Senior Communications Officer, Media & Public Affairs

GiveWell’s mission is to help people in need as much as we can by researching the most cost‑effective ways to save and improve lives, sharing our work openly, and directing donations to the programs we believe will do the most good. Our work, which focuses on global health and well-being, is funded by tens of thousands of donors who rely on our research to inform their giving. We’ve grown from directing $1.5 million in 2010 to directing more than $400 million in 2025. We anticipate our total grantmaking is likely to approach or even exceed $1 billion this year, and we are working toward a future that could be several times that scale. Through years of deliberate groundwork, we’ve been growing our research capacity and scope in order to direct substantially more funding to the most impactful opportunities we can find.

We’re hiring a Senior Communications Officer, Media & Public Affairs to lead how GiveWell’s work is represented in the media and in public conversations. You will set our strategy, build trusted relationships with journalists and other influential voices, pursue opportunities that increase understanding of GiveWell’s work, and lead our external response in fast-moving situations.

This role reports to Steven Profaizer , our Vice President of Communications, and will lead a small and growing team. This is one of three new communications leadership roles, alongside a Senior Communications Officer, Strategic Communications and a Senior Communications Officer, Editorial & Production .

About the role

Both our research and impact are expanding . Last year, we directed more than $400 million to highly cost-effective programs that save and improve lives. This year, we expect our grantmaking to approach, and possibly exceed, $1 billion.

To build toward the communications capacity this next stage requires, we are rapidly expanding our team. Together with the Vice President of Communications, the three new Senior Communications Officers will form GiveWell’s communications leadership team. Each leader will own their function, but much of the work that matters most—like team strategies, major initiatives, partnership campaigns, and how we present the organization as a whole—will involve all three. We will expect this group to set shared priorities and work closely together to achieve the team’s goals.

In this hands-on leadership position, you’ll own how and where GiveWell engages in media and public conversations, with end-to-end responsibility for this emerging function. You’ll set its strategy, hire and develop its people, build its systems, and personally own its hardest and most consequential work. This is an opportunity to build, not just inherit, an important function at a critical point in GiveWell’s development. You’ll start with a small team and grow it over time.

While this role is set at the Senior Communications Officer level, we may consider hiring an exceptional candidate as a Communications Director—with greater expectations, responsibilities, and compensation.

What You'll Do

As Senior Communications Officer, Media & Public Affairs, you will combine long-term strategy and relationship-building with the ability to respond quickly and exercise sound judgment in sensitive or fast-moving situations.

Specific duties will include:

Set GiveWell’s strategy across media, thought-leader engagement, online communities, public forums and events, and other earned communications opportunities—including deciding where and when GiveWell should participate and overseeing those engagements.

Build and maintain high-trust relationships with journalists, editors, podcast hosts, event organizers, thought leaders, subject-matter experts, and other influential external stakeholders.

Identify, develop, and pitch substantive stories, event opportunities, and thought-leadership ideas that extend understanding of GiveWell’s work.

Own inbound media engagement, including situations that require rapid responses, close coordination with subject-matter experts, and careful judgment about what GiveWell can responsibly say—and about which responses need escalation.

Build and maintain GiveWell’s readiness for sensitive or fast-moving situations, monitor emerging issues in media and public conversations, and lead our external response when needed in partnership with others.

Advise GiveWell’s leadership on external opportunities and relationships, and prepare senior leaders and subject-matter experts for interviews, speaking engagements, and other public appearances.

Exercise sound judgment about when and how GiveWell should enter public conversations, including evaluating likely value, reputational considerations, and communications risks.

Evaluate and help shape public-facing communications partnerships, advising on which opportunities GiveWell should pursue and how we should participate.

Serve as a spokesperson for GiveWell in select media interviews, events, and other public forums, communicating our perspective clearly, accurately, and with sound judgment.

Work with grantees and other partners on press releases and other media-facing communications involving GiveWell or our shared work.

Manage and develop one or two team members initially, and build the relationships, systems, and additional capacity the function will need over time.

About You

You are skilled at using communications to help people understand complex ideas, build trust, and take action. You are comfortable being accountable for outcomes, making consequential decisions with limited oversight, and knowing which decisions genuinely require escalation.