The Supreme Court handed USAID’s partners a major victory this week in their battle to secure billions of dollars in payments. But there’s still plenty of confusion after programs that had been terminated were suddenly reinstated.
Keep up to date with global development’s top jobs and expert career advice by signing up to Devex Career Hub. Get it in your inbox every Friday.
In this edition of Career Hub, an update on the various legal battles that we’re tracking and what comes next 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 CARE USA, the Centre for Disaster Protection, and many more.
Top full-time staff jobs this week
1. Senior Leadership Team - Associate Director
Centre for Disaster Protection
United Kingdom
2. Director of Development, Philanthropy
CARE USA
United States
3. Program Assistant
Tetra Tech
Philippines
4. Support Services Manager
UNOPS
Madagascar
5. Chief Communications Officer
IKEA Foundation
Netherlands
6. Senior Director, Finance and Private Sector
World Resources Institute
United States
Devex Talent Solutions, our very own boutique recruitment agency, is assisting Feed the Children in its search for a regional director of Africa, a remote position, and a senior director of monitoring, evaluation, accountability, and learning, or MEAL, which is also a remote role that can be based anywhere in Africa or in Washington D.C. Those interested in either role need to apply by April 30.
+ DTS is also seeking candidates for a senior environmental and social development specialist — CSO engagement with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (closing March 20), among many others. See more roles DTS is helping to fill.
Aid-freeze fallout: What’s next following Supreme Court ruling
If your head is spinning from the recent flurry of court rulings — some in favor of restoring funding, others siding with the U.S. government — you’re not alone. The latest and most significant one came Wednesday when the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the administration’s attempt to withhold billions of dollars in foreign aid to USAID and State Department partners.
This decision comes roughly three weeks after the Trump administration was ordered to lift its foreign aid freeze, and one week after the government asked the Supreme Court for a temporary reprieve. It’s a win for USAID partners, but the fight is far from over, and much remains uncertain.
The Supreme Court did not say exactly when the money — which is for work completed before Feb. 13 — should be repaid. The case now goes back to the judge who first directed the Trump administration to pay its partners nearly $2 billion in foreign assistance last Wednesday. The Supreme Court wrote in its decision that “the District Court should clarify what obligations the Government must fulfill to ensure compliance with the temporary restraining order.”
Elsewhere, a U.S. District Court judge denied a request for a temporary restraining order in the legal challenge brought by the Personal Services Contractors Association against the Trump administration. The lawsuit seeks to halt the government's actions to close USAID and lay off staffers. The plaintiffs will likely take time to review the decision before deciding on further requests of the court in the case, their attorney Carolyn Shapiro indicated.
Read: Supreme Court hands USAID partners a win
ICYMI: Judge orders USAID to release millions of dollars in foreign aid
And: Judge denies temporary order in USAID personal services contractors case
+ The Trump effect: Follow the latest news and career coverage of how the Trump administration's policies are reshaping global development.
Watch: What to do if you've lost your NGO job
While being laid off is an overwhelming experience, it’s worth keeping in mind that ultimately, many things remain in your control — and that includes learning how to transfer your skills to a new job or brand new sector, says Danny Sriskandarajah, CEO of the New Economics Foundation, and other development leaders at a recent Devex career event on what to do if you’ve lost your NGO job.
Read more: In this time of career tumult, focus on what you can control
Top consulting and short-term jobs
1. Strategic Asset Management Adviser
DT Global
Papua New Guinea
2. Technical Adviser - Resource Mobilisation
Health Equity Matters
Papua New Guinea (remote)
3. DHIS 2 Developer
SRHR Africa Trust
Southern Africa
4. Lead Consultant: End-of-Programme Evaluation RECLAIM Sustainability
Solidaridad Network Netherlands
Worldwide (remote)
5. Programme Manager, Funding Design and Review
Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance
Switzerland
6. Individual Consultant: Carry Out Campaigns to Popularize Value4Her
AGRA
Mozambique
+ For more opportunities, check out the weekly Devex Jobs Alert newsletter on LinkedIn and Devex’s job board.
Origin story: Networking her way to a World Bank gig
Ira Gribanenkova, a young professional specializing in water consulting, recently spoke to us about how believing in herself and leveraging her network helped her secure opportunities at one of the world’s leading MDBs. Here’s how she got started on her career path.
Gribanenkova: My career journey is not the most straightforward one, but with time, that's what I've learned to appreciate. I got my bachelor's back home in Russia, in Middle Eastern studies. I was young then and didn't really know what I was interested in. We were focusing a lot on the language, which was Arabic. With time, I realized that language is a tool, but I wanted a discipline to specialize in.
I started navigating where I saw myself, and environment and sustainability topics really came to my radar. Back home, it wasn't a very available or popular education, and this field wasn't there yet in academia either. So I went to Hungary to study environmental economics, and that's when I spotted a more niche interest: water. I had a course in water economics. I wrote my dissertation around water. I had really good relationships with the professor who was teaching this course. And it was just a spark.
After that, I had the chance to go to Sweden to work with an intergovernmental organization called Global Water Partnership. They focus on advising a huge number of countries and regions on implementing integrated water resources management policies and strategies. It brought my attention to the international policies arena within water, but I felt I was missing the core academic training around water. So, I applied and got into the Water Science Policy and Management course at Oxford University in the U.K., which is very multidisciplinary.
After that, my first engagement with the World Bank happened through the Weidenfeld-Hoffmann Trust scholarship network in Oxford, where people share opportunities they know about. One of the former scholars shared an opportunity for a consultancy role within the World Bank. I applied, and because I had them as a referral, the person hiring got back to me quite quickly. We had a chat, and that’s how I joined the team.
After some time in that team, I transitioned to another. This was, again, thanks to networking: Someone who had previously worked with me moved to a new team and was aware of my expertise and experience, so they reached out.
Read more: Career advice from a young consultant who landed a World Bank gig
Around the watercooler
News and views from around global development worth knowing about.
• World Vision braces for mass layoffs. The aid organization is preparing to lay off around 3,000 workers, underscoring the dire impact the U.S. foreign aid freeze is having on the relief efforts of evangelical Christians, a core constituency supporting Trump.
• DOGE takes over tiny agency despite pushback. After the U.S. African Development Foundation — one of the smallest agencies in the federal government, declined to provide DOGE staffers access to their systems, the budget-slashing team seems to have gotten in anyway.
• Aid Transparency Index canceled. The index, published every two years since 2012, was unable to secure funding for its 2026 edition. The U.K. agency that produces it warned the index may not be published again unless funding can be secured.
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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.
