Presented by Abt Global
After a brutal year, hiring isn’t back — but it is shifting. We spoke to representatives of Save the Children and ActionAid to find out what they’re looking for in candidates, and how to show them you have it.
Also in today’s edition: A chat with Lily Han of the Soros Economic Development Fund on how she’s thinking about investing in today’s environment.
Work it
After a punishing year of layoffs, development professionals are cautiously hoping 2026 brings a hiring rebound. At a recent Devex digital event, career and recruitment experts said demand is starting to shift — not back to business as usual, but toward new skills, roles, and geographies.
There is some good news, writes Emma Smith for Devex. Fundraising teams are hiring as organizations chase new donors, some INGOs are reviving internship programs, and emerging regional hubs are creating local opportunities. But flexibility is key. Douglas Mercer, managing director of talent attraction and acquisition with Save the Children US, warned that in an unstable funding environment, even those with full-time jobs need strong networks. His advice: “Put yourself out there,” including by offering free coaching, consulting, or mentoring.
The biggest opportunity lies in transferable skills. Project-linked roles such as project leads and monitoring and evaluation, or M&E, positions were hit hardest by funding cuts, while fundraising and marketing have been more resilient. Mercer said many candidates already have what these roles require — they just need to reframe their experience. “Those are essential skills today that can transfer really well to what I think the new NGO market is going to be,” he said. “Put yourself out there as not just an international USAID award manager, for example, but as a donor liaison.”
That shift is echoed by Janaina Tavares, global head of people and culture at ActionAid International, who said organizations are increasingly seeking growth strategists. “That’s what we’re looking for — people who can literally open new markets, secure diversified income, and build multiyear revenue pipelines.”
Digital skills are also becoming essential. Craig Zelizer, CEO and founder of PCDN Global, said AI is already reshaping how NGOs operate. “At a minimum, everyone needs to be AI literate,” he said. And as localization accelerates, Tavares added that emerging hubs across Africa, Asia, and Latin America are opening doors for national professionals — especially those who combine local insight with strong analytical and digital skills.
Read: How to navigate the global development job market in 2026 (Career)
+ Looking for a head start for your career or business in 2026 with pinpoint information on global development job openings and industry hiring trends before they go mainstream? A Devex Career Account membership is what you want. Start today with a 15-day free trial and unlock this article and other exclusive career content and events as well as the full job board for regularly updated opportunities and recruiter insights.
No silver bullet
Impact investors are facing a hard truth as foreign aid continues to shrink: Private capital can’t replace public money. And pretending otherwise risks wasting what little is left.
That’s the blunt assessment from Lily Han, head of policy and innovative finance at the Soros Economic Development Fund, who tells my colleague Jesse Chase-Lubitz that while the latest geopolitical shocks have intensified the crunch, the decline in global north aid has been “many years in the making.” The result, she says, is a moment that demands discipline, not grandstanding. “Impact investors certainly cannot fill the entire hole from an aid or investment perspective,” Han says, arguing the priority now is using capital far more strategically — to unlock commercial investment, domestic resources, and stretch dwindling public finance.
That means less chasing shiny new ideas and more pooling money behind tools that already work. “Maybe it’s not super sexy or innovative, or maybe somebody else’s name is already on this instrument, but if it works, we should do it,” Han says, pointing to guarantees and straightforward blended finance as examples.
Read: Critical minerals, AI, and nature — where the Soros fund is investing next (Pro)
+ Not yet a Devex Pro member? Start your 15-day free trial today to access all our exclusive reporting and analyses, data-driven funding insights, members-only events and briefings with sector leaders, and the Pro Insider — a weekend newsletter that gives you a weekly head start on our industry’s big moves, and get the last one for the year directly in your inbox!
Trust deficit
For a decade, the Ford Foundation’s BUILD program was a rare giant in flexible, general-operating support. So its decision to discontinue BUILD — while embedding flexible funding across most of its grants — has made many in the sector uneasy.
“I hope it does turn out for the best, but I also know the way that this sector typically trends,” says Monique Curry-Mims, founder and principal of Civic Capital. “I would love to have this conversation in a couple of years.”
Created in 2015 by former Ford Foundation President Darren Walker, BUILD backed social justice organizations with five-year support for salaries, overheads, and training — areas most funders avoid. With $2 billion invested in 350 nonprofits across 30 countries, BUILD influenced other foundations to adopt similar trust-based approaches, writes Rebecca Root for Devex.
The Ford Foundation says the shift is about evolution, not retreat. New president, Heather Gerken, “looks forward to carrying forward its next iteration,” and over 80% of the foundation’s $17.5 billion in grants is now flexible, multiyear funding. “Since its inception, we understood that BUILD would evolve,” a spokesperson says.
The Ford Foundation will still distribute its remaining $130 million through 2026, but concerns linger about timing, transparency, and the burden on nonprofits. “It’s baffling to me when foundations easily change what they’re doing and then expect nonprofits to not change,” Curry-Mims says.
Read: The Ford Foundation’s BUILD initiative is over — but its influence isn't (Pro)
Graveyard shift
Kanika Bahl is stepping down as CEO of Evidence Action to lead a new AI-native effort focused on scale. She’ll head the AI Access Initiative, a new venture — to be spun out as a separate organization — aimed at ensuring AI delivers meaningful benefits for people in low- and middle-income countries.
Under Bahl’s leadership, Evidence Action became known for scaling what she calls the “unicorns” of international development — programs that are lifesaving, low-cost, evidence-backed, and scalable. Now she’s applying that same discipline to artificial intelligence, shifting from a mature organization to building systems designed to move beyond pilots, writes my colleague Catherine Cheney.
“It became increasingly clear … what an inflection point we’re at,” Bahl said during a Devex Pro Briefing, warning that AI could become “a greatest leapfrog technology in history, or” widen “global inequality for decades to come.” Too many AI for Good efforts stall in what she called “digital graveyards.”
The AI Access Initiative will focus on a small set of big bets, including clinical decision support, AI-driven weather forecasts for farmers, and direct-to-consumer health information, alongside work to strengthen government systems for national adoption. The goal is to move faster and bigger than typical grantmaking. “Today, funders are spending $250,000 per grant in AI,” Bahl said. “I think that needs to be at the scale of $25 million.”
Read: Why AI for good still isn’t scaling — and a new effort to fix it (Pro)
+ Bookmark our events page to stay ahead of all the timely Pro Briefings, career events, and summits we have scheduled for 2026 — starting with a funding briefing in January!
Picking up pieces
For the final episode of This Week in Global Development for 2025, we’re stepping back to make sense of a year that upended U.S. foreign assistance.
The U.S. State Department is tentatively in hiring mode, and new jobs are popping up worldwide to cover the gaps left by the obliteration of USAID. It’s far from orderly, but the rush to rehire and reorganize offers a first glimpse of a system trying to steady itself and regain control of billions in aid.
Listen: Forget quiet quitting, the State Department appears to be quiet hiring
+ You can also listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, YouTube, or search “Devex” in your favorite podcast app.
In other news
The U.K. faces criticism for discreetly cutting the bulk of its assistance to Sierra Leone, including a £35 million grant for maternal and newborn health. [The Independent]
The U.N. has clarified it is not affiliated with a privately run, London-based International Women’s Day website that has shaped corporate campaigns and public messaging around the annual event. [The Guardian]
Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces killed more than 1,000 civilians during an April assault on a major displacement camp in Darfur, with roughly a third summarily executed, according to a U.N. report. [Reuters]
Sign up to Newswire for an inside look at the biggest stories in global development.
About the author
Helen Murphy
Helen is an award-winning journalist and Senior Editor at Devex, where she edits coverage on global development in the Americas. Based in Colombia, she previously covered war, politics, financial markets, and general news for Reuters, where she headed the bureau, and for Bloomberg in Colombia and Argentina, where she witnessed the financial meltdown. She started her career in London as a reporter for Euromoney Publications before moving to Hong Kong to work for a daily newspaper.
