As the U.S. funding cuts continue to reshape the development job market, job seekers need to adjust as well. New and sometimes counterintuitive approaches to discovering opportunities, conveying your skills, and making connections may be necessary to break through a highly competitive recruitment landscape.
In this edition of Career Hub, I’m sharing the best tips we’ve recently heard from sector career experts on how to get unstuck in your 2026 job search. Plus, the best new job opportunities on Devex’s board from CARE, UNOPS, and other leading organizations.
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Top full-time staff jobs this week
1. Procurement Senior Officer
UNOPS
Denmark
2. Senior Manager, Investigations and Counter Fraud
CARE
United States
3. Head of Business Administration, Ukraine
Swisscontact - Swiss Foundation for Technical Cooperation
Ukraine
4. Business Development Manager
GIST Research
United States | United Kingdom
5. Senior Planning and Budget Adviser
DT Global
Tuvalu
6. People Analytics, Data Governance and HRIS Optimisation Analyst
Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance
Switzerland
Devex Talent Solutions, our boutique recruitment agency, is assisting the United Nations Environment Programme in its search for a chair of the Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel. This is a remote opportunity, and the application is open until March 26.
+ See more roles DTS is helping to fill.
New rules for the 2026 job hunt
“Do not be afraid to be relentlessly creative. All bets are off. Hiring practices are changing, recruiting is changing — so the job search has to change too.”
— Radhika Bhatt, climate and social impact career coachAs development career coaches and recruitment experts continue to tell job seekers during our digital events, this moment likely calls for different approaches than in past development job searches. Here are three tips to consider as you navigate the post-USAID job market.
Reframe your skills. Given shifts in funding, you may need to reposition your past experience to meet the moment. For instance, “put yourself out there as not just an international USAID award manager … but as a donor liaison,” says Douglas Mercer, managing director of talent attraction and acquisition with Save the Children US. “It’s still all about the donor — it’s just [a question of] who are the donors today.”
Network like a detective. Approach networking like it is detective work, according to career coaches Spencer Campbell and Dan Freehling, and the case you’re trying to solve is whether you actually fit a niche, a role, or an organization. “You fit in somewhere very, very specific, and that’s what we’re trying to [find out] with the networking,” Campbell says.
Be “relentlessly creative.” In a highly competitive market, traditional approaches to finding and applying for positions may fall short. This includes exploring new ways to uncover opportunities that may not be on your radar and looking beyond well-known institutions to collaborators, grantees, and partners, according to Radhika Bhatt, a climate and social impact career coach.
Read: For those affected by USAID job loss, how to move forward in 2026 (Career)
Watch the event: How to navigate the global development job market in 2026 (Career)
Explore more: How to run a smarter job search in 2026 (Career)
Top consulting and short-term jobs
1. SOE and Public Asset Management Reform Technical Adviser
Cowater International
Ethiopia
2. Consultant: One Health Laboratory Strengthening Advisor
Project HOPE
Indonesia
3. Communications and Engagement Officer
Tetra Tech
Philippines
4. Key Thematic Expert
Socha LLC
West Africa
5. Individual Consultant: Development of Value Chain Simulation and Economic Pricing Analytics Platform
AGRA
Mali | Burkina Faso | Ghana | Nigeria | Ethiopia | Uganda | Kenya | Tanzania | Rwanda | Malawi | Mozambique
6. Individual Consultant: Expert Engagement Framework on Climate Finance
Development Bank of Nigeria
Nigeria
+ For more opportunities, check out the weekly Devex Jobs Alert newsletter on LinkedIn and Devex’s job board.
Data download: Who’s hiring in Switzerland?
As we continue assessing the state of development job opportunities across the globe, our latest job board data analysis dug into all roles based in Switzerland posted on Devex over the past 12 months.
Given that the U.S. was the largest public donor to organizations based in Geneva, home to the headquarters of several international organizations and United Nations agencies, the impact of last year’s U.S. foreign aid cuts has been significant. Yet it remains an active and leading hub for development work, with several opportunities still available in the small European nation.
Here’s a look at three of the most active global development organizations that have recruited the most in Switzerland, along with the roles currently available.
UN Human Rights
Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland
Switzerland-based jobs posted over the past 12 months: 156
OHCHR is the leading U.N. entity mandated to protect and advance human rights, and it has posted several openings for human rights officers based at its headquarters. It is currently seeking a finance and budget officer on a short-term contract, among other roles.
View all current job postings from OHCHR on Devex.
UNICEF
Switzerland office: Pfingstweidstrasse 10, Zurich
Switzerland-based jobs posted over the past 12 months: 126
UNICEF works around the world to safeguard the rights of all children, particularly the most vulnerable children and adolescents. The agency has recruited several consultants to support its digital marketing and knowledge management initiatives and is currently looking for a program implementation analyst in its Digital Impact Division, based in Geneva.
View all current job postings from UNICEF on Devex.
Médecins Sans Frontières
Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland
Switzerland-based jobs posted over the past 12 months: 103
Médecins Sans Frontières provides emergency lifesaving care to people affected by conflict, epidemics, disasters, or excluded from health care. The organization currently has an opening at its Zurich office for a public engagement and health network officer.
View all current job postings from MSF on Devex.
Read more: The top global development organizations hiring in Switzerland (Career)
Around the watercooler
News and views from around global development worth knowing about.
Ousted Oxfam CEO speaks out. The governance crisis at Oxfam GB has intensified after Halima Begum detailed the events leading to her dismissal, accusing the charity of “brutally” dismissing and stigmatizing her. [Devex Pro]
U.N. leadership under fire. In an exclusive interview with Devex, María Fernanda Espinosa, former president of the U.N. General Assembly and now executive director of GWL Voices, warned that the global body requires a “profound overhaul” to remain relevant.
Inside DFC’s post-transition strategy. After a lengthy reauthorization push, the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation has its eyes set on larger, more strategic transactions aligned with foreign policy, DFC investment chief Conor Coleman tells Devex. [Devex Pro]
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About the author
Justin Sablich
Justin is a contributing writer and editor who previously led Devex’s careers content strategy. Before joining Devex, Justin served as the managing editor of Springwise, covering sustainable and climate-tech innovation across all business sectors. He also spent over 13 years as an editor and writer for the New York Times, specializing in digital content production and strategy while producing written and multimedia content on a range of topics, including travel, sports, and technology.
