While the fallout from the U.S. aid crisis has spread far and wide, there are certain segments of the development sector that have fared better than others. When assessing this from a geographic lens, the East Asia and the Pacific region qualifies, based on our latest job board data analysis.
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In this edition of Career Hub, I’m sharing some key insights from our latest data deep dive assessing the state of the development job market. Plus, some of the best new job opportunities from Devex’s board, from leading organizations such as the Inter-American Development Bank, Development Pathways, and many others.
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Top full-time staff jobs this week
1. Deputy Secretary General
Global Centre for Pluralism
Canada
2. Treasury and Risk Remote Senior Associate/ Associate — Settlements Team
Inter-American Development Bank
Colombia
3. Programme and Operations Manager, Asia Pacific Office
Development Pathways
Australia
4. Executive Director
Charity & Security Network
United States
5. Country Representative Malaysia
The Asia Foundation
Malaysia
6. Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) Manager
Tetra Tech
Laos
Devex Talent Solutions, our boutique recruitment agency, is supporting the Asian Development Bank in its search for a senior treasury officer in Thailand, with applications closing on Aug. 4.
+ See more roles DTS is helping to fill.
Data download: Who is hiring in East Asia and the Pacific
To help assess the current state of the development job market, Devex is continuing to analyze job board postings since Jan. 24, when the U.S. aid freeze was first announced. Our most recent data deep dive looked into over 3,800 job postings in the East Asia and the Pacific region to help job seekers understand where demand remains.
Our analysis found that the aid cuts have had less impact on available roles in the EAP region than elsewhere, with under 7% fewer postings compared to the same time frame last year. Meanwhile, funding constraints and shifting priorities have led to more opportunities with homegrown organizations in various fields, including environmental sustainability, economic development, and social inclusion.
Larger organizations, such as the Asian Development Bank, are actively seeking applicants at their headquarters in the Philippines, including an analyst to conduct integrity due diligence, or IDD, reviews for the partner financial institutions of its Trade and Supply Chain Finance Program, or TSCFP.
For a rundown of the top organizations hiring in the EAP region and more current vacancies, Devex Career Account members can read the full analysis.
Read: The top local employers in East Asia and the Pacific (Career)
Explore more: The top foundations hiring for development roles (Career)
Download: Who is still hiring in global development? (Career)
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ICYMI: A consultant’s survival guide
Consulting opportunities dropped by nearly 25% between late January and late May compared to the same period in 2024, according to Devex job board data analysis featured in our recently published consulting survival guide.
Our downloadable report aims to help consultants navigate the current hiring landscape, with data-driven insights on where the opportunities still are, and expert advice on how to stay competitive as a candidate.
Download: A survival guide for consultants navigating the USAID crisis (Career)
Top consulting and short-term jobs
1. Consultancy: Senior Rwanda Consultant
UNICEF
United States
2. Individual Consultant: Project Accountant
African Development Bank
Benin
3. Consultant
Commonwealth Secretariat
United Kingdom
4. Civil Society Rights and Resiliency Project - Program Management & Strategy Consultant
Charity & Security Network
United States (remote)
5. Team Leader (Re-Advertised)
DT Global
Tonga
6. Individual Consultant: Assist the Government to Design an Oilseed
AGRA
Burkina Faso
+ For more opportunities, check out the weekly Devex Jobs Alert newsletter on LinkedIn and Devex’s Job board.
Good to know: AI’s role in recruitment
“AI can’t replace the human intuition needed to assess cultural fit, leadership potential, or the deeper motivations behind candidates’ career choices.”
— Dela Atubra, managing director, NGO RecruitArtificial intelligence’s “rapid development has raised both opportunities and challenges,” for development organizations, “especially in hiring,” one World Health Organization spokesperson tells Devex.
AI can help streamline the administrative load of hiring, with organizations using platforms such as ChatGPT, Lindy, and HireVue to write job descriptions, screen résumés, source candidates, create assessments, and even conduct interviews. But according to several experts we spoke to, if overly relied upon, AI can also lead to poor hiring decisions that exacerbate biases and create a barrier to localization.
“Any NGO that utilizes AI extensively in its recruiting processes will have to double down on continuous monitoring of outcomes and metrics analysis to ensure no disparate impact occurs due to the utilization of AI in recruiting,” says Bo Young Lee, an AI and workplace ethics expert.
Read more: AI in development recruitment: Time-saver or barrier to inclusion? (Career)
Explore more: 3 ways AI can help you find your next development gig (Career)
Around the watercooler
News and views from around global development worth knowing about.
• UNICEF staff push back. The agency is facing intense pushback from staff over its plans to sharply shrink its ranks and dramatically scale back programs from Europe to Central Asia, saying the plans would ultimately harm the children it serves.
• Some NGOs are merging to survive. With rising costs, shrinking donor pools, and increasing demands for local leadership and efficiency, more charities are exploring mergers as a path to survival.
• Is Germany ready to lead on aid? As the U.S. abandons its multilateral commitments, other countries have been left trying to pick up the pieces. At last week’s Hamburg Sustainability Conference, Germany dropped strong hints that it’s up to the job.
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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.
