The United Nations is hiring a Junior Professional Officer Programme Department of Economic and Social Affairs,
About Junior Professional Officer
Junior Professional Officer is a term used for young professionals usually under the age of 32 with an advanced university degree and a minimum of two years of professional experience. They are recruited at P1/P2 level by United Nations organizations.
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How do participating donor countries access the JPO Terms of references?
The JPO TORs are published online in a compendium exclusively accessible to donors and departments. Donor countries review the TORs, identify the ones they are interested in sponsoring, and reserve them with our office. The selected TORs are marked as reserved on our website as they are no longer available. The UN JPO Programme team advises the substantive office of the donor countries interest in the post.
The TORs have been selected. What happens next?
The donor country publishes the vacancy on its website, reviews the applications, and provides a short-list, together with the PHPs, of suitable candidates to the UN JPO Programme. We forward the received documentation, together with an evaluation request form, to the substantive office, which makes the final selection, based on competency-based interviews. The interviews can be by skype, telephone, video or in-person, and are conducted by the receiving office. Donors may participate as an observer. The interview evaluation report, is submitted to the UN JPO Programme, together with the recommendations in order of ranking of the preference.
The UN JPO Programme will then inform the donor country of the outcome of the selection process and request confirmation of the availability of the first ranked candidate and upon receipt of it, will initiate the recruitment process. Should the first ranked candidate no longer be available, the availability of the second ranked candidate will be verified.
The recruitment process takes 2-3 months from the time of the selection of the confirmation from the donor government that the selected candidate is available.
Kindly note that due to the large number of JPO requests (400+ at all times) not all TORs will be reserved by donor countries. They will, however, remain on in the compendium for maximum 2 years.
UN DESA recruits and administers JPOs for:
- United Nations Secretariat (Headquarters and Field offices, incl. Peacekeeping Operations, Special Political Missions and Resident Coordinator Offices)
- Secretariat of the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB)
- Joint Inspection Unit (JIU)
- Regional Commissions
- Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
- International Court of Justice and United Nations Tribunals
- United Nations Secretariat of the Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)
- United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
- United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
- Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI)
- United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR)
- United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
- UN Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy in Central Asia (UNRCCA)
- United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD)
- United Nations System Staff College (UNSSC)
- United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT)
- United Nations Register of Damage Caused by the Construction of the Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (UNRoD)
How To Apply
Who is eligible to apply to this programme?
Most participating countries sponsor JPO positions addressed to nationals of their country, some also finance positions for nationals of developing countries. Candidates are young professionals usually with an advanced university degree and minimum two years of professional experience acquired after the first-level university degree.
Are you a National of a participating donor government?
Only a limited number of donor countries is currently participating in the programme and their nationals are eligible to apply to the UN JPO Programme. Selected donor countries also sponsor JPO positions for developing country candidates. If you are a national of one of the participating donor governments please consult the related JPO Programme website/s at the national level, often times advertised through the respective Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Is there an age limit for joining the programme?
While there is no general age limit, many donor countries require applicants to be under the age of 32 when applying to their JPO Programme, however the age limit varies depending on the donor countries, so please check their websites.
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Are you a National of a developing country?
Currently only selected donors (the Netherlands, Italy, Belgium and Switzerland) are also sponsoring developing country candidates. More information will be posted once available under JPO Vacancies. Please note that only for positions administered by UNDESA which are sponsored by the government of the Netherlands there is direct application procedure to the UN. In previous years Spain has sponsored candidates from developing countries as well.
Which United Nations Departments participate in this programme?
View the participating UN departments. *Note that these departments do not take direct applicatons, all applications are to be made directly to the sponsoring donor countries via their websites listed.
When is the deadline to apply?
Deadlines vary from vacancy to vacancy.
There are no JPO vacancies being advertised on the donors websites, what should I do?
Please check the websites at national level and our vacancy announcements frequently for any openings in the future.
How long is an assignment as a JPO?
JPO assignments are foreseen for a minimum duration of 2 years. The appointment is initially for a period of one year, with a possibility of an extension, depending on the performance and available funding from donor countries.
What qualifications are required?
Normally, applicants are under 32 years of age, however age limits vary depending on the donor country. Please check their individual requirements on respective website of the national JPO Programmes of participating countries. Candidates should have at least a Master’s degree (or equivalent combination of a degree and work experience) and a minimum of two years of relevant professional experience or a Bachelor’s degree and a minimum of 4 years of work experience acquired after the first-level university degree. • English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. Depending on the duty station, excellent oral and written English or French is essential. Proficiency in another United Nations language may be required depending on the job description. Additional job specific requirements are included in the individual vacancy announcement.
To whom and where should I send my application to?
You can access JPO vacancies announcements and the application procedure on the sponsoring governments websites or on under vacancy announcements on this website. The preliminary assessment of candidacies is carried out, in most cases, by the respective donor governments who take into account language skills, academic background and professional experience. A short-list is then submitted by the donor government to the United Nations for further processing.
