Presented by UC Berkeley Master of Development Engineering
While thousands of global development workers continue to grapple with what’s next following layoffs and furloughs, legal battles rage on that some affected professionals hope will reverse the damage already done.
In this edition of Career Hub, an update on what recent court orders and lawsuits mean for those caught in the fallout of the U.S. aid freeze. Plus, some of the best new job opportunities from leading organizations such as the Danish Refugee Council, The Carter Center, and more.
Join us on Feb. 24: Devex President and Editor-in-Chief Raj Kumar and a panel of sector leaders will discuss the ongoing aid freeze and the critical next steps for those who have lost their NGO jobs.
Top full-time staff jobs this week
1. Senior Communications Manager - Indigenous Peoples and/or local communities
The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market
Worldwide (remote)
2. Monitoring and Evaluation Analyst (Database)
UNOPS
Myanmar
3. Corporate Controller
Action Against Hunger
United States
4. Director, Rosalynn Carter Mental Health and Caregiver Program (RCMHCP), Health Programs
The Carter Center
United States
5. REnew Pacific - Finance and Administration Officer
The Palladium Group
Australia
6. Security Manage
Relief International
Syria
Devex Talent Solutions, our very own boutique recruitment agency, is assisting Trees for the Future (TREES) in its search for a country director to be based in Mwanza, Tanzania. Those interested should apply by March 7.
+ DTS is also seeking candidates for a manager of finance and administration with Roots, which is based in Canada (closing March 2), among many others. See more roles DTS is helping to fill.
Aid-freeze fallout: Legal fights continue
A lawsuit filed yesterday is pushing the Trump administration to reinstate USAID’s personal service contractors. There are more than 1,000 PSCs who work at USAID, the majority of which have already lost their jobs, been locked out of their accounts, or been suspended from the agency.
While a previous court order temporarily halted USAID’s direct hire employees from being placed on administrative leave, this new lawsuit focuses specifically on PSCs. It follows another recently filed lawsuit by 26 former and current USAID employees against Elon Musk, stating the billionaire has decimated the agency without the authority to do so.
Despite some recent legal victories, most notably a federal judge’s order last Thursday that the Trump administration temporarily halt its foreign aid freeze on existing programs, USAID grants and contracts are still being terminated.
Peter Marocco, USAID’s acting deputy administrator, stated that virtually “all USAID contracts are terminable by the Agency for convenience,” according to a document filed on Tuesday. Less than 24 hours after the government’s rebuttal, those suing the Trump administration bit back, filing an emergency motion to enforce the temporary restraining order and hold the defendants in civil contempt.
While the legal back-and-forth will likely continue, so will the confusion and chaos on the ground. Mitchell Warren, the executive director of the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition, shared his experience with Devex of speaking with several organizations from South Africa who were trading bits and pieces of information — one saying that USAID projects could get waivers; another saying they couldn’t; one saying foreign assistance can restart due to the court case; another saying it was still frozen.
“No one knows,” Warren said. “And if you go to anyone at USAID to get information, the message you get back is: ‘Thanks for your email. The agency has not provided guidance.’”
The Trump Effect: Follow the latest news and careers coverage of Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office and their impact on the development sector.
Read: Anonymous USAID employees, contractors sue Musk, DOGE
Top consulting and short-term jobs
1. Individual Consultant: Expert in Social Safeguarding
African Development Bank
Côte d’Ivoire
2. Programme Policy Officer (Nutritionist) (Fixed-term)
World Food Programme
Ethiopia
3. Consultant - TDR Disease Control
World Health Organization
Worldwide (remote)
4. Individual Consultancy: Final Project Evaluation
Environmental Justice Foundation
Liberia | Romania
5. Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning Officer (OMERA)
Danish Refugee Council
Colombia
6. Accountant
International Organization for Migration
Philippines
+ For more opportunities, check out the weekly Devex Jobs Alert newsletter on LinkedIn, our next early-week edition of Career Hub, and Devex’s Job board.
Turning fear into growth
“If you’re feeling unsettled and scared and uneasy about the future, know you’re in good company.”
— Spencer Campbell, social impact careers coachWith thousands of global development professionals experiencing job losses, furloughs, or reduced hours and pay, and many more worried that they might be next to experience this hardship, fear is an emotion being broadly felt in the social impact space.
But listening to your fears rather than running away from them can set you on a path to landing the right role and establishing meaningful career growth, according to Spencer Campbell, social impact careers coach, and Dan Freehling, an executive leadership coach. Here are a few takeaways from a recent digital event held for Devex Career Account members.
Listen to your fears. Campbell and Freehling recommend listening to your fears as a first step for any job seeker striving for direction in their job search. “Fears should be used to inform our needs and our wants,” Freehling says. Start by “getting these down on paper [and] getting these out of our heads.”
Needs vs. Wants. Figuring out what you need from your job and what you want out of it is a “deliberate process of sitting with them and making sure they make sense for you,” Freehling says. For needs, this also involves identifying “actions am I going to start doing, stop doing [or] continue doing.”
Deciding on strategy. Your job search strategy will largely depend on your specific situation, especially when it comes to your finances. If time is short, you may need to prioritize “a much faster [job] search, and it might be a much more expansive [and pragmatic] search, Campbell says.
Watch: Circles of career evolution — unlocking fearless impact
Around the watercooler
News and views from around global development worth knowing about.
USAID staff warned about speaking to the press. Mark Kevin Lloyd, who is performing the duties of assistant administrator at USAID’s Bureau of Global Health, has warned staff that speaking to the press could result in dismissal.
Extremism concerns rise over cut climate aid. With aid frozen, and some climate aid unlikely to return, experts warn that extremist groups could exploit the climate crisis to recruit struggling pastoral and farming communities.
Aid freeze threatens child malnutrition care. “On paper, a lifesaving waiver would be expected to keep programs open, when in reality, that’s not happening,” a humanitarian aid official tells Devex.
+ To keep up to date with all the must-read global development coverage, be sure to sign up to the daily Devex Newswire.
Sign up to Devex Career Hub for global development’s top jobs, expert career advice, and practical tips to help you do more good for more people.
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.
