Software Engineer

New York City | York

Organization: GiveDirectly
Location: New York City | York
Grade: Mid level - Mid level
Occupational Groups:
- Engineering
- Information Technology and Computer Science
Closing Date: Closed

About GiveDirectly

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 $700M since launching in 2011, delivered cash to more than 1 million people, and launched offices in 10 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.

We’re looking for exceptional talent to grow our collaborative, diverse team. Joining GiveDirectly provides the opportunity to work alongside individuals who come from 21 different countries and speak 69 different languages. We’re actively working toward an equitable and inclusive environment for all team members, and seek candidates who will bring diverse perspectives and experiences to our organization. We recruit from organizations across all industries: our team has hailed from sectors including start-ups, government, consultancies, investment banks, and nonprofits.

Across our global offices, our culture is candid, analytical, non-hierarchical, and fast-paced. We value ability, adaptability, and willingness to learn.

Overview

We are searching for a full-stack engineer to help build out GiveDirectly’s donor-facing growth efforts. This is a unique opportunity to be an integral part of our product team. Led by the Director of Product, this cross-functional team includes an engineering team, a data analyst, and a UI/UX designer. The product team works across fundraising, field operations, and finance, focusing on projects that create increased donor engagement and help to reimagine how the social sector approaches donor growth. We anticipate 75% of your time will be spent building new products and the remaining 25% of your time doing maintenance, product improvements, and steady state work. The role involves primarily server-side work, but a full-stack candidate will have opportunities to influence the direction of our Frontend tech stack as well.

Responsibilities:

As a Growth engineer, your work will span new and existing products owned by the product team, including:

Designing and building innovative products for GD’s donor communities, some previous examples including fundraisers and donor-recipient mapping
Driving dollars committed to the poor through innovations in fundraising tech (e.g., new structures for donor advocacy and referral, personalized reporting, targeted donation matching, technical SEO, etc.)
Helping design and implement a north star data platform and analytics solution for revenue data
Bonus: Full-stack/Frontend experience, to help shape the direction of our main page, donation site, and new user experiences.

What we’re looking for:

We’re looking for folks with:

2+ years post-education industry experience creating production-caliber software and systems
Proficiency in a major programming language (Java, Python, JS, etc.) Python preferred
A commitment to writing clean and readable
Experience with backend technologies including server frameworks (e.g. Django, Node), SQL database systems

Bonus: front-end technologies (Vue/React, templating systems such as Moustache).

Outside of technical proficiency, we are looking for people who:

Are enthusiastic about learning fast and are willing and able to ramp up quickly
Demonstrate initiative and thoroughness in their day-to-day work
Are willing to give and receive direct, honest feedback
Are excited to work in a fast-paced, high-growth environment
Are aligned 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.

Existing stack / products:

Recipient carousel (ask for code): This page allows donors to be matched with pre-enrolled recipients, delivering periodic updates from the recipients your money is reaching. Built with a Flask backend and a Vue.js app for the frontend.
Donate page: This checkout page allows donors to give via credit card, PayPal, or other methods. It is a Vue.js app, served from AWS. The backend is a php app hosted on AWS which syncs data between the front end, our payments processors, and Salesforce.
GDLive: This product shows a live feed of recipient stories from our field database. The infrastructure is hosted on AWS while the app is a ruby on rails app which leverages AWS’s SQS service, postgres databases and a linux servers behind an ELB and pulls data from our recipient databases.
Marketing website: Our site is a WordPress website that is maintained by the marketing team. We do not expect this role or the product team to maintain the site. Though we anticipate the candidate engaging with existing resources when integrations are needed.

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
A monthly benefits allowance that covers Health, Dental, and Vision monthly premiums
Unlimited PTO (that we encourage staff to take!)
Desk allowance and flexible work location

Read more about our ongoing diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts here and about our decision to move our central support teams to remote first here.

**GD is committed to observing all local, national and international laws that protect children, vulnerable adults, and basic human rights of all. GD is committed to a policy of “zero tolerance for sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment (SEAH)” and expects anyone who works for GD to uphold the protection and safeguarding of our recipients as a priority.**

#BI-Remote

Read more about our ongoing diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts here and about our decision to move our central support teams to remote first here.

About the hiring process

Format: The hiring process follows the same general outline for all open roles:

First interview (30 mins)Take home skills assignment (~2 hours)Second interview (1 hour)*Third interview (1 hour)*Final interview (1 hour)Reference checks (30 mins each)

*For some roles, second & third interviews are combined into a panel interview. If there are adjustments or variations on this process, those changes will be communicated during the first interview.

Venue: We conduct interviews over Google Meet with camera on (unless communicated otherwise).

Accessibility: Closed captioning is available during all Google Meet interviews, and interviewers will also post interview questions in the chat box throughout the call. If you need assistance accessing either of these features, please let your interviewer know at the start of your interview!

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 careers@givedirectly.org.

#BI-Remote

This vacancy is now closed.
However, we have found similar vacancies for you: