This site was created during a time when the public sector employment landscape is rapidly shifting, with thousands of public servants (and others!) finding themselves looking for new opportunities unexpectedly. Many are also the reality that the type of careers and employment that they've dedicated their lives to are disappearing from the federal government and the public sector - at least for now - and are scrambling to find their next move and/or transition to something else. Many public servants or those who work in affected segments of government contracting are wondering whether and how their skills translate in a job market characterized by uncertainty and, in some cases, fear. You are not alone. And while transitioning out of the public sector (even temporarily) seems intimidating, your skills are transferrable and you have immense professional value. To begin, you just have to expand your perspective a little regarding what you have done and how it translates to adjacent functions, organizations and sectors.
The purpose of this job board is to offer a curated source of jobs that are for mid-career professionals with backgrounds working across specific policy areas and technical domains serving the public. Primarily, those who have been program managers or officers, technical specialists, thematic experts, and/or other types of civil servants, foreign service officers, or government contractors. The jobs listed on this job board are "adjacent" to the public sector, or "Public Sector Adjacent" roles. Of course, we all know that Adjacent means "next to or close to something else." In this context, there will not be a perfect one-to-one match to a lot of the jobs that are now disappearing, but similar roles and work does exist, if we are willing to shift and expand our mindsets a bit. This job board was created primarily with recently laid off public sector employees in mind, but it can also be used by anyone transitioning or shifting into a set of new circumstance for any reason (restructuring or reorganization, a change of interest, lack of growth in current role/industry, relocation, etc.).
Nothing can replace a robust public sector that provides essential public goods and services to people, most of all to the more vulnerable amongst us - but there exist numerous organizations, including local & state government, nonprofit organizations, private foundations, and companies; that do similar work in these spaces and will continue to do so, even as Federal funding and commitment to a number of important public services remains unclear. Other entities are still employing across several key sectors, industries, functions, and skillsets, and until the dust settles and the public sector is regrouped and/or reorganized into something that resembles what it once was, we can all continue to work adjacent to the public sector. For the time being, we can continue to pursue and be driven by our collective interests, passions, and technical or policy area expertise to build the world in which we all want to live through our commitment to shared goals and our collective labor.
Jobs will be in separated into broad categories below:
- International development & Humanitarian Assistance
- Inclusive Economic Growth, including economic and community development
- Civil Society Development and Civic Engagement
- Climate, Energy, & Environment
- Public & Higher Education
- Public Health
- General Public Administration & Nonprofit Management
- Economic Development & Community Development
- Public Policy, Legal, & Regulatory
- Research, Science, Innovation, & Tech
We will also be aggregating jobs with private companies that either interface with government or local communities (government/external affairs roles) and/or for functions that work across one of the above listed categories (for example, sustainability within a private company).
Please feel free to reach out with suggestions or to post a job at: connect@workadjacent.com
If you would like to sign up for advisory or coaching please also reach out at the same address. Work Adjacent was staff have worked at: the World Bank, Big 4 consulting, various federal government agencies, the African Development Bank, UNEP, Accenture, the Nature Conservancy, and others.