The chief of party role is one of the most senior positions for global development professionals who specialize in project management, and as a result, tends to be one of the higher-paying jobs in the development sector.
However, as with most professions, many factors are at play regarding how much a particular chief of party role will offer in compensation, including where the position is located, the specialty area it is focused on, and the type of organization that is hiring.
As part of an ongoing effort to highlight salary trends across the development sector, we are providing a snapshot of the compensation landscape for the chief of party role based on salary information Devex has obtained from organizations and working professionals since 2019.
The focus of this analysis is based on 69 chief of party job postings where the salary was either shared publicly or privately with Devex by 42 organizations. We’ve also included some supporting information based on salary data that 46 chiefs of party who are members of the Devex community chose to disclose. All salaries included in our analysis are on an annual basis, and those that were not initially disclosed in U.S. dollars were converted from their original currencies to maintain consistency.
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Overall, we found the average minimum chief of party salary that organizations shared to be $97,561, while the maximum was $135,840. These two numbers reflect the salary range — the minimum and maximum salary a job candidate can expect to earn — that many job postings include when disclosing this information. Of the compensation shared with us by our community of chief of party professionals, the average salary came to $144,707.
Here is what else we’ve learned about chief of party salaries, including trends and analysis based on geography, sector, and the top-paying roles we’ve seen over the past four years.
Chief of party salaries based on location
The positions and salaries that organizations shared with us spanned 44 countries, ranging from as low as $35,473 for a chief of party role based in Tanzania to a high of $275,000 for a posting in the United States with Abt Associates on a proposed USAID-funded project.
In terms of total chief of party postings by organizations, the top regions were West Africa and South Asia (17.4% each), followed by North America (13%) — whose nine positions, all based in the United States, had the highest average salary of any region at $186,094. The average salary for a North American chief of party, based on Devex user-submitted data, was at a similar level ($170,000).
Other regions offering among the highest average salaries included Latin America and the Caribbean ($166,765), and East Asia and Pacific ($151,667). On the other side of the spectrum, postings based in Central Africa were generally among the lowest, with the maximum average of these positions being $84,683.
Top sectors and areas of expertise
Of the salaries shared with us by organizations, 14 of the 69 were categorized under institutional development, which means the roles were at least in part focused on improving institutional structural capabilities and the effectiveness of organizations. The average minimum and maximum salaries for these positions ranged from $99,175 to $165,661.
Among other sectors and specialty areas, nearly 40% were listed under project management, and six jobs each were in the global health and education sectors. The health roles had a slightly higher average maximum salary ($120,823) than those in education ($116,000). The three roles, each in the environment and finance sectors, had the highest average maximum salary at $208,333 and $194,443, respectively.
Top-paying chief of party positions
Of the chief of party job postings advertised on Devex with salaries shared by the hiring organizations, the following positions offered the highest maximum salary. Organizations that shared this salary information privately with us are not identified.
1. Abt Associates Inc.
Max salary: $275,000
Location: United States
In December 2021, the global consulting and research firm was seeking a professional to lead its expected USAID-funded Green Recovery Investment Platform. Qualifications for this role included an advanced degree in finance, international development, environmental studies, or business, and at least 12 years of experience leading the mobilization of private and public finance to scale up climate change interventions.
View all current Abt Associates job opportunities with salary information on Devex.
2. Overseas Strategic Consulting
Max salary: $200,000
Location: Bangladesh
OSC aims to deliver sustainable research, evaluation, and strategic communications solutions. It sought a chief of party for its anticipated USAID/Bangladesh monitoring, evaluation and learning, or MEL, activity in November 2022. This role required a candidate with a doctorate — or a master’s degree with an additional four years of experience — in areas including evaluation, organizational development, international development, and economics.
3. Overseas Strategic Consulting
Max salary: $200,000
Location: Colombia
Another OSC posting that closed in January 2023 offered the same maximum salary for a chief of party position in Colombia to lead its expected USAID/Colombia MEL short-term activity, aka MESLA.
4. Development finance NGO
Max salary: $200,000
Location: Eastern and West Africa
5. Global consulting firm
Max salary: $195,000
Location: Kosovo
Current chief of party openings with salary information
• Population Services International
Salary range: $102,000 - $152,000
Location: Benin
Closing date: Aug. 3
• Counterpart International
Salary range: $60,000 - $187,000
Location: United States
Closing date: July 12
• Resonance (Deputy chief of party)
Salary range: $100,000 - $125,000
Location: United States
Closing date: Aug. 3
View all current chief of party positions on Devex.
Raquel Alcega contributed to the research of this article.
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