How to apply for Legal Counsel, Emergency Cash & U.S. Programs

About GiveDirectly

GiveDirectly is a nonprofit that delivers unconditional cash transfers directly to people living in extreme poverty. It has delivered more than $1B to over 2 million people across 15 countries since 2011, and its work has been covered by The Economist, NPR, TED, and The Washington Post. It was named one of Time100's Most Influential Companies of 2026 and is preparing to deliver billions of dollars a year if funding allows.

About the role

This Legal Counsel role is roughly 70% focused on Emergency Cash, building legal pathways before crises and leading legal and regulatory work during active emergencies. The remaining time supports GiveDirectly's U.S. programs. The role is remote and full-time, and when a response is underway, Emergency Cash work takes priority.

A typical day

A typical day might involve drafting or reviewing legal frameworks for a future emergency response, then shifting to active regulatory work if a response is underway. You would also handle legal questions from U.S. programs. When an emergency is active, Emergency Cash work takes priority over other tasks.

Who GiveDirectly is looking for

• A licensed attorney with experience in humanitarian, nonprofit, or international legal work, ideally involving rapid response or crisis contexts.
• Comfortable building legal frameworks from scratch and activating them quickly under time pressure.
• Able to manage a mixed portfolio where Emergency Cash takes priority during active responses, while still supporting U.S. programs.
• Candid, analytical, and non-hierarchical in working style, with high ownership and interest in real professional growth.

Tips for this application

• Read GiveDirectly's CEO essay on what it will take to deliver billions of dollars a year, and reference specific points from it in your application.
• Review GiveDirectly's values page and the employee testimonials, then show in your materials how your working style matches a candid, analytical, non-hierarchical culture.
• Explain concretely how you would build legal pathways before a crisis and activate them during one, since this is 70% of the role.
• Address your experience with U.S. programs legal work separately, since that is the other part of the role.
• Note that the location is remote and the role is full-time, and confirm you can prioritize Emergency Cash work when a response is underway.

What to cover in your cover letter

['How you would design pre-crisis legal pathways that can be activated within days during an emergency.', 'Your experience leading legal and regulatory work during an active humanitarian response.', 'Your ability to serve as legal partner to U.S. programs, with specific examples.', "Why GiveDirectly's cash transfer model and its goal of delivering billions per year fit your legal practice."]

Research before applying

• Read GiveDirectly's CEO essay on what it will take to deliver billions of dollars a year to people in extreme poverty.
• Review GiveDirectly's values page and the employee testimonials to understand the working culture.
• Study GiveDirectly's Emergency Cash model and how it uses data, technology, and partnerships to deliver cash within days.
• Look at GiveDirectly's U.S. programs to understand the legal partner work for that side of the role.

Likely interview topics

Based on the job description, expect questions about:

• How you would prepare legal and regulatory pathways before a crisis and activate them quickly when one occurs.
• A time you led legal work during an active emergency and how you handled competing priorities.
• How you would support U.S. programs legal needs while keeping Emergency Cash as the priority during a response.
• How you work in a candid, analytical, non-hierarchical culture with high ownership.
• What you know about GiveDirectly's cash transfer model and the research behind it.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Treating this as a generic nonprofit legal role instead of addressing the 70% Emergency Cash focus and the U.S. programs work.
• Ignoring GiveDirectly's culture of candid, analytical, non-hierarchical work and high ownership.
• Applying without reading the CEO essay or values page, which the job description points to directly.