The top global development employers of 2024

With 2024 in the books, we now have another year’s worth of Devex job board data to determine who the most active global development employers were. With nearly 85,000 job postings to analyze, we were able to also identify further trends in terms of salary transparency and geographic location of these roles. The complete picture of our findings is now available in our new downloadable report, which includes data on 50 organizations across five categories: international NGOs, or INGOs, United Nations organizations, multilateral development banks, or MDBs, bilateral and government agencies, and development consulting agencies. To get an idea of last year’s development recruitment landscape, here is a closer look at some of the organizations that were busy recruiting on Devex in 2024, and what we learned from speaking to insiders on how to stand out as an applicant with these leading employers in 2025. International NGOs For the second straight year, the Danish Refugee Council posted the most jobs on Devex of any INGO. Of the 2,117 roles advertised by DRC, 43% included salary information and roughly 350 jobs were based in Ukraine. New to the top five in the INGO category is Mercy Corps, whose 1,055 advertised jobs were five times as many that appeared on Devex in 2023. Outside of the United States, most of the opportunities from Mercy Corps were based in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Kenya. The INGO has a global team of nearly 6,000 humanitarians — 84% of whom are from the countries where they work. Yannah Preta, a global talent acquisition manager with Mercy Corps, told Devex that most recent openings required around five to eight years of experience and that for program-facing positions, the INGO seeks candidates mainly from the sector and similar organizations. However, for those looking to transition from other sectors, opportunities exist in areas such as finance, human resources, and fundraising. “[A candidate’s] experience doesn't necessarily need to be in this sector, but we’re looking for people who speak another language at some level of proficiency or have tried to learn a few languages, or did study abroad in Morocco, for example. Through these experiences, we start to see a person who has a magnetic pull towards doing international work,” Kristine Wilson Andrade, an employer brand and university relations manager with Mercy Corps, told Devex. Multilateral development banks Unlike in 2023, the Asian Development Bank posted the most jobs of any MDB (5,188), surpassing the World Bank Group, which advertised 4,171 jobs. ADB was also the most salary-transparent MDB for any bank that posted more than 100 jobs, with 44% of roles including public compensation information. Headquartered in Manila, the Philippines, over one-fifth of all ADB’s advertised roles were based in its home country, and 60% of all job openings were for short-term contract roles. Speaking to Devex last year, Paul Houston, the bank’s senior human resource specialist, said one of ADB’s goals is to become “Asia’s climate bank,” and highlighted the importance of climate-related skills for prospective job candidates. “The impacts of climate change are being really felt quite heavily in the region. Climate skills, climate finance, energy transition, and those types of things will be important,” he said. United Nations organizations Within the U.N. system, UNICEF once again led a group of familiar names that included the United Nations Development Programme, the World Health Organization, and the World Food Programme. UNICEF’s 7,034 postings were also the most of any organization regardless of category. Sajid Ali, then-associate director of UNICEF’s human resources division, told Devex that it always looks for candidates with “strong people management skills, demonstrated capability to work effectively in emergency situations, versatile multisector skills, and fluency in a second United Nations language.” While most U.N. organizations posted a similar amount of jobs last year compared to 2023, it’s worth noting that nearly 800 fewer positions with the Food and Agriculture Organization appeared on Devex in 2024 (1,622). Still, FAO posted the ninth-most roles of any organization despite the decrease. Genevieve Gregorio contributed data analysis for this article. Devex Career Account members can access our complete guide to the top employers of 2024, which features 50 organizations across five categories, further data insights, and more career advice from recruiters. If you’re not yet a member, sign up today for a free 15-day trial to access this guide, all of our job postings, articles, exclusive events and workshops, and more.