Frequently Asked Questions: ADB Careers
ADB hires its staff from its 68 members. An applicant must be a citizen of an ADB member to be eligible for employment.
Yes, if you do not see a vacancy that fits your profile at the moment, please review postings in the "Anticipated Vacancies" section. This refers to vacancies that may arise from specific job areas, though specific positions are not yet listed. Applicants may note that the closing date is only indicative.
No, there is no specific age limit, unless you are applying for the Young Professionals (YP) Program. Applicants for YP Program must be no more than age 32 when joining ADB. Majority of ADB staff at the entry level have postgraduate degrees with 8-10 years (at least 3 years for YPs) of relevant professional experience. Retirement age is 65 years.
No. The official working language of ADB is English and only applications in English are accepted.
Typically, it takes between two and six months before a new staff member can report for work from the date of application. Processing time is dependent on circumstances such as: number of qualified applicants, staff category, location, and response time of the applicant to complete all the requirements.
Our HR Business Partners Division evaluates the applications received through the ADB Career and Employment System (ACES) and refers applications to interested departments/offices for further review. Shortlisted candidates will be contacted for preliminary interviews and may be invited to ADB headquarters for a formal interview.
Upon the successful formal interviews, ADB gives a pre-offer to one selected candidate. The candidate will be asked to submit the following documents: diploma, NBI Clearance (only for NS and AS in HQ), three references, and a medical history form. Since collecting some of these documents may be difficult and may take some time, you are encouraged to collect these documents in advance.
No, please do not attach or send any recommendation letters or references with your application. If needed, ADB will ask candidates on the long- or short-lists for a position to provide additional information for further assessment such as writing samples, publications, and references.
There are 2 categories of ADB staff - International Staff and National and Administrative Staff. The National and Administrative Staff category is further grouped into two to distinctly separate staff working in Headquarters (HQ) and all others in the field offices (FO).
International Staff vacancies are designed for professionals with considerable international experience and technical knowledge at the international level. ADB offers expatriate staff a competitive remuneration package that is comparable to those offered by similar multilateral institutions.
National and Administrative Staff (NS/AS) vacancies are generally for nationals from the duty station countries. In most cases, candidates are already residing in the country where the specific office is located. These locally recruited staff have local knowledge and experience. ADB provides the salary of HQ NS/AS in Philippine Pesos. The salaries of NS/AS in FOs are denominated in the local currencies.
Below are ADB's International Staff Levels:
| Position Level | General Description |
|---|---|
| 1 and 2 | Junior international staff positions. Include participants for ADB's Young Professionals Program and young economists. |
| 3 and 4 | Normal entry level. Require varying degrees of specialized knowledge but with limited supervisory responsibilities. In the operational areas, positions are members of missions with responsibility for specialized aspects of a project, and to varying degrees, leadership of technical assistance, loan administration, or review missions. In the non-operational areas, the positions have the responsibility for specific specialized functions or more general administrative activities. |
| 5 and 6 | Senior level. Normal entry level to jobs where there is responsibility for the work of other international staff. These levels include senior specialist and supervisory positions. In the operational areas, the positions are involved in the planning and design of major programs and projects, including responsibility for the leadership of major appraisal and programming missions. In the non-operational areas, positions are involved in supervising a multifunctional area or broad single-functional area such as a major section or unit. |
| 7 and 8 | Managerial level. Level 7 is the entry point to ADB's managerial positions and non-managerial lead specialist positions in technical stream. |
| 9 and 10 | Heads of departments and offices and deputy heads of larger departments. |
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. Applicants may view the status of their applications online by logging into the ADB Career and Employment System (ACES).
Yes, ADB is currently piloting spouse employment. Spouse employment pilot is limited to an International Staff’s spouse and/or registered domestic partner. Spouse employment aims to further strengthen ADB’s organizational capabilities, improve the skills mix requirements in the priority areas of operations and commitments, and attract and retain qualified couples who are committed to development work in the region.
If you have close relatives working as ADB staff, you are not eligible for employment at ADB except if you are the spouse* of an ADB international staff. The following persons, in addition to the spouse and children (including step- and adopted children) of staff members, are defined as "close relatives":
- Spouse
- Children (natural and adopted)
- Mother
- Father
- Brother (including half-brother)
- Sister (including half-sister)
- Niece
- Nephew
- Aunt
- Uncle
* ADB is piloting a spouse employment program to allow the consideration of spouse and registered domestic partner candidates of international staff for international staff vacancies. This pilot does not apply to spouse or registered domestic partner candidates of national and administrative staff.
Frequently Asked Questions: ADB Career and Employment System (ACES)
ACES is the new ADB talent management system, which replaced ADB Recruitment Center (ARC) in February 2016.
Yes. Read-only access to ARC remains available, and you can monitor your candidacy through ARC. To access ARC, click here.
Like ARC, ACES is designed such that training is not necessary. If you need assistance, you can download the online User Guides.
After you reviewed the job description and qualifications, click the Apply button. If you have not yet registered, click on the Sign In / Register link in the Job Search page and click the "New User" button. Create your own username and password and click Register. You may also opt to use your Yahoo or Google account.
Go to employment opportunities for the full list of ADB job vacancies.
After you reviewed the job description and qualifications, click the Apply button. If you have not yet registered, click on the Sign In / Register link in the Job Search page and click the "New User" button. Create your own username and password and click Register. You may also opt to use your Yahoo or Google account.
Registration only requires you to enter your preferred user name, password and email address. Other personal information will be required when you apply for a position.
Yes. You can update your personal information by logging and clicking the "Access my profile" link located at the lower right side of your page.
Yes, you can still edit your profile and/or application to a job posting until its closing date.
Yes. You can attach up to 5 files, each no larger than 2 MB.
Upon submitting your application, you will be sent an ACES email notification. You may login to the system and check the status of an application until the position is filled.
Yes. Login to ACES and go to My Jobpage to see all your job submissions. The Withdraw link is available to each vacancy you have applied.
No, this is not possible as these vacancies are no longer listed in ACES.
No. It is your obligation to apply for actual vacancies, if you want to be considered for them.
Applications submitted to a vacancy are screened by the HR Business Partners Division. A short list of both external and internal candidates is then prepared for review by the vacancy selection panel. The HR Business Partners Division or the department that holds the vacancy will contact you if you are invited for interview.
You may check the status of your application in ACES.
All applications must be submitted by 11:59 P.M. Manila time, on the specified closing date of the vacancy.
