Presented by UC Berkeley Master of Development Engineering
Amid the continued onslaught of troubling headlines, we held back-to-back digital gatherings to close out last week for those already facing a jobless future and others concerned about the career impacts on broader global development.
While all of us are still trying to make sense of it all, the development leaders we called upon on Friday for their insights all agreed that there will always be a place for your skills in the development and social impact space.
In this edition of Career Hub, I’m sharing some key insights from Friday’s panel discussion on how those directly affected by the U.S. aid freeze can navigate their next steps. Plus, check out our expanded selection of the latest and best job leads.
+ Join us on Feb. 12: Devex is hosting an interactive digital event and workshop to help development professionals reframe meaningful career growth that puts you on the path to finding the right fit. To gain access to this and all career development events, advice guides, and more, sign up for a Career Account with a free 15-day trial.
Aid-freeze fallout: Skills to help you pivot
During Friday’s discussion, Joel S. Hellman, dean of the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, pointed out how this uncertain period could be the right time “to think about [the] skills you want to build further into your career … in order to help you for potential pivots or to deal with what’s to come.”
Knowing the types of roles and specialty skills that a broad set of social impact recruiters are looking for can help you round out any missing skills as well as what you already have in your toolbox that may be worth highlighting in your CV.
Areas such as project management, procurement, and budget management have long been in demand and will continue to be, the panel said. But there are others that might not instantly come to mind that you may already have foundational skills for.
“A big one is event coordination and logistics,” said Fatema Sumar, executive director of the Harvard Center for International Development. “So many of you who have planned visits, who have planned events, who have planned all those things, a lot of companies, a lot of universities, a lot of spaces need people who know how to execute logistics.”
Other areas to consider for those who have extensive USAID project experience include writing and communications and policy analysis, she added.
Read more: What to do if you’ve lost your USAID job
Watch: How to navigate the Trump effect on the development career path
Latest updates: Tracking the impact on development work during Trump’s first 100 days
Top jobs this week
Full-time staff
Security and Justice (S&J) Officer
UNOPS
Nepal
Finance Officer
UNOPS
Moldova
Outreach Coordinator
Albwardy Investments
Tanzania
Technical Specialist Sustainable Finance, Capital Markets
Financial Sector Deepening Africa (FSD Africa)
Kenya
Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Manager
City Cancer Challenge
Eastern Europe | Western Europe | North America (remote)
Head of Finance/ Manager, Finance
BRAC
Philippines
Human Resources Officer
The Palladium Group
Australia
Senior Programme and Fund Associate, Cross-Border Conflict Evidence, Policy and Trends
Chemonics International Inc.
United Kingdom
Water/Wastewater Policy Manager
Hagerty Consulting
Worldwide (remote)
Humanitarian Response Manager
Clinton Foundation (William J. Clinton Foundation)
United States
Senior and executive-level
Regional Portfolio Manager for Economy in Eastern Europe (F/M/D) 100%
HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation
Switzerland | Eastern Europe
Senior Project and M&E Manager, ImpactHDSS Ethiopia
Vital Strategies
Ethiopia
Head, Country Program Communications
Mastercard Foundation
Rwanda
Vice President, External Affairs
Panorama Group
United States (remote)
Chief Development & Communications Officer
Project HOPE
United States
Chief Executive Officer
LifeNet International
United States
Short-term contract
Expressions of interest - Occupational Health and Safety Specialist
DT Global
Fiji
Research Scientist, Data Science in Global Health Immunization (one-year contract)
Surgo Health
India
Intern Accountant and Finance
Baan Dek Foundation
Thailand
FEMA Individual Assistance (IA) / FEMA Housing Recovery Specialist
Federal Emergency Management Agency
United States
Senior Fundraising Manager, Partnerships and Events
GOAL Global
Ireland (hybrid or remote)
Long-term consulting
Path to Scale Dashboard Management & Analysis Consultant
Rights and Resources Initiative
Worldwide (remote)
Consultant
Commonwealth Secretariat
United Kingdom
Program Coordinator
American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative
Guatemala
Individual Consultant: Expert in Financial Resource Mobilization (Relaunch)
World Bank Group
Niger
Communications Manager (Fixed-term)
Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition
Rwanda (hybrid)
Internships
Intern: Digital Health - Program Assistant - Data Analysis
Clinton Health Access Initiative
Burkina Faso
Education Program Coordination Assistant
European Institute for Cooperation and Development
France
Programme Support
United Nations
Kenya
Intern in Human Resources
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
Kyrgyzstan
Programme Development and Quality Intern/Trainee
Danish Refugee Council
Ethiopia
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 an underwriter (sovereign risks) with the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (closing March 2), among many others. See more roles DTS is helping to fill.
Transferable skills, and where to find them
Career experts Caroline Korda Poole and Kathryn Harper offer some ways to reassess what you’ve done in your career up until now to improve your chances of landing your next development role.
Think of skills as ‘horizontal.’ “I think about skills as sort of horizontal, they sort of go across any kind of vertical, knowledge, or expertise,” Korda Poole says. Some examples include meeting facilitation, writing, research, and budget facilitation, she adds.
Consider development-relevant skills. Be aware of certain skills and experiences that tend to apply to traditional development work functions. These include project management, proposal development, monitoring and evaluation, and foreign languages.
Redefine your past work. Try to identify what may be overlooked aspects of a current or past role, to “show a potential employer that those skills are equally important” for the type of role you are targeting, Harper says. For example, a lawyer may want to highlight mediation and negotiation skills.
Read: How to identify transferable skills when applying to globaldev roles
+ 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.
