Given all that has happened to the development workforce in 2025, it’s easy to forget that the broader sector wasn’t exactly easy to navigate prior to America’s decision to gut its foreign aid apparatus. That was why Devex published its extensive 54-page guide breaking down the top 10 development sectors — roughly one year ago.
While the fallout is ongoing, I recently did my best to capture the Trump effect on development’s leading spaces so far, sorting through a year’s worth of new job board data and expert Devex news analysis to produce an updated guide to development’s top sectors.
In this edition of Career Hub, I’m sharing some of what I learned while putting together our newly revised guide to development’s top sectors. Plus, the best new job opportunities from Devex’s board, from leading organizations such as UNOPS, Simprints, and many others.
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Top full-time staff jobs this week
1. Senior International Consultant (Pacific Islands & SE Asia)
Cognition Learning Group
Solomon Islands
2. Director of Strategic Partnerships
Simprints
Ghana (remote)
3. External Engagement and Communications Advisor
UNOPS
Denmark
4. Project Officer
TradeMark Africa Limited
Benin
5. Institutional Funding Senior Specialist
CBM Global
Worldwide (remote)
6. Marketing and Media Manager
International Law Institute
United States
Devex Talent Solutions, our boutique recruitment agency, is supporting CARE USA in recruiting a senior director for humanitarian advocacy. Successful candidates can be based in any country where CARE has an established office. Applications are open until Jan. 15, 2026.
+ See more roles DTS is helping to fill.
Data download: The Trump effect
Our updated guide balances need-to-know essentials with new job board data insights and Devex reporting for each of development’s top 10 sectors. After comparing hiring trends from before and after the U.S. aid freeze, here are a few things that stood out to me while putting this updated report together.
Global health took the biggest hit. While opportunities in most sectors have dropped when comparing Devex job board postings from 2024 to 2025, global health roles are down over 45%, the most of any sector. Total job postings fell by 26.8%.
The leading sectors are (mostly) the same. Only one change occurred to the top 10 sectors, which are based on the total number of job postings for each since Jan. 1. Infrastructure rose to the ninth place, with a total of 1,152 roles representing a 2.4% year-on-year increase, while a 31.2% decrease in trade and policy postings pushed it out of the top 10.
Short-term contracts on the rise. Of the 56,916 job postings analyzed, 43.6% were offering work on a short-term contract basis, compared to 38.9% in 2024. Meanwhile, long-term consulting assignments fell by nearly five percentage points, from 28.1% in 2024 to 23.4% this year.
Download: Your ultimate guide to development’s top sectors
Explore more data insights: Who’s hiring in Haiti? (Career)
+ The Trump effect: Explore our dedicated page to catch up on all the latest news, in-depth analysis, and exclusive insights on how the Trump administration’s policies are reshaping U.S. aid and global development.
Top consulting and short-term jobs
1. Data Engineer
The Mitchell Group, Inc.
United States (remote)
2. Medicines Access Consultant
Resolve to Save Lives
Nigeria (remote)
3. Operations Advisor (Deputy Head of Office)
UNOPS
Finland
4. Associate Protection Officer
UN Refugee Agency
Rwanda
5. Team Leader and Principal Evaluator for Two MCC Evaluations
Socha LLC
Togo | Gambia (remote)
6. Senior Program Coordinator
CDC Foundation
Malawi
+ For more opportunities, check out the weekly Devex Jobs Alert newsletter on LinkedIn and Devex’s Job board.
Consultants speak out
“Part of it is that as independent consultants, we just don’t have a voice, we don’t have an advocacy body … there’s a power discrepancy.”
— Lorenz Wild, independent consultantFindings from a new survey have captured a snapshot of how independent consultants impacted by the USAID crisis are assessing the current state and prospects of consulting in the development sector.
Common themes emerged, highlighting challenges many consultants are facing. These include significantly lower earnings, relentless networking, and negative mental health impacts. As a result, many independent consultants are now questioning whether this career path remains viable.
Half of the 126 respondents were the main breadwinners in their households, and many had been consulting primarily for USAID for years, Alethia Wong, a consultant who helped analyze the survey results, tells Devex. Respondent comments conveyed high levels of anxiety and pessimism, Wong explains.
Some consultants also believe contracting organizations are exploiting the current job market to drive down daily rates, indicating that more transparency is needed around processes and communication, particularly in the publication of tenders.
“Many tenders [outline] a piece of work [but] don’t provide any idea of a budget, and so you're kind of shooting in the dark,” says Wild, who lost his USAID consulting role and was the driving force behind the survey effort.
Read more: Post-USAID survey of consultants finds many questioning the path (Career)
Explore more: How a former USAID staffer created a network of security experts (Career)
Around the watercooler
News and views from around global development worth knowing about.
• Former Iraqi president to lead UNHCR. Barham Salih will soon take the top position at the UN Refugee Agency, marking a sharp break for a post that has been dominated by European nationals since its founding after World War II.
• Can Democrats protect the U.N. Population Fund? Democrats have moved to safeguard UNFPA after sweeping Trump-era cuts gutted the agency’s work — but their proposal faces steep political headwinds.
• Rapid US health deals spark concern. The United States is on a rapid-fire quest to sign dozens of new bilateral health agreements with countries in the coming weeks. However, concerns about speed and lack of transparency are mounting.
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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.
