Legal Counsel, Emergency Cash & U.S. Programs

GiveDirectly has delivered more than $1B in cash directly to 2+ million people living in poverty across 15 countries since 2011. We believe cash transfers are one of the most scalable, cost-effective, and dignified forms of aid, with the research to back it up. Our work has been covered by The Economist, NPR, TED, and The Washington Post. We are one of Time100’s Most Influential Companies of 2026. We're now preparing to deliver billions of dollars a year to people in extreme poverty, if funding allows. Read our CEO's essay on what that will take.

Our culture is candid, analytical, and non-hierarchical. We support high ownership and real professional growth. Curious about what it's really like to work here? Read our values and hear from the people who do. If they resonate, this could be a great fit!

About this role

GiveDirectly is building a faster model for humanitarian response – using data, technology, and partnerships to identify people affected by crises and deliver cash within days. Making that possible requires legal pathways that can be established before a crisis and activated quickly when one occurs.

We are seeking a Counsel to build and lead that legal model. Approximately 70% of the role will focus on Emergency Cash, from preparing for future responses to leading the legal and regulatory work required during an active emergency. When a response is underway, EC work will take priority.

You will also serve as legal partner to GiveDirectly’s U.S. programs, which work with governments, funders, researchers, and community organizations to deliver cash to low-income Americans. The portfolio includes programs such as Rx Kids, guaranteed-income initiatives, and housing-stability programs. You will help teams design and expand these programs, structure partnerships, and navigate the legal issues affecting delivery and recipients.

This is a delivery-focused role for a practical lawyer who can build for scale, exercise clear judgment under pressure, and help ambitious programs move from idea to implementation.

Reports to: Head of Legal

Level: Senior Manager

Location: Remote, with a requirement to overlap with an East Africa timezone by at least 3 hours. We can only employ people in certain places at the moment, so it's worth checking our current list of eligible countries to see if yours is included. If you're based elsewhere, it's not an automatic no, but do flag it early with your recruiter. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of employment visas in the U.S. or U.K. at this time.

Travel Requirement: ~ 3–4 trips per year, plus travel as needed during active emergency responses.

What you’ll do:

Build and deliver the Emergency Cash legal model

• Serve as the primary legal partner to Emergency Cash across program strategy, design, launch, and delivery.
• Build a repeatable legal model for emergency responses, including approaches to country entry, regulatory review, government engagement, contracting, data use, and the engagement of local counsel.
• Develop response-readiness tools, templates, and decision frameworks that allow common issues to be addressed quickly while escalating matters requiring legal judgment.
• During active responses, lead the legal work needed to launch and operate on emergency timelines, providing clear recommendations when information is incomplete.
• Coordinate with country teams, program-facing Counsel, and local advisors to use existing knowledge and relationships while retaining legal ownership of the response.
• Apply GiveDirectly’s global standards for MNO data and remote enablement to individual responses, working with the Corporate & Strategic Affairs Counsel on novel or cross-cutting issues.
• Draft and negotiate the partnership, technology, vendor, data-sharing, and other agreements required to deliver emergency programs.
• Capture lessons from individual responses and use them to strengthen the EC legal model over time.

Lead legal support for U.S. programs

• Serve as legal partner to GiveDirectly’s U.S. programs across program design, implementation, expansion, and ongoing operations.
• Advise on the legal design and delivery of U.S. cash programs, including eligible recipient populations, interactions with public benefits, tax treatment and reporting, payments involving minors or caregivers, family-law considerations, privacy and data use, and state-specific requirements.
• Structure and negotiate program-specific agreements with governments, research institutions, community organizations, payment providers, and other partners.
• Develop reusable guidance for recurring issues and coordinate state-specific or specialist counsel where needed.

Contribute across Legal

• Work with the Corporate & Business Affairs Counsel on organization-wide standards and initiatives affecting Emergency Cash or U.S. programs.
• Partner with the Africa Programs & Country Operations Counsel when emergency responses occur in countries within that role’s portfolio.
• Work with Legal Operations support to delegate recurring contracting, research, coordination, and administrative work appropriately.
• Support other priority legal matters as needed as part of a small, global Legal team.

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.
• Qualification as an attorney in at least one jurisdiction, with relevant post-qualification legal experience.
• Experience advising on complex program, commercial, or regulatory matters in fast-moving or high-pressure environments.
• Strong commercial contracting skills, including drafting and negotiating complex partnership, technology, vendor, or data-related agreements.
• Ability to quickly understand unfamiliar legal and regulatory frameworks and advise where precedent, time, or information is limited.
• Strong legal and business judgment, including the ability to identify meaningful risks, assess tradeoffs, and recommend a practical path forward.
• Ability to translate complex legal requirements into clear, actionable guidance for colleagues without legal backgrounds.
• Experience coordinating external counsel, consultants, or other specialist advisors.
• Working knowledge of data privacy and data protection law.
• Ability to operate independently, manage competing priorities, and reprioritize quickly during active emergency responses.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills; English fluency.
• Preferred:
• Experience in emergency response, humanitarian operations, or other crisis-context legal work.
• Experience supporting the launch of programs or operations in new countries.
• Experience with U.S. public-benefits, family-law, charitable-assistance, or government-program matters.
• Experience working across multiple jurisdictions, particularly in emerging markets.
• Experience supporting programs involving vulnerable populations or sensitive personal data.
• Experience in international development or another mission-driven organization.

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.

United States

• Base Salary: $134,400
• Bonus at Target Performance: 10% (~$13,440, with potential for upside. For reference, with the organization’s current performance multiplier, this amount would be $15,724 in 2025)
• Estimated Total Compensation at Target: $147,840+
• Annual Benefits Stipend: $21,393

United Kingdom

• Base Salary: £91,900
• Bonus at Target Performance: 10% (~£9,190 with potential for upside. For reference, with the organization’s current performance multiplier, this amount would be £10,752 in 2025)
• Estimated Total Compensation at Target: £101,090+
• Annual Benefits Stipend: £2,760

Kenya

• Base Salary: $106,280
• Bonus at Target Performance: 10% (~$10,628, with potential for upside. For reference, with the organization’s current performance multiplier, this amount would be $12,434 in 2025)
• Estimated Total Compensation at Target: $116,908+
• Annual Benefits Stipend: $8,454

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

#LI-REMOTE

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

We’re committed to running an inclusive and accessible application process for all of our open roles. If there are questions or concerns you have about the accessibility of our hiring process, we warmly invite you to reach out to [email protected].

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 [email protected] 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!

Referrals

Know the right person for this role? Please consider referring them. We offer a reward of $3,000 for a Senior Manager or above role, and $500 for a Manager role, paid if we end up hiring your referral. Thank you for sending great people our way!