International Development Fellows Program

Designed To Prepare Fellows For Success

The Fellowship is a unique 12-month professional development opportunity, designed to prepare Fellows for success in a range of onward positions with CRS. The Fellowship is centered upon skill building in the following four areas:

Project Management

• Activity planning & implementation
• Monitoring, evaluation, accountability & learning
• Resource/budget management
• Reporting

Project Design

• Research, assessments, analysis
• Participatory design
• Results framework & theory of change
• Proposal development

Systems & Operations

• Supply chain and logistics
• Human Resources
• Finance & compliance
• Safety, security, risk mitigation

Partnership

• Project planning
• Program implementation
• Capacity strengthening
• Reflection & assessment

Make A Difference

CRS works with a vast network of partners to engender sustainable change and provide lifesaving help when emergencies arise. Fellows support CRS' impactful work in a wide variety of sectors and assume varying levels of responsibility.

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Realize Your Potential

Many Fellows build a career with CRS after completing the Fellowship. Each year, most graduating Fellows apply and accept offers for onward positions with CRS. Fellows often transition directly to positions in project design and proposal development, program management (especially in Emergency Response), program quality, and monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning. As they grow with CRS, former Fellows often move between technical and managerial roles, working from the countries where we serve or remotely. Hover over the pictures below to view some of the positions that Fellows have held since their Fellowship year.

Agriculture and Food Security Program Manager, Sudan
Head of Office, Ghor Province, Afghanistan
Technical Advisor, Emergency Program Quality and Management - Humanitarian
Response Department

Celeste Gregory

Fellow in Burundi

2009-2010

 

Emergency Program Manager, South Sudan
Deputy Head of Programming, Sudan
Emergency Coordinator, Democratic Republic of Congo

Taylor Lanton

Fellow in the Phillipines

2016-2017

Operations Manager, Philippines
Operations Manager, Nepal
Head of Operations, Sierra Leone
Advisor, Field Management Response Team

Dennis Lee

Fellow in Uganda

2011-2012

 

Emergency Program Manager, Rwanda
Crisis Response Program Manager, Haiti
Country Representative in Burundi, Angola, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, India, DRC, Haiti, and for Syria Response
Vice President, Humanitarian Response Department

Jennifer Poidatz

Fellow in Benin

1993-1994

Peacebuilding Program Manager, Iraq

Melissa Chedid

Fellow in Egypt

2018-2019

 

Markets Program Manager, Northeast Nigeria
Emergency Program Manager, Mozambique
Technical Advisor, Cash & Voucher Assistance, Humanitarian Response Department

Danny Pavitt

Fellow in the Philippines

2017-2018

 

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A Partnership For Health & Success

At CRS, we value employee health and well-being and provide comprehensive benefits to meet your needs and those of your family. Benefits include an international medical plan, dental and vision insurance, generous leave, a highly competitive retirement program, and family-friendly allowances for overseas staff. CRS also prioritizes and invests in staff safety and security and provides travel and property insurance, disability coverage and Employee Assistance Programs.

Medical/Dental/Vision

Fellows enjoy an international medical plan as well as vision coverage with zero deductible for in-network providers and low coinsurance and copayments.

Safe Furnished Housing

CRS provides each Fellow with basic furnished housing, which includes electricity, running water, internet and security services (if necessary). The Fellow's housing is usually an apartment or house near the CRS office.

Paid Time Off (vacation, sick, & personal)

CRS provides Fellows 20 days of paid vacation along with 12 days of sick leave annually. In addition, we offer 4 personal days to attend to emergency or non-emergency situations occurring during a normally scheduled work day.

Travel & Medical Evacuation

CRS covers relocation costs such as transportation to and from the country of assignment, visas, inoculations, etc. Additionally, CRS provides 100% employer-funded medical evacuation coverage for the Fellow and their dependents.

Retirement Benefits (403B)

CRS offers a 50% match on the first 6% of contributions as well as a contribution of 7% of pay regardless of employee contributions, after six months of service. (Note: Employees without a social security number are eligible to participate in an offshore retirement fund with the same contribution calculation.)

Continued Education

Upon hire, Fellows have access to CRS' robust online learning platform. Additionally, CRS will reimburse up to $5,200 per year for employees pursuing degrees and professional certifications, after one year of employment.

Candidate Profile

At CRS, we celebrate diversity within our workforce and are committed to developing local leadership in the communities we serve. We recruit Fellows from around the world, including nationals of the countries where we work and from underrepresented groups in the U.S. and globally. We welcome applications from candidates of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and our commitment to serving those in need.

Minimum Fellowship Requirements

• Graduate degree in a relevant field
• At least six months work or volunteer experience in a developing country
• Fluency in English with strong oral and written communication skills
• Professional proficiency in a second language (preference given to French, Arabic and Portuguese)
• Willingness to work in locations with tropical and infectious diseases and limited access to medical facilities.

Please visit the FAQs to review the cover letter requirements.

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Three Simple Steps

Prepare a cover letter

Please see FAQs for requirements.

Prepare your resume/CV

Apply online

Selection Process & Timeline

The IDFP application closed on November 30, 2022. The top candidates will be invited to complete a video interview, language test and final interview. Please visit the FAQs for more information.

Due to the high volume of applications, candidates will only be contacted if and when they advance to the next stage of the selection process.

The IDFP application will re-open in the Fall of 2023.

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Let's Talk

We encourage you to join us for a webinar on the CRS Fellowship. Our webinars are an opportunity for you to informally exchange with our team—learn more about the Fellowship program, ask your questions, etc. We offer webinars at the times listed below. Simply click on this link to join any session. You may also call in at +1 443-290-6516, conference ID: 991213265#

Information Sessions

Wednesday, October 12, 2022
9:00am–10:00am EST

Thursday, October 27, 2022
2:00pm–3:00pm EST

Thursday, November 10, 2022
1:00pm–2:00pm EST

Monday, November 21, 2022
8:00am–9:00am EST

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Frequently Asked Questions

We are glad you are interested in learning more about IDFP. In our FAQs, we strive to answer questions you may have around the application and selection process, overseas assignments and travel, housing and family, career and more. For additional information, follow the IDFP Facebook page or email us at [email protected].

VIEW FAQs >