Top 10 global development employers

Development organizations posted an average of 6,500 new openings on Devex’s jobs board every month in 2019. We dug into the data to highlight which organizations are doing the most hiring and where the opportunities are. United Nations agencies accounted for most of the jobs posted but there were also significant opportunities with organizations including the World Bank Group, the U.K. Foreign & Commonwealth Office, and the Norwegian Refugee Council. Devex takes a closer look at the top 10 employers to find out where the jobs were, what assignments were available, and which profiles were in demand. 1. United Nations Development Programme Jobs posted: 7,918 The U.N. agency was the biggest employer on Devex’s jobs board last year, posting 8% of the total number of jobs. The overwhelming majority of these opportunities — 70% — were for short-term contract assignments. A little under 20% were for long-term consulting assignments, while just 8% were for full-time staff positions. Although the biggest share of opportunities was for mid-level roles, internships accounted for 19% of the positions, and 18% were entry-level opportunities. There were fewer but still significant opportunities for more seasoned professionals — 13% of the jobs were for senior-level roles while 8% were executive level. The majority of jobs fell under institutional development or project management work but the most common job titles the agency was looking for were legal intern, policy specialist, and investigations specialist. Other top job titles included communications professionals at both intern and specialist levels, and experts in business partnerships, legal and programs. Geographically, the spread of locations was diverse. The United States was home to the biggest share of the jobs, but that amounted to just 6% of the total. Meanwhile, 4% were advertised as worldwide roles — positions that are home-based, remote, or being hired for in multiple locations. More than 80% of these worldwide positions were short-term contract assignments. With almost 300 opportunities, the Philippines came third for UNDP hiring. Even more of these jobs — 89% — were for short-term contract assignments. In addition to project management and institutional development, there were many jobs related to infrastructure and environmental and natural resources work advertised there. Other locations with significant hiring by UNDP were Thailand, Myanmar, Afghanistan, and Indonesia. 2. United Nations Children’s Fund Jobs posted: 5,093 As with UNDP, the majority of UNICEF’s job postings were for short-term contract assignments, but the agency offered more full-time opportunities, accounting for 18% of its hiring. In terms of the top roles: administrative assistants, child protection specialists, and communication specialists. The U.S. was again the top location for hiring, with 10% of UNICEF’s jobs based there. Of these, a higher than average proportion was for senior-level roles, at 31%. The second top location for jobs with the agency was the Democratic Republic of the Congo where 169 positions were based, mostly for mid-level professionals. More than 70% of these were short-term contract assignments but 22% were still full-time staff positions. The sectors with the most opportunities were project management, humanitarian aid, and water and sanitation. The agency was also looking for emergency, nutrition, or operations expertise, as well as program officers for Ebola social science research. The agency also hired for 129 jobs in both Nigeria and Switzerland. In Nigeria, a relatively high proportion of these — 36% — were for full-time staff positions, double the average across all of UNICEF’s hiring. The top sectors were project management, institutional development, and global health, and the areas of expertise most in demand were related to health, child protection, nutrition, and communications. In Switzerland, the agency was looking for expertise in areas such as corporate partnerships and knowledge management. Almost half of the jobs were for mid-level professionals, while 30% were senior-level. Again, the majority of opportunities were for short-term contract assignments which accounted for 67% of the jobs posted. 3. Asian Development Bank Jobs posted: 4,534 ADB did the most hiring last year outside of U.N. agencies. Most of the opportunities were related to project management, banking and finance, environment and natural resources, and innovation and ICT. The Philippines was the top location for ADB, with 21% of the jobs based here. Of these, 33% were senior-level roles. A huge proportion of the jobs — 75% — were for short term contracts. The most common job title hired for was senior operations associate but there was also demand for individual consultants in areas such as research, emerging technology engineering, capital market-generated infrastructure financing, and research analysis. Other locations that saw significant hiring from ADB were Central Asia — where all the jobs were consulting opportunities, whether short- or long-term — and India, where most of the opportunities were senior-level, there was also demand for expertise in financial management and the environment. ADB also hired in China, Uzbekistan, Mongolia, Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh. 4. World Bank Group Jobs posted: 3,050 The top region for the World Bank’s hiring was Africa, where 37% of the jobs were based. Asia accounted for 28%, followed by the Americas with 25% of the opportunities, although these were mostly U.S.-based. There were plenty of opportunities for short-term contracting work, which made up 45% of the jobs, but there was also significant hiring for full-time staff positions, which accounted for 36% of the jobs. The most commonly posted job titles related to social development, administrative assistance, procurement, or information technology work. 5. World Health Organization Jobs posted: 1,850 WHO posted more than 130 adverts for technical officers, which accounted for 7% of its total jobs. Half of the total jobs were for short-term contract assignments. Africa was the top hiring location, with just over 30% of jobs based there, closely followed by Asia which accounted for 29%. There were also a lot of opportunities in Europe. Just over a quarter of the total jobs were based in this region, largely in Geneva, Switzerland, which is home to the agency’s headquarters. 6. UN Women Jobs posted: 1,531 The vast majority of UN Women’s opportunities were short-term contract assignments, at 86% of the jobs. The U.S. — where the agency is based — was the top location for hiring, with 14% of jobs based there, followed by Egypt with 5%. The agency was also doing a lot of hiring for worldwide positions, as well as for roles in Ethiopia and Bangladesh. Professionals with programmatic work experience were especially in demand, alongside gender specialists. 7. World Food Programme Jobs posted: 1,508 Italy was the top location for WFP’s hiring, with 11% of the jobs based there. The capital city of Rome is home to the agency’s headquarters. This was followed by Bangladesh, which accounted for 6% of the jobs, Yemen and Uganda. More than 60% of the jobs were for short-term contract assignments and the most common job titles related to work in program policy, monitoring, business support, and logistics. 8. UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office Jobs posted: 1,402 Unusually, the biggest share of jobs with FCO were for full-time staff positions, which made up 44% of the total. Professionals with programmatic experience were in-demand for a number of different roles, from consulting to management. The organization’s hiring also had a focus on corporate service officers and political officers. The top location for jobs was the U.S., followed by China, India, and South Africa. 9. Norwegian Refugee Council Jobs posted: 1,341 Iraq was the top hiring location for NRC. With 12% of the total jobs based there, the organization was primarily looking for professionals to work in logistics and finance coordination. Afghanistan was a close second with 11% of jobs, where the organization was looking for expertise in shelter, education, and security. There were also significant opportunities in Jordan, Ethiopia, and Nigeria. While almost half of the overall jobs were for short-term contract assignments, 36% were for full-time staff positions. 10. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Jobs posted: 1,263 The greatest portion of opportunities with UNHCR were worldwide positions. There was also significant hiring for jobs based in Hungary, Switzerland, South Africa, and Lebanon. Overall, there was a focus on protection work. A very high share of the jobs — 70% — were for full-time staff positions. Read more on the global development hiring trends of 2019.