Asian Development Bank (ADB)

The Asian Development Bank is a multilateral development bank set up in 1966 to finance economic growth in Asia and the Pacific. It is headquartered in Manila and owned by its 68 member governments, with Japan and the United States as the two largest shareholders. Like the World Bank, it borrows on capital markets on the strength of its members' backing and lends onward at rates poorer countries could not get on their own. Most of that lending goes to infrastructure (roads, power, water, ports, irrigation), with education, health, climate finance, and policy reform loans making up the rest, plus grants and technical assistance for its lowest-income members.

For Nepal, ADB has been one of the two or three largest external financiers for decades, concentrated in energy transmission, urban water supply, and rural roads. Its Nepal Resident Mission in Kathmandu is where most opportunities for Nepalese candidates sit. National Staff roles there cover project officers and analysts in energy, transport, water and urban development, social sectors, and safeguards (environment, resettlement, gender), along with procurement, finance and disbursement, economics, external relations, and administrative and IT support. These are locally recruited positions open to Nepalese nationals and pay on a national scale that is still well above the domestic market.

Beyond staff jobs, the bigger volume is in consulting. ADB hires individual consultants and firms through its Consultant Management System for project design, implementation support, monitoring, and evaluation, and Nepalese engineers, economists, safeguards specialists, and financial management experts pick up a steady share of these on domestic projects. Nepalese candidates can also apply for International Staff roles at headquarters or other country offices, though those are competitive and typically require a master's degree and a decade or more of experience. Entry points include the Young Professionals Program and internships for graduate students, both run out of Manila.