VP, Safeguarding, Risk, and Compliance

Location: This role is fully remote but must overlap with the East Africa timezone by at least 4 hours. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of employment Visas in the U.S. or U.K. at this time.

About this role

The VP, Safeguarding, Risk and Compliance will assume a pivotal role in setting the vision for overseeing the organization's risk and compliance functions, encompassing organizational compliance, internal audit, risk management, safeguarding, legal, and grant management. This position involves close collaboration with the Senior Leadership Team/Executive Committee (ExCo) and a commitment to ensuring the organization's adherence to internal policies, donor requirements, and legal and regulatory standards. 

The role will be required to actively support teams to build new systems adequate for growing size and complexity of GiveDirectly (currently active in 12 countries across development and humanitarian contexts). The VP will promote and uphold a robust ethical framework within the organization, overseeing the development and enhancement of ethical guidelines and principles - all in service of the safety and well-being of recipients, children, staff, and community members. This role will report directly to the President/CEO of GiveDirectly and with additional accountability to the Audit and Risk Committee or designated Board representative/s. This position will also oversee the integrated Risk Register of the organization in collaboration with the ExCo.

We are looking for an exceptional individual, with high levels of commitment to GiveDirectly’s values - most importantly “Recipients First”.  GiveDirectly aims to be sector-leading in efficient, effective and safe delivery of cash transfers to address extreme poverty - and this role has a crucial role to play in that effort. 

Reports to: President

Level: VP

Travel: 20-25% travel to our countries of operation

What you’ll do:

Set the vision for the Safeguarding, Risk, and Compliance function:

• Set the vision and develop a clear mandate for GiveDirectly’s risk, compliance, and safeguarding functions, ensuring that GD does no harm to its recipients
• In collaboration with the executive leadership team, develop long-term structure for growing the compliance and safeguarding teams to support GiveDirectly’s work at scale at all sites.

Provide strategic leadership, set high operational standards, and lead teams for the following focus areas:

Safeguarding and Child Protection:

• Guide the work of the safeguarding team, ensuring compliance with safeguarding regulations and best practices on both global and country levels.
• Monitor the effectiveness of safeguarding measures through regular assessments and respond promptly to incidents.
• Collaborate closely with the internal and external stakeholders to strengthen the safety and well-being of recipients, children, staff, and community members.

Compliance and Risk

• Identify vulnerabilities within the organization and formulate a comprehensive audit plan in consultation with the other members of the site and global leadership.
• Facilitate implementation of enhancements based on audit findings, monitor progress, and verify the effectiveness of corrective actions to fortify organizational processes.

Internal Audit

• Support the work of the field-based Internal Audit team to ensure that the recipients we enroll are the ones we intended to enroll and that they receive money as intended without any problems along the way
• Support the transition of the Internal Audit team to being a more tech and data-driven team, instead of exclusively being field work related.

 Grant Management:

• Act as the organizational representative in matters of donor compliance, actively engaging in donor audits, as well as pre and post-award assessments.
• Cultivate and maintain effective relationships with external stakeholders, including donors, partners, auditors, and other entities crucial to the success of grants and contracts.

 Risk Management & Whistleblowing:

• Elevate transparency and responsiveness by taking charge of the organization-wide whistleblowing and the associated learning management mechanisms
• Collaborate with the executive committee and site leadership to strengthen organizational capacity for fraud detection and prevention.
• Provide strategic guidance and support on responses to audit findings and concerns reported through established channels

Compliance, Ethics, & Learning:

• Cultivate a culture of compliance with organizational policies, building capacity across all staff for the effective implementation of systems and processes.
• Oversee, as necessary, development of new organizational policies, and procedures, and systems, ensuring continuous relevance and alignment with industry standards and best practices.

Registrations & Tax Exemption:

• Implement systems for ensuring continuous maintenance of registration with and reporting to relevant authorities.
• Guide the establishment and maintenance of tax-exempt status as applicable to each GD site.
• Oversee legal relationships among GD global and country programs and, as appropriate, establish MOUs with GD sites to foster effective collaboration.
• Maintain relationships with government entities and solicit assistance from local legal counsels to ensure effective compliance and transparent communication.

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.
• Over 10 years of senior leadership level experience in areas including some or all of the following: risk management, safeguarding, audit, and legal compliance functions.
• Demonstrated strategic leadership skills with a focus on organizational compliance initiatives and risk mitigation strategies.
• In-depth expertise in grant management processes, including donor relationships, audit, and compliance.
• Proficient in legal compliance, encompassing the management of contracts, conflicts, and representation in legal proceedings.
• A robust ability to adapt and innovate, showcasing a talent for navigating evolving situations and introducing creative solutions.

Compensation

At GiveDirectly, we strive to pay our employees generously and equitably. We use an accredited third party salary aggregator to ensure that staff’s total compensation package (base compensation + bonus)  falls within the 75th percentile of similar roles, at similar organizations. We also have a no negotiation policy to ensure we are paying staff equitably across roles. 

• The United States base salary for this role is $160,000.

This role is fully remote, so if you are not based in the US, 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 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)
• Unlimited PTO (that we encourage staff to take!)
• Desk allowance and flexible work location