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International aid/development worker : Salary and conditions

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Case studies

  • The range of typical starting salaries for UK (mostly London) based roles with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) providing administrative support to overseas programmes (e.g. team administrator, coordinator, research assistant) is £17,500 - £23,000.
  • The range of typical salaries for UK posts with a minimum of three years' experience, often more (e.g. project manager, policy manager) is £25,000 - £40,000. Relatively few managerial or directorial posts in a higher salary bracket are available.
  • The range of typical salaries for overseas posts requiring extensive experience (e.g. regional/country programme manager, field coordinator, specialist engineers, logisticians) is £18,750 - £35,000. This varies widely depending on responsibility, skills, organisation and base country. Direct comparison with UK rates is complicated, as pay may be supplemented with items including accommodation, travel, medical allowances, hardship allowances, passage back to the UK and allowances for partners and children. It may also be taxed differently.
  • Overseas working hours may be long and unpredictable, particularly in emergency relief situations.
  • UK roles are mostly office-based. Overseas posts may combine office and field-based work.
  • Part-time work is unlikely for overseas posts. Fixed-term contracts ranging from a few months to three years are the norm for overseas postings, making career breaks a possibility as well as periods of unemployment between assignments.
  • Gender equality is an important principle in the work of many development agencies.
  • Many NGOs have headquarters in London with far fewer jobs available regionally. Exceptions include World Vision UK  (Milton Keynes) and Skillshare International  (Leicester and Dublin). The Department for International Development (DFID)  employs staff in East Kilbride, Scotland as well as in London. International organisations, such as International Organisation for Migration (IOM)  and Oxfam , have opportunities nationwide.
  • Overseas locations include both cities and remote locations, such as refugee camps or educational programmes in small towns and villages.
    Frequent relocation between overseas postings is common - those with partners or dependants should be aware that some postings are unaccompanied.
  • Work locations may include areas of political instability, natural disaster and medical hazard, all of which pose some risk to personal security.
    Short trips to visit projects in the field may add up to several weeks or months per year in some UK jobs. Internationally based staff may spend up to 50% of their time travelling within their country or region.
 
AGCAS
Written by Ivana Morton-Holmes, AGCAS
Date: 
December 2009
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