As experts have told us during recent digital events, finding a new job within the development sector is still doable, though competition is fierce depending on your line of work. But it’s not the only path available to those affected by the USAID crisis.
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In this edition of Career Hub, I’m sharing some key insights on the best pivot options for those impacted by USAID layoffs. Plus, some of the best new job opportunities from Devex’s board, from leading organizations such as UNOPS, AGRA, and many others.
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Pivot options for moving forward
“For those who just want to find a job, that’s great. We can pivot them into other services and skill development pathways.”
— Kyle Dietrich, founder, Grounded IdealistWith many development and aid organizations putting a freeze on hiring, those who have lost their jobs due to the crisis at the U.S. Agency for International Development may think that they have limited options. But development career experts tell Devex that those affected do have other avenues. Here are a few to consider:
Sectors outside development. There are many fields for former USAID staff to consider transferring their skills to. Some are related to development, including philanthropy, think tanks, and local nonprofits. Others might be entirely new, such as in the private sector or technology.
State and local jobs. As government employees, USAID staffers are well-placed to move into other areas of state and local government, Dietrich says. “This is a really big opportunity. … It brings a lot of these deeply committed, service-oriented Americans to invest in their own country at a time when I think a lot of them feel othered.”
None of the above (for now). If a person has the resources, it could be a good idea to take some time off, says Katie Latham, founder of Changemaker Careers. It’s a chance to “pause and reflect and really understand what matters to them most as they look at next steps, and know that dream jobs change as we, and our circumstances, change.”
Read more: 6 avenues open to someone who lost their job due to the USAID crisis (Career)
Explore more: How the talent landscape may shift post-USAID (Career)
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Consultants: Hone your skills for hybrid roles
“Being able to diversify what you’re doing, for sure, is very, very important,” social impact coach Kelsi Kriitmaa said during our most recent careers digital event on development consulting in the sector’s new normal.
Kriitmaa expects there will be more development jobs for consultants characterized as “fractional” and “part-time.” “What we’re going to see … [as] head counts are diminishing, organizations are not going to be able to hire full-time staff, so they’re going to need consultants, and [positions] are going to be phrased differently,” she said.
Therefore, “one of the things you should be looking for is not just the skill set or the role or the title, but looking for the type of work [itself],” she added. “Maybe they’re looking for somebody to come on as like a project coordinator, but it’s actually project management coordination — [with] a little bit of M&E.”
Kriitmaa was joined by Loksan Harley, a veteran development consultant and the co-founder of the Impact Consulting Hub, in offering insights on the current state of development consulting and what the future may hold.
Watch: How development consultants can stay competitive in a crowded market (Career)
Top full-time staff jobs this week
1. Country Director Laos
Westminster Foundation for Democracy
Laos
2. Senior Mediation Adviser
UNOPS
Denmark (remote)
3. HR and Operations Officer
BRAC
Netherlands
4. Research Analyst (Financial Sector Policy)
DT Global
Indonesia
5. Specialist, Collective Action
Basel Institute on Governance
Switzerland
6. Stewardship and Proposals Specialist
Queen Rania Foundation
Jordan
Devex Talent Solutions, our boutique recruitment agency, is supporting the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean, or CAF, in its search for an employee experience senior specialist and a senior change management specialist, with applications closing on June 14.
+ See more roles DTS is helping to fill.
Meet Save the Children’s first chief innovation officer
Save the Children’s first chief innovation officer, Maggie Korde, was appointed earlier this year to scale the impact of existing innovations and to continue building on what she describes as Save the Children’s legacy of innovation.
As a country officer in Rwanda, she set up Kumwe Hub, an innovation incubator hosted within Save the Children, supporting local social enterprises with access to finance and networking. “I felt like there was certainly more we could do in terms of innovative finance and blended finance for children,” she says.
Projects such as Kumwe Hub served as proof of concept that innovation was the direction she wanted to go. “On the back of that, I just became much more interested in how we could do that type of thing throughout the whole of Save the Children,” she says, and was ready to put her “hat in the ring” when the chief innovation officer role became available last September.
Read more: Why Save the Children appointed its first chief innovation officer (Career)
Top consulting and short-term jobs
1. Adviser - Policy and Advocacy, Platforma (Fixed term)
United Cities and Local Governments
Belgium
2. Agriculture, Rural Development, Environment and Natural Resources Expert (Fixed-Term)
Agency for Cooperation and Development
Uganda
3. Call for Panel of Technical Specialists and Advisors (Cambodia Development Support Unit)
Development Pathways
Worldwide
4. Assessment Expert
Education Development Center, Inc.
Solomon Islands
5. Individual Consultant: Conduct Digital Agriculture Readiness Assessment for AGRA Countries
AGRA
Central Africa | Southern Africa | Eastern Africa | West Africa | North Africa and Middle East
6. Individual Consultant: Sustainability Consultant
World Resources Institute
India
+ For more opportunities, check out the weekly Jobs Alert newsletter on LinkedIn and Devex’s job board.
Around the watercooler
News and views from around global development worth knowing about.
• Steep job cuts loom at the UN. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres is seeking to eliminate 20% of jobs across the U.N. Secretariat, which employs some 35,000 people. The proposed cuts are part of Guterres’ reform initiative, which critics have called “a hasty, ill-thought-out plan.”
• AfDB pivots to new financing models. As U.S. tariffs hit 47 African countries and aid dries up, the African Development Bank is pushing new ways to finance Africa’s future — from diaspora bonds to making sure companies pay their fair share of taxes.
• A push for domestic financing in global health. In the wake of massive cuts to aid, experts are looking to domestic governments to shore up looming gaps in global health financing. But government officials say they won’t be able to fill the donor-sized holes completely.
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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.
