Explore career options in global development
Here you can find information on the types of careers and employment roles Global development studies may land you.
You can also discover where to look for job vacancies, as well as professional associations, mentoring and international opportunities.
Opportunities
Global development studies enable you to learn more about policy, politics, people and power, to develop your thought leadership skills to find new and creative solutions to address the world’s most pressing challenges. Closely aligned to the UN ’s Sustainable Development Goals, you may specialise in:
- climate change and disaster management
- development economics
- global health
- human rights
- politics and planning
- sustainable development.
Common career paths include program management, policy analysis, research, consulting and fundraising with non-government, aid organisations, and international development, including Oxfam, Amnesty International, United Nations, World Bank, AusAid, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Career fields
- International development
- Government and public sector
- Domestic NGOs and not-for-profit sector
- International NGOs and not-for-profit sector
- Private sector and social enterprise
- Research, think tanks and academia
- Field-based and humanitarian roles
- Emerging industries
Employment roles
- Program/project officer or manager
- Monitoring and evaluation specialist
- Policy analyst or research officer
- Humanitarian aid worker
- Gender or inclusion specialist
- Climate adaptation officer
- International policy advisor
- Development program coordinator
- Foreign affairs analyst
- Economic development officer
- Climate or trade policy advisor
- Grant writer or fundraising manager
- Advocacy officer
- Community development coordinator
- Partnerships manager
- Capacity building consultant
- Environmental, social or governance analyst
- Sustainability consultant
- Impact assessment officer
- Business and human rights advisor
- Research assistant or officer
- Development economist
- PhD or academic pathway
- Policy fellow
- Knowledge management specialist
- Humanitarian logistics coordinator
- Emergency response officer
- Field operations manager
- Disaster risk reduction advisor
- Climate finance specialist
- Migration policy officer
- Indigenous rights advocate
- Peacebuilding and conflict resolution facilitator
- Digital development officer
Occupation snapshot
Employed
5,100
Future demand
Moderate
Weekly earnings
$1,841
Part-time share
25%
This data is based on the occupation profile for global and environmental consultant, retrieved from the Government's Jobs and Skills Australia and Your Career websites August 2025.
Your employability
- project design and management (often using logical frameworks or theory of change)
- cross-cultural communication
- qualitative and quantitative research
- policy analysis and evaluation
- grant writing and fundraising
- systems thinking and ethical leadership.
In addition, you'll gain teamwork, analytical, communication skills through academic study, employment, voluntary work, sporting and recreational activities and life experience. Recognising the value employers place on these skills is an important factor in your graduate job search. You can further develop your employability with these resources:
Vacancies
Information on relevant vacancies can be found in a wide range of sources:
- CareerHub
- Seek
- Ethical Jobs
- Queensland Government Graduate Portal
- Smart Jobs
- APS Jobs
- Sustainable Brisbane
- Workforce Australia
- Australian Public Service Jobs
- Devex Global Development Jobs
- ReliefWeb UN and NGO Humanitarian Jobs
- Impactpool UN jobs
Job application resources
Craft a stand-out resume and cover letter, and learn how to prepare for job interviews.
Approach potential employers
Many work opportunities are not advertised, so we recommend approaching potential employers with the aim of researching their needs and how your skills, experience, interests and qualifications could match theirs.
This is called informational interviewing and will benefit you by:
- clarifying your specific career direction
- enhancing your professional network
- increasing your chances of being offered a job.
Industry outlook
The Your Career website includes helpful information such as job descriptions, employment prospects, average weekly earnings and skills requirements. Every job title in the database has a skills section to help you identify and describe essential skills for your future career.
The My Future website also has job descriptions and a useful career insight section.
The Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching website has up-to-date information on graduate salaries, especially the Graduate Outlook Survey (GOS) National Report, which contains undergraduate salary figures.
More detailed information is available at the Labour Market Insights portal.
Professional associations
Joining a professional association is a great way to interact with people in your field who can assist you to explore your career options and potentially find employment opportunities. These associations hold regular professional development and networking events:
- Australian Council for International Development (ACFID)
- Australian Institue of International Affairs (AIIA)
- Development Studies Association of Australia (DSAA)
- Institute of Community Directors Australia (IDCA)
- Society for International Development (SID)
- International Centre for Democratic Partnerships (ICDP)
- United Nations Association of Australia (UNAA)
- Centre for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS)
- Sustainability Professionals
- Sustainability
- Queensland Social Enterprise Council
Students are welcome to join and often receive a discount on their membership.
Mentoring
The award-winning Industry Mentoring Program provides an excellent opportunity to further develop your employability and build professional networks.
The Program is available to students with more than 80CP as well as recent graduates.
Sustainable Development Goals
Griffith University is aligned to the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals ( SDGs ) and is committed to promoting decent work and economic growth, advancing the principles of responsible and sustainable consumption and production, and advocating for peace, justice, and resilient institutional frameworks.
Further careers information
Careers counselling
Individual career counselling sessions are available to all current students and recent graduates.
You can book an initial appointment via CareerHub.
Career planning
Our website has an array of career planning resources you can explore at any stage of your student journey.
Career Readiness
Check out our Career Readiness site in Learning@Griffith for additional information and resources for your career development learning:
Discipline-related resources
Please note: The content on this webpage is a guide only. Please refer to degree-specific information and accreditation requirements of your profession on the Degree and Course Finder website and with the relevant professional accreditation body for your degree.