Staff Accountant

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. The Role We’re looking for a Staff Accountant to support the transactional and operational accounting that keeps GiveWell’s books accurate and current. You’ll bring care and precision to accounts payable, month-end close, and reconciliations—work that directly enables GiveWell to move money carefully and transparently. This is a great entry-to-mid-level opportunity for someone detail-oriented who wants broad exposure to nonprofit accounting operations. You’ll be joining our growing Finance team and reporting directly to our Controller.  Why we’re hiring this role right now: GiveWell has grown from directing $1.5 million in 2010 to directing more than $400 million in 2025, and we’re building our finance team to match that scale and prepare for additional growth in the coming years. Our Controller joined earlier this year, and we’re now making the team’s foundational hires to shift from outside contractors to a strong in-house finance team.  Specific duties include: Owning accounts payable and employee expense processes. You’ll manage invoice processing, vendor relationships, credit card program administration, and employee expense reimbursements, ensuring accurate coding and compliance with our expense policies.  Supporting month-end and quarterly close. You’ll help record journal entries for payroll, benefits, credit card and employee expenses, prepaids, and accruals. Performing and improving our monthly bank reconciliation process. You’ll own the execution of this process and look for ways to make it more efficient over time. Triaging and responding to finance-related staff questions. You’ll intake questions and concerns from GiveWell staff and be the first point of contact on the Finance team to triage and respond to those communications. Supporting annual compliance processes. You’ll contribute to the audit and 990 preparation alongside the Controller and Senior Accountant. About You The strongest candidates will have 2+ years of experience in accounting, accounts payable, or a related finance role, with a track record of accuracy and reliability in transactional and operational accounting work. You have a solid foundational understanding of debits, credits, and how the books work, and you take pride in getting the details right.  We expect that high-quality candidates will have all of the characteristics listed below: 2+ years of financial/accounting experience Experience with: Common accounting systems (we currently use Sage Intacct, Salesforce, and Bill.com) Supporting financial audits and annual compliance processes such as the 990 Accounts payable processes, including invoice processing, vendor management, and expense reimbursements Strong Excel skills. You’re comfortable with formulas, filters, and pivot tables, and you use them to keep your work accurate and organized Highly organized. You’re meticulous in how you prepare, document, and track your work. You love a close checklist and clear documented procedures for each workstream Keen detail orientation. You bring accuracy and care to your work Strong communication. You write and speak with accuracy and the right tone Experience with or interest in process improvement. You don’t just execute, you look for ways to do things better We also think these preferred characteristics will help you do well in the role at GiveWell: Alignment with our values and passion about GiveWell’s mission Experience in public accounting (Big 4 or similar) Comfortable working cross-functionally with non-finance colleagues and communicating clearly with internal stakeholders Details Compensation : NYC or the San Francisco Bay Area: $113,000 All other U.S. locations: $102,500 Location: GiveWell’s staff work primarily remotely within the US and abroad. This position is eligible to work fully remotely from the United States, and we're only considering US based candidates for this role. Offices: You are welcome but not required to work from our offices in Oakland, California or Brooklyn, NYC. We’ll cover relocation expenses for candidates who wish to move to either of these physical office locations. Flexibility: We support and encourage flexible working, including flexible hours, working remotely, and working from the office when you choose. The majority of our staff, including senior management, work flexibly in one way or another. Visa sponsorship:   For this role, we can currently only hire team members based in the United States who have prior work authorization. Please note that government entities and policies ultimately dictate our ability to sponsor visas. Benefits : A few highlights of our benefits offerings: Fully funded health, dental, vision, and life insurance (we cover 100% of premiums within the US for you and any dependents) Four weeks of paid time off per year plus an annual summer break  16 weeks of fully paid parental leave Ergonomic home workstations or coworking space memberships 403(b) retirement plan for US team members Automatic contribution equal to 5% of your gross salary into your 403(b) retirement plan (for US based staff) Tr