Givedirectly

M&E Associate (Rapid Experimentation)

Nairobi, Kenya Full Time

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 and delivered cash to more than 2 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, span 21 different countries and 69 languages. From software engineers to seasoned humanitarian workers, 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 high ownership, flexibility, take care of each other, have fun, and create professional growth opportunities.

Priority Application Deadline: May 15, 2026

About this role

The Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Associate for Rapid Experimentation will support the execution and analysis of A/B tests across GiveDirectly’s programs, contributing to the use of data to inform program and product decisions. This role is fast-paced and iterative - the team runs frequent, lightweight experiments designed to generate actionable answers quickly, and then uses those learnings to refine and improve programs in real time. This includes:

  • Supporting the execution and analysis of rapid A/B tests across GiveDirectly projects, ensuring that experiments are implemented effectively and contribute to learning within and across projects
  • Ensuring experiments are implemented correctly, measured reliably, and analyzed to produce clear and credible results, working closely with Programs, Product, Research teams, and external academic partners to align experimental design with program delivery, data collection, and operational realities
  • Translating findings into actionable insights and well-structured learning products that serve multiple audiences - internal program and product teams, and external academic partners, ensuring results inform both immediate decisions and longer-term program direction

In practice, this role is about managing a high volume of rapid experiments and turning results into clear, credible evidence that continuously shapes how GiveDirectly’s programs are refined and improved.

Reports to: Senior Manager, Monitoring and Evaluation

Level: Associate

Travel Requirement: This role is based in Rwanda. Travel within East Africa is a regular part of the role, estimated at up to 25% of the time, to support field operations across country programs.Additional international travel may occur for trainings or team convenings, as needed (estimated up to 10%)

What you’ll do:

Execute and manage A/B tests across programs

  • Conduct power calculations to ensure experiments are both statistically rigorous and feasible to implement within program constraints
  • Set up pre-specified experimental designs, applying defined experimental groups, outcome measures, and measurement timelines
  • Review experiment setups prior to launch and flag execution and measurement risks that may affect interpretability
  • Ensure experiments are well-coordinated and executed as designed, aligning implementation with research plans and integrating smoothly into program delivery across Programs and Product teams
  • Work at a fast pace across a portfolio of 2–3 live A/B tests at any given time, designed to generate actionable answers quickly and feed rapid iteration of programs and products

Ensure accurate measurement and high-quality data for experiments

  • Collaborate with external Principal Investigators (PIs) to ensure measurement approaches and data collection are aligned with research design and implementation realities
  • Ensure experimental outcomes are captured accurately and consistently by applying established indicator and measurement approaches
  • Prepare and manage datasets that are clean, well-structured, and ready for analysis using survey, administrative, and product data
  • Identify and flag data quality risks (e.g., missingness, inconsistencies, measurement error) that could affect the validity of experimental conclusions
  • Conduct targeted literature reviews to ensure measurement approaches are grounded in evidence and aligned with best practices

Analyze experimental data and interpret results to inform decisions

  • Generate reliable and decision-ready analyses of experimental data from A/B tests
  • Assess the magnitude and direction of effects and highlight what the results do and do not suggest, noting key limitations
  • Ensure results are clearly understood and appropriately interpreted, given data quality, sample size, and implementation considerations

Translate results into actionable insights and learning across experiments

  • Translate experimental results into clear, actionable recommendations to guide program and product decisions for individual country programs, and for the direction of GiveDirectly’s programming as a whole
  • Structure results and key learnings so they can be reused to inform future experiments and program design
  • Prepare concise learning products (e.g., memos, summaries) that serve multiple audiences, including internal Programs and Product teams, and external academic partners, ensuring findings are clearly communicated for both technical and non-technical stakeholders 
  • Prepare and clean de-identified datasets for sharing with external PIs and academic partners, ensuring data is structured, well-documented, and ready for independent analysis
  • Contribute to cross-country discussions to ensure learnings from experiments are shared and applied across contexts, and maintain clear documentation so experiments are easy to track, understand, and build on over time

What you’ll bring:

  • 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.
  • Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) in Economics, Statistics, Public Policy, or a related quantitative field
  • 2–4 years of experience working with data in applied settings (e.g., experimentation, evaluation, analytics, or program learning), ideally in development, tech, or operations-focused roles
  • Solid understanding of experimental design and causal inference concepts (e.g., randomization, treatment/control groups, units of randomization, statistical power, bias) and how to apply them in real-world program contexts
  • Experience using R, Python, or Stata to clean, manipulate, and analyze data, including working with multiple data sources (e.g., survey or administrative data)
  • Experience collaborating with cross-functional teams (e.g., programs/operations, product, or research) and external partners to implement projects and solve problems
  • Fluency in English required
  • Comfort working at pace - able to manage multiple workstreams simultaneously, make progress with imperfect data, and iterate quickly based on emerging findings
  • Ability to interpret results beyond statistical significance and communicate clear, actionable insights to both technical and non-technical audiences

Compensation

At GiveDirectly, we strive to pay our employees generously and equitably. We use an accredited third party salary aggregator to calculate what we believe to be competitive pay based on role, location, and cost of living. We also have a no negotiation policy to ensure we are paying staff equitably across roles. Read more about our compensation philosophy here.

Unless otherwise noted, the benefits stipend may be used to cover benefits or taken as additional taxable income.

Kenya

  • Base Salary: $42,000
  • Bonus at Target Performance: 10% (~$4,200, with potential for upside. For reference, with the organization's current performance multiplier, this amount would be $4,914 in 2025)
  • Estimated Total Compensation at Target: $46,200+

This role is fully remote, so if you are not based in Kenya, we will share an estimated salary benchmark for the country you are based in during the hiring process. 

Why work at GiveDirectly?

At GiveDirectly, we work to ensure that you have everything you need to excel in your role and on your team, including:

  • 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

 #LI-REMOTE

Working at GiveDirectly

GiveDirectly is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants are considered for employment without regard to the person’s race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

Flagging for US applicants: We invite you to "Know Your Rights" as an applicant.

Commitment to Safeguarding

As a global organization working with communities to eliminate extreme poverty, GiveDirectly takes the safeguarding of its recipients, staff, and partners seriously. To that end, GiveDirectly is a member of the Misconduct Disclosure Scheme, and will systematically check with previous employers about any abuse or misconduct related matters involving potential new hires. We may also employ other robust pre-hire screens, including in-depth reference checks, criminal background checks, and sanctions screens.

These efforts help us continue to build and maintain trust with the communities we work with, and prevent abuse to our recipients and staff.

**GD is committed to observing all local, national and international laws that protect people and basic human rights of all. GD is committed to a policy of “zero tolerance when it comes to preventing,  reporting, or responding to any form of abuse or  exploitation.” and expects anyone who works for GD to uphold the protection and safeguarding of our recipients as a priority.**

Reasonable Accommodations

We are committed to fostering an inclusive and accessible work environment. If you require any accommodations during the application or interview process, or to perform the essential functions of the role, please email us at careers@givedirectly.org with the email subject “Accommodation Needed”. We will work with you to ensure reasonable accommodations are made to support your needs.

Want to put your best foot forward on your GiveDirectly application? Take a look at our Candidate Application Prep Guide!