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As U.S. funding cuts continue to reshape the development job market, job seekers need to adjust their strategies. New and sometimes counterintuitive approaches to discovering opportunities, conveying skills, and making connections are essential to break through a highly competitive recruitment landscape.
In this edition of Career Hub, we share expert tips on how to get unstuck in your 2026 job search, plus top job opportunities from leading organizations like CARE, UNOPS, and others.
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Top Full-Time Staff Jobs This Week
- Procurement Senior Officer – UNOPS – Denmark
- Senior Manager, Investigations and Counter Fraud – CARE – United States
- Head of Business Administration, Ukraine – Swisscontact – Ukraine
- Business Development Manager – GIST Research – United States | United Kingdom
- Senior Planning and Budget Adviser – DT Global – Tuvalu
- People Analytics, Data Governance and HRIS Optimisation Analyst – Gavi – Switzerland
See the full list of jobs.
Devex Talent Solutions, our boutique recruitment agency, is assisting the United Nations Environment Programme in its search for a chair of the Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel. This is a remote opportunity, with applications open until March 26.
See more roles DTS is helping to fill.
New Rules for the 2026 Job Hunt
“Do not be afraid to be relentlessly creative. All bets are off. Hiring practices are changing, recruiting is changing — so the job search has to change too.” — Radhika Bhatt, climate and social impact career coach
As development career coaches and recruitment experts emphasize, this moment calls for different approaches than in past development job searches. Here are three key tips to navigate the post-USAID job market:
Reframe Your Skills Given shifts in funding, you may need to reposition your past experience to meet the moment. For example, Douglas Mercer of Save the Children US advises: “Put yourself out there as not just an international USAID award manager … but as a donor liaison. It’s still all about the donor — it’s just [a question of] who are the donors today.”
Network Like a Detective Approach networking as detective work, according to career coaches Spencer Campbell and Dan Freehling. The goal is to solve whether you fit a niche, role, or organization. “You fit in somewhere very, very specific, and that’s what we’re trying to [find out] with the networking,” Campbell says.
Be “Relentlessly Creative” In a highly competitive market, traditional approaches to finding and applying for positions may fall short. Radhika Bhatt recommends exploring new ways to uncover opportunities, such as looking beyond well-known institutions to collaborators, grantees, and partners.
Read more: For those affected by USAID job loss, how to move forward in 2026. Watch the event: How to navigate the global development job market in 2026. Explore more: How to run a smarter job search in 2026.
Top Consulting and Short-Term Jobs
- SOE and Public Asset Management Reform Technical Adviser – Cowater International – Ethiopia
- Consultant: One Health Laboratory Strengthening Advisor – Project HOPE – Indonesia
- Communications and Engagement Officer – Tetra Tech – Philippines
- Key Thematic Expert – Socha LLC – West Africa
- Individual Consultant: Development of Value Chain Simulation and Economic Pricing Analytics Platform – AGRA – Multiple countries
- Individual Consultant: Expert Engagement Framework on Climate Finance – Development Bank of Nigeria – Nigeria
For more opportunities, check out the weekly Devex Jobs Alert newsletter on LinkedIn and Devex’s job board.
Data Download: Who’s Hiring in Switzerland?
Our latest job board analysis reveals the state of development job opportunities in Switzerland, a hub for international organizations. Despite the impact of U.S. foreign aid cuts, it remains an active center for development work.
UN Human Rights (OHCHR)
- Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland
- Switzerland-based jobs posted over the past 12 months: 156
- Current opening: Finance and budget officer (short-term contract)
UNICEF
- Switzerland office: Zurich
- Switzerland-based jobs posted over the past 12 months: 126
- Current opening: Program implementation analyst in the Digital Impact Division, Geneva
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)
- Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland
- Switzerland-based jobs posted over the past 12 months: 103
- Current opening: Public engagement and health network officer, Zurich
Read more: The top global development organizations hiring in Switzerland.
Around the Watercooler
News and views from around global development worth knowing about.
- Ousted Oxfam CEO speaks out: Halima Begum details her dismissal, accusing the charity of “brutally” dismissing and stigmatizing her.
- U.N. leadership under fire: María Fernanda Espinosa calls for a “profound overhaul” of the global body to remain relevant.
- Inside DFC’s post-transition strategy: The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation focuses on larger, strategic transactions aligned with foreign policy.
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