Program Manager, Risk

What you’ll do:

The Risk Manager is a multi-country management role with responsibility for recruiting and managing teams that monitor the risks associated with delivering millions of dollars to thousands of poor households each year. The Risk Manager supports the Director, Internal Audit; and Senior Manager, Internal Audit in managing regionally distributed internal audit teams and implementing innovations for the prevention, detection, investigation and mitigation of fraud and safeguard risks.

This role will require sharp judgment on operational issues and challenges, strong communication and interpersonal skills, exceptional people management and a strong commitment to GiveDirectly's values, mission and model.

The Risk Manager must be a critical thinker who asks risk-based questions about GiveDirectly's program design, location choices, internal policies and program timing. This role reports to the Senior Manager, Internal Audit and manages several internal audit managers.

The internal audit team is strictly protected by anonymity from the program team and is prohibited from interacting with the GiveDirectly program team. Although the Risk Manager is unprotected, you will manage a team protected by anonymity and, by joining as a Risk Manager, you must agree to do your job with a high degree of confidentiality and anonymity.

This role has the strong likelihood of managing multiple countries Internal Audit or risk divisions in the future, based on performance and need. 

Responsibilities:

Design and implementation

• Detail project risk registers for all new projects and define risk assessment approaches
• Development of programme/recipient audit tools, e.g. surveys, checklists, etc.
• Lead the establishment of country audit teams
• Track and report on country internal audit operational metrics and objectives

Risk mitigation

• Support escalation protocols for different risks and monitor implementation of protocols by country leads
• Support country internal audit teams in detecting policy violations, fraud and adverse events.
• Lead the transparent, accountable, rigorous, and in accordance with best legal practices, and, if necessary, collaborative investigation of suspicions and allegations of fraud; policy violations, adverse events, etc. ; to the effective resolution of such cases
• Lead the program team's data quality review against data quality standards established by GD and report any inconsistencies.

Policy Compliance Audit

• Act as guardian of the "Beneficiaries First" value within the team by ensuring compliance with GiveDirectly policies and protocols
• Maintain an active, visible and consistent commitment to a common standard of behavior that is required across all aspects of the organization, as stipulated in the Code of Conduct Statement
• Managing a team driven by individual responsibility involves moving from “rules-based” corporate behavior to “values-based” behavior that supports a greater focus on promoting individual integrity. .

Program management

• Develop the team's annual, quarterly and monthly objectives in consultation with the Senior Manager/Director of Internal Audit    
• Write team work plans for all projects and share them with team members
• Oversee the implementation of team rosters for work plan delivery
• Review quality checks by country teams to highlight team-specific ethical and value gaps
• Write reports and dashboards that reflect team performance against set objectives and internal audit operations quality bars
• Coordination in the DRC between the IA team and the HR, finance, office management and procurement teams to facilitate the operation of the IA team in the DRC according to the processes and organizational policies in the DRC

Team management

• Promote an effective team culture by encouraging recognition of positive achievements and other team building initiatives
• Model of ethical behavior that encourages the team to point out misconduct among GD staff, partners, community and beneficiaries
• Conduct staff career growth needs assessments (through structural surveys and 1:1 sessions) and liaise with the HR manager to deliver strong professional development sessions internally and externally
• Identify, interview, hire, onboard and retain high capacity national Internal Audit teams
• Manage conflicts and other risks within the team and escalate where appropriate
• Develop a team with strong problem-solving ability, critical thinking, and strong analytical and communication skills

Other roles

• Over time, reduce dependency on senior management and create more leverage for your manager through capacity building and delegation
• Other responsibilities assigned by the manager

What you’ll bring:

• University degree in a relevant field
• Demonstrated ability to approach work and collaboration with a DEI lens and cultural sensitivity
• Demonstrated success in a high-performance work environment
• Strong interest in advancing the values and mission of GiveDirectly
• Exceptional communication, organizational, and analytical skills
• Ability to approach tasks with resourcefulness and to work in a highly self-directed manner
• Ability to manage day-to-day operations while simultaneously building more robust, efficient systems
• Experience and high comfort-level working in developing-country or high-risk settings
• Experience leading or strongly supporting disciplinary investigations
• Experience in investigating fraud and anti-valuers
• Significant experience implementing projects in fragile and conflict-affected countries 
• Bilingual with fluency in English and French.
• Preferred: 
  • Fluency in spoken and written Swahili

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