Participating Entities
All available JPO job descriptions/Terms of References can be accessed online in a compendium for donors and departments. Please reach out to the UN JPO Programme team directly for access.
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)
FAQs for Participating Entities
How do I request a JPO for my Office?
Please provide us with the Terms of Reference, using the attached template. We are also attaching the booklet of UN Competencies for ease of reference. JPO positions are foreseen on P2 level.
JPOs are usually under 32 years at the time of application, hold an advanced university degree, and have at least two years of relevant professional experience. Once the TORs have been submitted to and reviewed by us, they are assigned a post number and added to our TOR online compendium for all donors.
In order to request a JPO, kindly download and fill out the following TOR template and send it to the UN JPO Programme team by email:
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.