A chief of party in Ethiopia

International development is as much a business as it is a labor of love, and chances are you won’t choose your next assignment based on the money. That said, compensation is an important part of human resources management, and comprehensive data on salaries and benefits is hard to come by. That’s why Devex is shedding light on the salaries and work of those holding jobs that international development organizations commonly hire for. It’s part of our mission to help aid professionals do good and make informed decisions about their careers. Today’s spotlight is on a chief of party hired by a nongovernmental organization for a multimillion dollar aid project in Ethiopia. - Position title: chief of party - Seniority: senior-level - Position type: full-time - Year: 2012 - Sample tasks: responsible for the overall technical, financial and administrative management of the project, serving as principal point of contact on contractual and technical matters relating to the project, preparing and submitting to the donor agency regular reports on project activities and results - Salary: $65,000-$150,000 per year - Benefits: living allowance, health insurance, education allowance for dependents, home leave (depending on duration of assignment), housing Ethiopia’s foreign aid job market One of the world’s poorest countries, Ethiopia was the third-largest aid recipient in 2011, according to figures compiled by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. That year, official development assistance to the country amounted to $3.6 billion, with the United States as its biggest bilateral donor and the World Bank’s International Development Association as the largest multilateral donor. According to the World Bank, Ethiopia’s main challenge is to sustain and speed up the progress made toward achieving the Millennium Development Goals. The country is on course to meeting the MDGs relating to gender parity in education, child mortality, HIV and AIDS, and malaria. Though it has made good progress when in comes to universal primary education, it will likely miss that MDG target. As such, there remains a huge need for development expertise in Ethiopia. Based on job announcements posted on Devex, aid groups are looking for people experienced in project management and capacity building, among other things. Check out the Devex jobs board for more vacancies in Ethiopia and for chiefs of party. Compensation isn’t everything The details provided in this article were derived from a survey of select development workers stationed in various parts of the globe. Due to the sensitivity of the information, we are keeping the respondents’ identities and organizations confidential. Compensation varies greatly from one job, country or organization to another. Even for the same position, differences in remuneration occur based on educational background, experience and an applicant’s most recent salary, an organization’s need and the sector it operates in, as well as whether it is hiring locally or internationally. Also, some organizations offer more generous benefit packages than others, or they offer perks such as regular travel, training or other career development services that should not be discounted. For senior-level international hires, in particular, benefits such as housing and education allowances often amount to tens of thousands of dollars per year. At the end of the day, aid workers tell us that the chance to help alleviate suffering and lift people out of poverty are well worth any pay cut they may have encountered switching from the private sector. Read more Devex Salary Spotlights!