GiveDirectly
Legal Counsel, Corporate & Business Affairs
About this role
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 seeking a Legal Counsel, Corporate & Business Affairs to build our Business Affairs capability and serve as a primary legal partner to our global functions. You will help GiveDirectly structure complex corporate, commercial, funding, and charitable relationships and navigate the legal and regulatory questions that arise as the organization grows. You will advise teams including Partnerships and Fundraising, People, Finance, Communications, Technology, Product, Grants Management, and public affairs. Your portfolio will include complex partnerships and transactions, non-standard gifts and fundraising arrangements, nonprofit regulatory matters, and organization-wide strategic initiatives. A major initial priority will be building the legal and regulatory foundation for Data Partnerships and remote enablement. Working with Global Data Partnerships, Product, Technology, and program teams, you will develop workable approaches to data privacy and MNO data that can be used across GiveDirectly and adapted by program-facing Counsel to local contexts. This is a broad role for a corporate and commercial lawyer with strong data-privacy expertise who can understand what teams are trying to accomplish, structure a practical path forward, and bring in specialist expertise when needed. 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: ~ 1–2 trips per year, with additional travel as needed for significant partnerships or regulatory engagement What you’ll do: Build Business Affairs and advise global functions