Human Resources Manager

Role Overview

GiveDirectly Malawi has grown steadily since its introduction in 2019 and in 2025 launched our most ambitious program and research agenda yet, delivering funds across an entire district alongside the largest-ever randomised trial on unconditional cash. To deliver our ambitious plans for scale, we are looking for a Human Resources Manager who can operate as a strategic, agile thought partner to the Country Director  someone with a strong grasp of Malawi labour law and demonstrated, hands-on experience across the HR lifecycle, who is just as comfortable advising on organisational design and workforce risk as they are personally running payroll and compensation. The HR Manager ensures that GiveDirectly Malawi attracts, develops, and retains the talent needed to deliver on our mission, focus on the strategic and technical work that most shapes the organisation's ability to perform.

The role will reward exceptional interpersonal skills, sound judgement in navigating people and organisational challenges, and a deep commitment to building a workplace where staff feel supported, valued, and connected to the work. As GiveDirectly continues to scale, this role ensures that our people practices are consistent, compliant, and fit for purpose, balancing the pace of a fast-growing organisation with the rigour and care that good HR demands and doing so with the agility to build or improve systems rather than simply administer the ones already in place. The HR Manager will play a critical role in strengthening the infrastructure of the country office, designing and improving systems for recruitment, onboarding, performance management, and staff development that can grow with the organisation. This position also plays an important role in safeguarding organisational culture and integrity, supporting leadership in upholding GiveDirectly's values and ensuring staff experience reflects the standards we set for ourselves.

Strategic Partnership & Talent Management

• Serve as a strategic thought partner to the Country Director on organisational design, workforce planning, and people-related risk
• Own the end-to-end recruitment process for all open positions in Malawi, partnering with hiring managers to define role requirements, develop job descriptions, and build targeted sourcing strategies that attract strong candidates from various talent pools.
• Lead candidate screening and selection, including structured CV reviews, interview coordination, and skills assessments where relevant, ensuring a consistent, respectful, and efficient experience for all candidates from application through to offer.
• Lead periodic salary benchmarking exercises using credible market data and sector comparators, producing clear analysis and recommendations to ensure GiveDirectly's compensation remains competitive, internally equitable, and aligned with local labour market realities.
• Drive professional development planning across the team, working with managers and staff to identify individual growth needs, co-create learning plans, and source, coordinate, and evaluate training interventions both internal and external that build capability at every level of the organisation.

Payroll & Compliance

• Personally manage payroll, ensuring salaries, relevant allowances, and other entitlements are processed accurately, on time, and in compliance with both internal policies and local labour regulations
• Act as the primary point of contact for staff on HR policy questions, providing clear, fair, and consistent guidance, and lead the management of disciplinary and grievance processes in line with GiveDirectly's HR manual and Malawi labour law.
• Design and continuously improve a structured onboarding programme for all new hires, covering orientation on GiveDirectly's HR manual, policies, and organisational values, as well as seamless set-up of benefits enrolment, payroll, and system access from day one.
• Actively identify opportunities to modernise or automate HR processes

Administration & Record-Keeping (in partnership with the HR Associate).

• Set direction and quality standards for staff benefits administration, leave management, and timesheet processes, with the HR Associate handling day-to-day coordination, vendor liaison, and record maintenance.
• Maintain oversight of accurate, confidential, and audit-ready personnel files for all staff, ensuring records are kept in line with GiveDirectly's data policies, local labour regulations, and best-practice HR record-keeping standards.

Performance Management & Tracking

• Provide support during the performance review cycle including stakeholder communications, documentation, and ensuring HR systems and records are promptly updated to reflect any changes in role, title, or compensation.
• Work closely with the Country Director and line managers to identify and action professional development opportunities for staff, tracking individual development plans and following up to ensure commitments translate into tangible growth.

Organisational Culture & Engagement

• Take ownership of planning and delivering a calendar of team-building activities and staff engagement events that strengthen relationships, sustain morale, and reinforce a sense of shared purpose across the Malawi team.
• Proactively generate and champion initiatives that bring GiveDirectly's culture and values to life, embedding them into key moments across the employee lifecycle including hiring, onboarding, performance conversations, and team gatherings.
• Serve as a trusted culture steward, creating regular channels for staff to share feedback, surfacing themes and insights to leadership, and helping the organisation stay responsive to the needs and sentiment of its people.

Desired Qualifications

• 5–7 years of progressive experience in operations, with demonstrable exposure to human resources management, ideally within an international development, NGO, or high-growth organisation context  candidates from fast-paced or tech-enabled environments are encouraged to apply
• Direct, hands-on payroll and compensation experience  able to personally run payroll and lead benchmarking exercises, not only oversee others doing so.
• A track record of building, redesigning, or modernising an HR process or system, ideally including use of automation or digital tools, rather than solely administering existing ones.
• Degree in a relevant field (e.g. Human Resources Management, Business Administration, Operations Management, or equivalent).
• Strong alignment with GiveDirectly's values and a genuine commitment to the organisation's mission.
• Proven experience managing HR functions including recruitment, onboarding, performance management, employee relations, and compliance with local labour law.
• Comfortable operating in fast-paced, ambiguous environments where success requires adaptability, sound judgement without a ready-made playbook, and a significant degree of learning by doing.
• Experienced people manager with a track record of building high-performing teams, delivering results through others, and establishing strong management systems and processes.
• Collaborative management style with excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to build trust across diverse teams and stakeholders at all levels.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to tailor messaging effectively for a range of audiences including field teams, local and global leadership, regulatory authorities, and external service providers.