About the ONE Academy Project

ONE Academy is a free dynamic online learning platform designed to equip global activists and young people with the knowledge, tools, and skills to drive social change, promoting healthier lives and economic vitality in their communities. The platform is built to be accessible, interactive, and scalable, delivering high-quality educational content while fostering peer learning and community engagement, including in low-bandwidth environments.

For this project, ONE Academy will build on its existing platform to support foundational learning reform and youth-led advocacy in Kenya and Senegal to improve learning outcomes. This training module will be hosted on the ONE Academy platform and delivered in English, French, Wolof, and Swahili, with the aim of supporting real-world foundational learning system reform efforts in both countries.

Role Purpose

The Foundational Learning Lead will drive the end-to-end design and delivery of ONE Academy’s flagship learning module. As the technical authority on learning design and pedagogy, they will both create high-quality learning materials and ensure all content meets rigorous standards of instructional quality, relevance, and evidence-based practice.

They will play a critical role in translating foundational learning concepts into engaging, accessible, and action-oriented learning experiences for young people, with a strong emphasis on advocacy and real-world application. The role includes leading curriculum design, aligning inputs from partners, and overseeing the creation of engaging, evidence-based learning materials. 

Project Duration

May - October 2026

In this role, the successful candidate will:

• Define the learning architecture, curriculum, and progression pathways;
• Develop high-quality learning materials across all units;
• Guide, review, and ensure the quality of all materials;
• Align inputs from partners to ensure coherence;
• Ensure the program is pedagogically sound, engaging, and actionable.

 Core Responsibilities

1. Learning Strategy & Curriculum Design

• Lead the design of the overall learning framework and curriculum structure that is engaging, interactive, and tailored to youth audiences.
• Define learning objectives, competencies, and progression pathways.
• Structure the module across thematic units including:
  1. Structured Pedagogy Fundamentals;
  2. Targeted Instruction Principles;
• Science of Teaching Principles;
• Data & Evidence for Decision-Making;
• National Language Instruction – teaching kids in a language they understand;
• Responsible AI for Learning Outcomes;
• Investment Case for Foundational Learning – cost effectiveness + budgeting;
• Government Engagement, Civil Society Collaboration, and Coalition building;
• Youth Movement-Building.

1. Pedagogical Oversight & Quality Assurance

• Set instructional design standards for all learning materials.
• Review and validate materials produced by multimedia teams, ensuring it is evidence-based; contextually relevant, and engaging for youth audiences.

1. Content Design

• Design detailed lesson plans, core instructional content, and activities for each unit, ensuring clarity and coherence, strong learning outcomes, and practical applicability.
• Develop assessment tools such as quizzes, reflection prompts, and applied learning tasks.
• Incorporate interactive and participatory elements (e.g. decision-making exercises) to drive youth engagement and retention.

1. Localization & Relevance

• Ensure curriculum is adaptable across Kenya and Senegal contexts as well as multiple languages (EN, FR, WO, SWA).

1. Low-resource Settings Adaptation 

• Define learner experience requirements for accessibility and engagement in low-resource settings (e.g., offline features, mobile-first, low bandwidth).
• Assess and validate whether ONE Academy’s features effectively support learner uptake, comprehension, and engagement in low-resource settings. Recommend adjustments to content and learning design as needed.

1. Youth-Centered Design

• Integrate youth feedback into curriculum refinement.
• Ensure the learning experience supports:
  • Action-oriented advocacy;
  • Movement-building skills;
  • Real-world application including clear pathways from learning to action.

1. Collaboration & Advisory

• Work closely to advise product and platform teams, external subject-matter experts, and country partners.
• Support coherence across all components of the program.
• Learning Framework & Curriculum Architecture

• (competencies, structure, unit outlines)
• Detailed Module Design & Learning Material
  (learning objectives, authored lesson content, scripts, activities, and assessments across all units)
• Instructional Design Guidelines
  (for external multimedia content developers)
• Quality Assurance Reviews
  (validated script and learning materials)
• Localization Guidance
  (adaptation approach for Kenya & Senegal contexts)
• Feedback Loop & Continuous Improvement (to glean outcomes and feedback from learners, country partners, and stakeholders)

  Success Indicators

• Curriculum is:
  • Pedagogically sound;
  • Coherent across all units;
  • Adaptable across countries and languages.
  • Tailored to youth audiences (18-35).
• Learning content produced meets defined instructional quality standards.
• Demonstrated impact through positive feedback from pilot learners, country partners, and key stakeholders.
• Strong learner engagement and completion during the pilot phase.

 Required Qualifications

• Master’s degree (or higher) in Education, Curriculum Design, Pedagogy, or related field.
• 5+ years’ experience in foundational learning and curriculum and instructional design.
• Proven experience designing engaging, action-oriented learning experiences for youth (18-35), ideally linked to advocacy, civic engagement, or social impact.
• Demonstrated expertise in evidence-based pedagogy and learning design for low-resource context.
• Strong skills in youth-focused storytelling, messaging, and learner engagement.
• Excellent ability to translate theory into practical learning design and provide structured feedback to multidisciplinary teams.
• Strong understanding of advocacy with civil society and engagement with government.
• Experience reviewing and guiding e-learning content development.
• Proven experience designing youth-focused programs or campaigns. 

Preferred

• Multilingual with proficiency in English and French (Compulsory).
• Experience in Kenya and/or Senegal.
• Familiarity with multilingual education environments.
• Exposure to digital learning platforms or edtech.

Location: This role is fully remote but must overlap with an East Africa timezone by at least 3 hours. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of employment Visas in the U.S. or U.K. at this time.

About this role

The Senior Manager, Cash & Coaching will own GiveDirectly’s Cash + Coaching initiative — a high-priority effort to identify, build, and scale the most cost-effective coaching elements that meaningfully enhance the impact of large cash transfers already reaching hundreds of thousands.They are an expert on graduation programs and strategies, and have the product skills to package this into scalable & digital formats. 

Graduation-style programs that pair cash with coaching have demonstrated strong impacts, but are often expensive, high-touch, and difficult to scale. We aim to build lean, digitally enabled, recipient-centered coaching interventions that can be layered onto large transfers at low marginal cost and deployed across countries.

This role is fundamentally entrepreneurial. You will:

• Lead deep collaborations with specific country Programs teams to design and pilot coaching models in real operational contexts
• Partner extensively with external organizations (e.g., graduation NGOs, edutainment firms, chatbot developers, researchers) to adapt and integrate best-in-class content
• Manage vendors and co-development partnerships from concept through rollout
• Translate behavioral science and coaching theory and evidence into practical, scalable delivery systems
• Test and iterate quickly within large-scale cash programs, generating high-quality evidence at speed 

This is an opportunity to take the strongest elements of graduation — and reimagine them in a fast-moving, digitally enabled, autonomy-first model with the goal of reaching millions.

Reports to: Senior Director, Product 

Level: Senior Manager

Travel Requirement: Must be able to travel ~1-2 times per quarter to one of our countries of operation in Africa for field visits and collaboration 

What you’ll do:

1) Strategy & Product Vision: Defining the Cash + Coaching Model

• Own the vision and roadmap for Cash + Coaching across content, channel, and dosage
• Distill insights from graduation, behavioral science, and digital coaching theory and research into a clear, scalable product strategy
• Define a modular “menu” of coaching components (e.g., soft skills, transfer planning, digital literacy, market linkages, savings tools) and how they layer onto large transfers
• Make principled tradeoffs between intensity and scalability — identifying what truly drives impact versus what adds cost or complexity
  
  

2) Building & Scaling User-Facing Coaching Products

• Lead development of digitally enabled coaching tools, including:
• AI or rules-based chatbots (e.g., WhatsApp-based planning and follow-through tools)
• Video-based “wise intervention” and edutainment content
• Tablet-based or volunteer-enabled digital curricula
• Develop repeatable, evidence based protocols and curriculum for light-touch in-person touch points, including 
• Training sessions to use digital products 
• Scripts and labelling at community meetings
• Market linkage interventions 
• Analogue versions of digital products for users who cannot access them 
• Translate product concepts into clear technical specifications in partnership with our internal Tech team and external vendors
• Ensure tools are designed for low-literacy, low-connectivity environments
• Sequence releases thoughtfully, balancing speed with quality
  
  

3) Partnerships, Vendor Management & Country Pilots

• Build and manage strategic partnerships with graduation implementers, academic partners, tech and edutainment vendors 
• Evaluate when to build in-house vs. adapt or license external content 
• Lead deep-dive collaborations with country Programs teams (e.g., Rwanda, Mozambique, Malawi) to pilot and refine interventions
• Manage budgets, scopes of work, contracts, and performance of external vendors and collaborators
• Navigate tradeoffs between open collaboration and long-term scalability
  
  

4) Learning & External Positioning

• In collaboration with the research team and academic collaborators, ensure the success oversee rapid pilots and structured experiments of the coaching components you have created 
• Contribute to donor-facing strategy and sector positioning around scalable “graduation-lite” models

• Represent GiveDirectly in sector conversations on digital coaching, graduation, and cost-effective poverty reductions

What you’ll bring:

• Exceptional alignment 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.
• Language Requirement: English, French preferred 
• 8-10+ years of experience designing or leading graduation, economic inclusion, or cash-plus programs
• Direct experience building or scaling digital coaching products (e.g., chatbot, app-based curriculum, edutainment platform, digital financial literacy tools)
• Deep familiarity with the graduation evidence base and coaching methodologies
• Strong project management skills, with demonstrated ability to juggle multiple internal teams, country programs, and external vendors simultaneously
• Experience translating behavioral or training concepts into scalable operational systems
• Excellent written communication and strategic thinking skills
• Preferred
• Experience co-developing products with governments or multilateral partners
• Familiarity with AI-enabled tools, WhatsApp-based delivery, IVR, or digital learning platforms
• Experience working in fast-paced, iterative environments

Compensation

At GiveDirectly, we strive to pay our employees generously and equitably. We use an accredited third party salary aggregator to calculate what we believe to be competitive pay based on role, location, and cost of living. We also have a no negotiation policy to ensure we are paying staff equitably across roles. Read more about our compensation philosophy here.

Unless otherwise noted, the benefits stipend may be used to cover benefits or taken as additional taxable income.

United States

• Base Salary: $115,500
• Bonus at Target Performance: $11,500 with potential for upside. For reference, with the organization’s current performance multiplier, this amount was $13,455 in 2025)
• Estimated Total Compensation at Target: $126,500+
• Annual Benefits Stipend for US: $21,393

This role is fully remote, so if you are not based in the US, we will share an estimated salary benchmark for the country you are based in during the hiring process. 

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