus

About GiveDirectly

GiveDirectly is a global organization focused on delivering cash transfers to people experiencing extreme poverty. Its work is supported by research and has received international recognition from organizations including The Economist, NPR, TED and The Washington Post.

The company describes its culture as candid, analytical and non-hierarchical, with a strong emphasis on ownership, professional development and collaboration.

Role Overview

GiveDirectly is hiring a Senior Software Engineer to help build and scale the technology that enables the organization to deliver cash directly to people living in poverty around the world.

Job Title: Senior Software Engineer
Job Location: Remote — eligible countries; salary benchmarks vary by location
Closing Date: Not specified. Apply Early
Contract: Permanent / Full-time
Language Requirement: English
Travel: Approximately 1–2 times per year
Work Arrangement: Fully Remote

The Senior Software Engineer will help develop the systems that power GiveDirectly’s operations, including platforms for fundraising, cash payments and rapid disaster response.

The engineering team operates with a startup-style approach within GiveDirectly, offering employees significant autonomy and the opportunity to influence technical decisions and product direction.

Depending on organizational needs, the successful candidate may join one of several engineering teams:

Programs Engineering – Building technology that helps deliver cash to people experiencing extreme poverty.
Fundraising Engineering – Developing systems that help raise more money for recipients.
International Rapid Response – Building tools that enable GiveDirectly to deliver cash to disaster-affected communities within five days of a crisis.

Regardless of the team, the role will contribute directly to expanding GiveDirectly’s ability to get more money to more people, more efficiently.

Key Responsibilities

As a Senior Software Engineer, you will:

Design and build scalable and reliable systems supporting GiveDirectly’s core operations.
Develop donor platforms, payment systems and crisis-response tools.
Own the full development lifecycle of new features and services, from architecture through deployment and monitoring.
Improve developer workflows by strengthening CI/CD pipelines and increasing test coverage.
Reduce manual processes and improve engineering efficiency.
Work closely with product, operations and data teams to understand real-world requirements.
Develop tools that directly support program delivery in the field.
Diagnose and resolve production issues across the technology stack.
Conduct root-cause analysis and implement long-term solutions.
Promote sustainable engineering practices, including testing, documentation and monitoring.
Contribute to the technology roadmap with a focus on scalability, maintainability and recipient experience.

Requirements

Candidates should have:

At least 4 years of industry experience building production-quality software and systems.
Experience with backend architecture, including databases, cloud services and APIs.
Experience building infrastructure for deploying software.
Experience with strongly typed, object-oriented programming languages such as Java, C#, Go or similar.
Experience with scripting languages such as Python or Ruby.
Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities.
Excellent communication skills and the ability to explain complex technical issues and trade-offs.
A high degree of ownership and autonomy.
A proactive approach to improving systems and codebases.
The ability to work effectively with cross-functional teams, including product managers and technical programme managers.
English-language proficiency.

GiveDirectly Values and Competencies

Strong alignment with GiveDirectly’s values is essential.

The organization looks for candidates who demonstrate:

Emotional intelligence
Problem solving
Project management
Follow-through
Inclusivity
Strong ownership and accountability

GiveDirectly welcomes applications from people with personal or professional experience working with low-income and/or historically marginalized communities.

Preferred Qualifications

The following would be an advantage:

Production experience with Python and AWS.
Experience with payments or financial software.
Experience working with microservice architecture.
Experience with serverless architecture.

Remote Work Requirements

This position is fully remote, but candidates must be able to maintain at least three hours of working-time overlap between East Africa Time and US Eastern Time within the 8:00 AM–6:00 PM working window.

Employees are encouraged to establish a schedule that works with their personal commitments while maintaining sufficient overlap with the wider team.

GiveDirectly can currently employ people only in certain countries. Applicants should check the organization’s eligible-country list during the application process.

Important: GiveDirectly is currently unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of employment visas in the United States or United Kingdom.

Travel Requirements

The successful candidate must be able to travel approximately 1–2 times per year to one of GiveDirectly’s countries of operation for team retreats or field visits.

Salary and Compensation

GiveDirectly uses an external salary aggregator to establish competitive compensation based on role, location and cost of living. The organization also operates a no-negotiation compensation policy to promote pay equity.

United States

Base Salary: $181,130
Target Bonus: 15% — approximately $27,170
Estimated Total Compensation at Target: $208,300+
Annual Benefits Stipend: $21,393

United Kingdom

Base Salary: £124,370
Target Bonus: 15% — approximately £18,656
Estimated Total Compensation at Target: £143,026+
Annual Benefits Stipend: £2,760

Kenya

Base Salary: $112,350
Target Bonus: 15% — approximately $16,853
Estimated Total Compensation at Target: $129,203+
Annual Benefits Stipend: $8,453

For candidates based outside the United States, United Kingdom or Kenya, GiveDirectly will provide an estimated salary benchmark for the candidate’s country during the hiring process.

Employee Benefits

GiveDirectly offers a range of benefits designed to support employees’ professional development and wellbeing, including:

Competitive salary and performance bonus
Health benefits, with details varying by country
Unlimited paid time off
Desk allowance
Flexible work location
Professional development and growth opportunities
Supportive and collaborative team environment
Opportunities for career advancement

Hiring Process

Candidates should expect the following stages:

Take-home coding assignment
60-minute live coding interview
60-minute systems design interview
60-minute project deep dive and behavioural interview

GiveDirectly notes that the hiring process may be adjusted, with any changes communicated to candidates during the recruitment process.

Equal Opportunity and Safeguarding

GiveDirectly is an Equal Opportunity Employer and considers qualified applicants without discrimination based on characteristics protected by applicable law.

As a global organization working with vulnerable communities, GiveDirectly also maintains robust safeguarding procedures. These may include reference checks, previous-employer misconduct checks, criminal background checks and sanctions screening.

The organization maintains a zero-tolerance approach to abuse and exploitation and expects employees and partners to prioritize the safety and protection of recipients.

Reasonable Accommodations

Applicants who require accommodations during the application or interview process can contact careers@givedirectly.org with the subject line “Accommodation Needed”.

GiveDirectly will work with applicants to provide reasonable accommodations where required.