In Latin America and the Caribbean, UNOPS operates across 23 countries, delivering high-impact solutions that drive sustainable development. UNOPS focuses on building and improving resilient infrastructure—including roads, bridges, public facilities, sanitation systems, and housing—to enhance quality of life and foster inclusive growth. UNOPS also supports public health by procuring essential medicines and medical equipment, ensuring broader access to healthcare services. By strengthening institutional capacities, UNOPS promotes transparent, efficient, and equitable public management. As a trusted partner to governments and development stakeholders, UNOPS aligns its interventions with national priorities, helping countries advance the Sustainable Development Goals through practical, results-driven support.

The Isthmus and Caribbean Multi-Country Office (ICMCO), based in Panama, oversees UNOPS operations in Panama, Costa Rica, and the English/Dutch Caribbean States. In Panama, UNOPS has supported national partners since 2009 through technical advisory services and the implementation of complex infrastructure, procurement, and project management initiatives—strengthening public sector efficiency and enhancing quality of life. In Costa Rica, UNOPS has collaborated with four successive administrations on 17 projects, consistently aligning with national priorities and legal frameworks. Key achievements include major transport and water infrastructure such as the Binational Bridge over the Sixaola River, multiple underpasses and bridges, aqueducts in Liberia and Nicoya, and the Circunvalación Norte highway. Across both countries, UNOPS promotes sustainability, resilience, and national capacity-building while also providing operational support to other UN agencies in the region.

The Barbados Country Office is designed as a strategic vehicle to support Caribbean nations in the implementation of the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for SIDS (ABAS), helping Caribbean leaders drive a global agenda on climate justice and financing.

The region, a complex archipelago of 13 sovereign states and numerous dependent territories, faces disproportionate vulnerabilities to economic shocks, natural disasters, and the accelerating impacts of climate change. In direct response to these challenges, UNOPS has designated operations in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) as a corporate priority for its 2026–2029 Strategic Plan.

The Barbados Country Office’s primary mandate is to Speed Up and Scale Up engagements across 17 Caribbean SIDS, ensuring that partner expectations are met with agility and precision. Through dedicated operational presence, UNOPS Barbados Country Office will streamline complex regional logistics and foster stronger collaboration with sovereign governments and financial institutions in the Caribbean.

The Barbados Country Office will focus on, high-value solutions that address the specific priorities of the Caribbean SIDS, including:

• Economy (Economic Resilience, Disaster Risk Reduction, Energy Transition)
• Nature and Climate (Climate Action and Support, Biodiversity Action, Ocean Conservation and Sustainable Use)
• Human Capital (Secure Safe and healthy societies, Productive populations, Gender equality and women's empowerment)
• Infrastructure (Resilient infrastructure in Rule of Law, Health, Transportation, Education, etc.) 
• Improve countries project management capabilities as well as implementation capacity and project formulation to access just finance.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

The HR Associate administers and implements a wide range of HR plans and processes that support Office personnel. Serving as the primary point of contact for internal and external clients, the HR Associate provides timely guidance, information and support on HR procedures, services and initiatives, ensuring consistent and client-focused service delivery. 

Policy Development and Implementation Support

• Collect, maintain, and continuously update data on workforce trends, risks, and opportunities to inform HR policy development and corporate initiatives.
• Support the rollout and implementation of HR strategies and initiatives aligned with corporate objectives.
• Generate workforce data and statistics to support planning, including personnel movement analysis.
• Communicate HR policy updates and new initiatives to management and personnel, offering clarification and guidance where needed
• HR Advice
• Provide guidance on HR systems and processes, including recruitment, contract administration, position management, performance management, and benefits and entitlements in line with UNOPS rules and procedures.
• Offer day-to-day advice to personnel on administrative processes and practices.
• Act as a liaison between HR and internal/ external clients, proactively facilitating access to information and services as authorized.
• Support a positive onboarding experience by ensuring the timely processing of onboarding documentation.
• Advise supervisors and hiring managers on recruitment procedures, performance management, learning initiatives, and approaches to managing underperformance.
• Support institutional gender and diversity efforts by advising on issues of equity, compliance, inclusion, and organizational values.

Talent Acquisition and Administration

• Contribute to all stages of the recruitment and selection process, including requisition creation, longlisting, testing, interviews, reference checks, approvals, offer/rejection communications, and HR system updates.
• Prepare and calculate fees for Individual Contractor Agreement (ICA) personnel.
• Advise UNOPS personnel, consultants, partners and project personnel on conditions of service and entitlements based on contract modality, ensuring a smooth and client-focused onboarding process.
• Maintain recruitment plans, rosters and tools to support effective workforce planning and retention.
• Coordinate with the Shared Services Centre (SSC) on personnel administration matters.
• Research policy precedents and support the HR Lead in addressing talent acquisition issues, considering any applicable exceptions.
• Submit transactional HR data in the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and other HR information systems, covering a range of functions including: 
• Recruitment and selection, e.g. requisition initiation, approvals, offers/ rejections, etc.
• Contractual and position actions (e.g. appointments, extensions, separations, reclassifications, etc).
• Ensure completion of HR processes (e.g. absence requests, performance evaluations, etc) by following up with supervisors and supervisees.
• Establish and maintain tracking systems, alerting the HR Lead to pending actions and upcoming deadlines.
• Maintain accurate personnel files and reference records.
• Support or conduct payroll verification activities.

Knowledge Building and Sharing

• Support the organization, facilitation and delivery of training and learning sessions on HR topics.
• Participate in knowledge-sharing initiatives and Communities of Practice (CoPs), contributing insights and lessons learned from HR project implementation, 
• Conduct research on HR-related topics and contribute to the drafting of reports, summaries and briefing notes.

Required

• Secondary school (or equivalent) with 6 years of relevant experience OR
• Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) in any discipline with 2 years of relevant experience is required.

Desired

• A globally or nationally recognized professional certificate in Human Resource Management (HRM) is desired.

Required

• Relevant experience is work in any area of Human Resource Management (HRM). 
• Experience in the use of collaboration and productivity tools (e.g. MS Office, G-Suite, etc) and web-based management systems is required.

Desired

• Experience of working in multicultural environments or UN system organizations in a developing country is desired.
• Experience in development or humanitarian contexts is desired.

• Please note that UNOPS does not accept unsolicited resumes. 
• Please note that UNOPS will at no stage of the recruitment process request candidates to make payments of any kind.
• Applications to vacancies must be received before midnight Copenhagen time (CET) on the closing date of the announcement. Applications received after the closing date will not be considered. 
• Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process, which involves various assessments. 
• UNOPS embraces diversity and is committed to equal employment opportunity. Our workforce consists of many diverse nationalities, cultures, languages, races, gender identities, sexual orientations, and abilities. UNOPS seeks to sustain and strengthen this diversity to ensure equal opportunities as well as an inclusive working environment for its entire workforce. 
• Qualified women and candidates from groups which are underrepresented in the UNOPS workforce are encouraged to apply. These include in particular candidates from racialized and/or indigenous groups, members of minority gender identities and sexual orientations, and people with disabilities. 
• We would like to ensure all candidates perform at their best during the assessment process. If you are shortlisted and require additional assistance to complete any assessment, including reasonable accommodation, please inform our human resources team when you receive an invitation.

• For staff positions only, UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level than the advertised level of the post. 
• For retainer contracts, you must complete a few mandatory courses (they take around 4 hours to complete) in your own time, before providing services to UNOPS. Refreshers or new mandatory courses may be required during your contract. Please note that you will not receive any compensation for taking courses and refreshers. For more information on a retainer contract here. 
• For more details about the contract types, please click here.
• All UNOPS personnel are responsible for performing their duties in accordance with the UN Charter and UNOPS Policies and Instructions, as well as other relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, all personnel must demonstrate an understanding of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in a manner consistent with UN core values and the UN Common Agenda. 
• It is the policy of UNOPS to conduct background checks on all potential personnel. Recruitment in UNOPS is contingent on the results of such checks.