The roles most affected by aid cuts — and those which aren't

Hiring remains slow across global development organizations, with job opportunities limited. But certain roles have been hit harder than others. Devex heard from several employers — including United Nations agencies and international nongovernmental organizations — that ongoing internal restructuring means they are not yet ready to outline upcoming hiring priorities. But there are some indications of which parts of the job market have remained strongest. According to Kim Kucinskas, director of organizational transformation at Humentum, many smaller- and medium-sized organizations are in a moment of pause and strategic rethinking. The priority is revenue diversification, she added, but they are waiting for success stories on what is working. And, while some organizations are beginning to adapt to the new normal, a lot depends on how the next U.S. financial year plays out for procurement contracts, said Uzma Ashraf Barton, a consultant on international economic policy and investment strategy and cochair of the Society of International Development Washington’s development finance working group. Devex looks at which roles are seeing increased hiring demand and which are experiencing a decline. There’s a focus on revenue-generating roles Recent job postings suggest that many organizations are reassessing their approach to revenue generation, said Katrina Roxas, director of Talent Solutions at Devex, and this has resulted in a surge in job postings in this area, particularly for senior and executive-level roles. Employers are looking for experts who can create a strategy around specific types of partners, such as foundations or institutions, she explained. Barton has noticed more openings around corporate engagement, high-impact philanthropy, and donor relations. The term resource mobilization is also cropping up more in job posts in relation to revenue generation for organizations — as opposed to domestic resources, she said, and this reflects “the pivot toward diversification, outreach to nontraditional revenue [or] finance resources.” Funding diversification is a priority, according to the employers Devex spoke to. David Bearfield, director for the Office of Human Resources at the U.N. Development Programme, said in an email that there is a “strong emphasis” on resource mobilization to support the agency’s programs. “While specific roles may vary by region and programme needs, the organization values expertise in areas such as fundraising, donor engagement, innovative financing mechanisms, and strategic partnerships,” Bearfield explained. At Mercy Corps, hiring in functions that directly support revenue growth, diversification of funding sources, and building donor and partner relationships is expected, said Jeniffer Amanda, the organization’s senior director of global talent acquisition. In an email to Devex, Amanda said that the “focus on diversifying revenue streams naturally creates opportunities in areas like new business development, donor engagement, and high-impact philanthropy.” Private sector expertise is in demand Organizations are also increasingly looking to private finance to fill gaps, according to Barton, leading to more roles in blended finance, impact investing, and partnership-building. Expanding private sector partnerships is part of Mercy Corps’ future growth strategy, Amanda confirmed, as well as key to its ability to scale impact and drive innovation. Currently, the organization is investing in building the capacity of its teams to “better evaluate and integrate candidates with diverse private sector and fundraising experience,” she added. Roxas noted a shift in the traditional INGO country director profile, with employers increasingly looking for candidates with private sector experience to fill these roles. Programming roles are among the hardest hit by budget cuts Several roles overseeing or supporting programming have seen significant reductions in hiring this year. As projects have been paused or downsized, monitoring and evaluation, or M&E, and audit-related roles, which are often funded as overheads, “seem to be thinning,” Barton said. According to Devex’s job board, M&E roles are down 38% since last year. Camilla Waszink, executive director of partnerships and policy at the Norwegian Refugee Council, also identified significant cuts in monitoring, evaluation, accountability, and learning, or MEAL, roles. The majority of the organization’s current hiring is focused on programming positions based in country offices, and this does include ongoing recruitment for national MEAL roles — however, these are largely replacements for existing positions that have been nationalized in response to recent funding cuts, Wasznick explained in an email. Similar processes are likely to occur in the coming months, she noted. “We will continue to reinforce the existing roles of programme staff in these activities, assess which processes can be simplified and engage with our donors to work towards simplifying and standardizing monitoring and evaluation requirements,” Wasznick wrote. Barton suggested that project management roles will continue to be affected as organizations adapt to the shift from multimillion-dollar projects funded by the U.S. government to financing from multilateral development banks, which largely work through loans. These financing mechanisms have a “different shape … different conditionalities” and this will impact how employment opportunities look, she explained. Roles such as project manager, chief of party, and monitoring and evaluation officers are going to be diluted, she said, and while multilaterals do need the latter for their programs, there’s currently a sharp dip in this area. According to Devex’s job board, opportunities in human resources have dropped by 54% compared to 2024, while gender equality, disability inclusion, and social inclusion, or GEDSI, roles have seen a 25% decline, and communications positions are down by 21%. In contrast, ICT roles have seen a sharp rise — with job postings on Devex more than doubling. Elsewhere, donor or member state priorities will drive hiring in some programmatic areas. At UNDP, skills in climate adaptation, sustainable development, and environmental management will be valuable to the agency. “As more countries are expected to pursue clean and sustainable energy solutions, nature-based approaches, and climate resilience initiatives in the coming years, there is likely to be an increasing need for expertise in these areas,” Bearfield said. Organizations look to existing staff to fill gaps UNDP is also focused on utilizing its existing workforce, “rather than a surge of entirely new roles.” Through learning and leadership programs, the agency is looking to support its staff in building expertise and taking on roles in areas such as partnerships, communications, and resource mobilization, Bearfield explained. Other organizations are adopting a similar approach. According to Kucinsakas, across the sector, staff are “wearing many hats” and taking on hybrid roles, including business development and fundraising responsibilities. This includes those formerly in chief or party positions. The said role generally included various responsibilities, she added. Chief of party roles have seen a dramatic 87% decrease on Devex’s job board — falling from 551 in 2024 to just 71 this year. Amanda noted that changing donor expectations and programming priorities are driving this shift, with some funders now favoring a team leader model over the traditional chief of party approach.