United Nations employment opportunities - all contracts and grades explained

Career contracts and other types of contracts

 

The United Nations utilize the term 'contract type' to distinguish between different types of employment. The UN primarily distinguishes between Staff and Non-staff. A staff member is an individual whose employment and contractual relationship are defined by a letter of appointment subject to regulations promulgated by the Secretary General. In simpler words, staff contracts are the career contracts of the United Nations. As an international staff member you fall under the category of International Civil Servant.  

 

The other contract type, the so called non-staff, is defined as everyone that has not a letter of appointment with the UN. In simpler words, non-staff are the name of all other categories of contracts (Consultancies, Internship, Volunteer and similar), that are not to be seen as career contracts. 

 

 

We have divided our examination into two parts. In this first listing we will focus on Staff contracts and staff grades, with other words career positions. In the next article we will dig into the non career opportunities (i.e. consultancies, internships and volunteer assignments).

 

Different career Contract types

Permanent Appointment (PA)

 

This is a contract type that is no longer given to staff but there are still existing contracts. Permanent Appointments were last given out to employees after the so called Contractual reform in 2009. It was given to all staff members that had served on a professional staff contract for a certain period of time. Permanent in this context does not mean that the contracts will last forever; what they in fact does is to provide the contract holder a priority to internal jobs when they apply (Order of Retention).

• Note: The Contractual Reform was a reform that the UN went through to harmonize the different contracts that are used within all different organizations.
• Note: there are no jobs posted with this contract type.

Continuous Appointment (CA)

 

Continuous Appointment (CA) is a contract type that is common in the UN secretariat and given to employees that are recruited through the UN Young Professional Programme (UN YPP) after two years of satisfactory performance. These staff contracts will be quite similar in nature to the old “Permanent Contracts” that the Secretariat offered.

• Note: There are no jobs posted with this contract type, this is a contract type that a staff member earns after years of satisfactory performance.

 

Fixed Term Appointment (FTA)

 


Fixed Term Appointments (FTA) is the staff contract that you see in job advertisements for staff recruitments. The advertised duration of a FTA is normally one or two years. Even though the UN is eager to emphasize that there is no expectation of renewal, most FTA holders are extended. 

 

• Note: This is the contract type UN organizations use when they post Staff positions for functions that are expected to last longer than one year.

Temporary Appointment (TA)


 

Temporary staff contracts (TA) are used for functions that are core to the organization, but will last for 364 days or shorter. Although the intention when creating the TA was to limit this contract to function lasting maximum 364 days, today we often see it being extended beyond 365 days – for another year. However the maximum length for a TA is two years, beyond 2 years there is no possibility of extension, and no waivers are granted for extensions beyond two years. Except from the different durations, there are also a few differences between FTA and TA when it comes to benefits and entitlements, as a TA you get fever leave days per year and you are only entitled to a limited relocation grant. Another weakness in comparison to FTA is that you are actually considered external when applying for a staff contract. When applying from one contract type to another within the UN you may sometimes need to take some time off. With a UN terminology time off is called - Break in Service – when applying from a TA to a FTA within the same organization you must take one month’s break in service. 

• Note: This is the contract type UN organization use when they post Staff positions for functions that are expected to last less than one year.

Different grades for staff

Grade is used by the UN system to determine the seniority of a job. When you search for jobs at Impactpool.org the grade can also help you determine whether the job is a local- or an international job opening. In most cases local means that the job is limited to Nationals of the job location (this role may not apply in Headquarters locations or Regional centers where also residents in most cases are allowed to work). An international job is open to international competition. In this article we will not go into details about what is the minimum requirement for each grade, but as a Fellow you can download our grade converter and discover to which grade your career level corresponds in the grades system of the UN (this converter also works for EU, and 8 of the major international development organisations worldwide).

• General Service (GS)
• National Professional Officers (NO or NPO)
• Professional and higher categories (P and D)
• Senior Appointments (SG, DSG, USG and ASG)
• Field Service (FS)
• Grades only applicable to Headquarters in New York and Geneva (TC, S, PIA, LT)

 

General Services (GS)

 

General Service (GS) staff is responsible for the administrative, secretarial and clerical support of the organization. It also includes specialized technical functions like printing, security and buildings maintenance. 

 

The functions of GS staff is typically procedural, operational or technical to its nature. GS staff is generally recruited locally from the country where the UN office is located. Therefore in comparison to professional staff, GS staff members are not expected to move (rotate) between duty stations. The minimum requirements for a GS staff also differ from the requirements of a professional staff member. To be considered for General Service jobs you must hold a secondary school, be at an age older than 18 years, depending of level of the job have relevant work experience (number of years differ with the seniority) and meet the languages requirements defined.

In certain organizations you must also pass different proficiency tests such as accounting or finance test. One computer based GS test that was implemented in 2014 is the Global General Service Test (GGST), not all organizations require this test, but if the organization you are applying for requires it, make sure to find out what is the nearest location that offers the test. Please note that you may need to pay out-of own pocket for any costs related to taking the test.

 

A common question is whether there is a chance to make a "GS to P career move", meaning that you start as a GS staff member and move to the Professional category. The answer to that question is completely dependent on the organization you work for. Although the UN secretariat would never admit, given the quota of the secretariat a GS to P career move is nearly impossible. The same applies to Specialized Agencies that also applies strict quotas (such as FAO, UNESCO, ILO). However within the Funds and Programmes these types of moves are much more common. UNDP have several yearly GS to P career transitions.

 

National Professional Officers (NO or NPO)

 

National Professional Officers are professional staff that is normally locally recruited and are nationals of the job location. National Professional officers are both known as NPO or NO, in this blog we refer National Professional Officers to as NO. The functions of a NO must have a national context, i.e. functions that require national experience, local language(s), culture, religion etc. NO performs functions at the professional level and the grades are comparable with the professional category. NO is a career type not existing in Headquarters locations;

• NOA is equivalent to P1;
• NOB is equivalent to P2;
• NOC is equivalent to P3
• NOD is equivalent to P4
• NOE is equivalent to P5

 

The qualifications for National Professional Officers are the same as for the Professional category and require in most cases an advanced university degree. NO jobs can only be found in non-headquarters duty stations.

 

Professional and higher categories (P and D)

 

Staff members are distinguished between Professional staff (P) and staff of higher categories (D). These are normally internationally recruited in many organizations they follow the so-called rotation scheme; meaning they are expected to serve at different locations with the Organization throughout their career.

 

To apply for position as Professional staff or staff of higher categories will in most case require an advanced university degree. However in some cases only a first-level degree is required, it can have to do with different reasons. For example some countries many not have offered advanced education for several years because of a crisis, war or similar, in some organizations the advanced degree requirement has been waived for job family (one example is several IT functions). In those cases the advanced degree is waived you are requested to compensate the lack of degree with additional years of relevant experience.

 

Please note that positions in certain job families, including military, civilian police and medical may have different standards for the minimum educational requirements, which are accordingly reflected in their respective job openings. In addition to the degree you are required to have relevant previous work experience. And relevant is related to the job for which you are applying. For several jobs you may find additional requirements like certifications etc.

 

When working for the United Nations or any other international organization in any functional capacity, language skills are beneficial. Some organizations require working knowledge of at least two out of the six official languages at the United Nations (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish). However this requirement has become less frequent as that is adding extra complexity for hiring managers to find suitable candidates. Therefore in most case only one of the languages is required, most often English.

 

Under the search option ‘Senior and Senior Executive’ you will find D-1 and D-2 that stands for Director. These grades represent the highest level of the career staffing structure of a UN organization. Senior professionals are also hired for positions at the P-6 and P-7 level, these levels should not include managerial functions (although they do) but should be seen and used for roles of senior advisers or experts. However in reality (the UN would probably not admit to this), but the number of Directors of an organization is closely monitored by the member states and by the donor community, the use of P6 and P7 is a way to fly under the radar.

 

Senior Appointments (SG, DSG, USG and ASG)

 

The most high-level senior executive levels of the United Nations are:  

• Secretary-General (SG) – appointed by the General Assembly after recommendation/endorsement by the Security council;
• Deputy Secretary-General – appointed by the Secretary General after consultation with member-states;
• Under-Secretary-General (USG) – appointed by the Secretary General;
• Assistant Secretary-General (ASG) – appointed by the Secretary General

In addition to these levels in certain field-missions also the grades of SRSG and DSRSG are represented. SRSG stands for Special Representative of the Secretary General (Often equivalent to USG). This position is appointed directly by the Secretary General. In the past there have been a few really famous SRSG:s and one of them is Mr. Lakhdar Brahimi, Algeria. DSRSG stands for Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary General (Often equivalent to ASG).

 

Field Service (FS) - only applicable to field missions

 

Staff in the Field Service (FS) category is normally recruited internationally to serve in field missions. A FS is expected to be mobile and be prepared to rotate and serve in different locations during the career. FS is a contract type that is only recruited by the UN secretariat and its agencies; you would not find FS in the Funds and Programmes (e.g. WFP, Unicef, UNDP). The FS perform support services to United Nations field missions including administrative, technical, logistical functions. Minimum requirement is secondary school diploma or equivalent, however some functions may require a technical or vocational certificate.

 

FS are divided into four levels: FS-4 through FS-7. FS-4 requires 6 years of experience and FS-7 requires 12 years of experience. The years of experience for FS-5 and FS-7 is reduced for applicants with a first-level university degree. 

 

Grades only applicable to Headquarters in New York and Geneva

 

The UN Headquarters in New York have staff grades that don’t exist elsewhere in the UN system. These grades are related to General Services and sorts under General Services in other locations.

• Trades and Crafts (TC): Functions like driver, electrician, building management and printing staff fall under the category called Trades and Crafts (TC).
• Security (S): Security Officer jobs in New York are advertised as separately under the category Security (S).
• Public Information Assistants (PIA): Tour guides are another New York unique functions; these staff members are recruited as Public Information Assistants (PIA).
• Language Teachers (LT): Language Teachers (LT) is also a New York unique role, for which positions can be found only in New York and Geneva

 

Disclaimer: Keep in mind that this article is written by Impactpool who is an independent organization not affiliated with the United Nations, hence the information below is our interpretation of the different contract types. That said, this blog is written by staff of Impactpool that have more than 10 years’ collected staff experience from working as Human Resources professionals within the UN system.