HR Senior Officer

The People and Culture Group (PCG) positions UNOPS as a people-centered, high-performing organization by driving the development of HR policies, talent frameworks, and inclusive practices aligned with the strategic plan. Through the Integrated People Strategy, PCG empowers personnel, fosters an engaging and inclusive work culture, and enables the delivery of sustainable development solutions. Partnering closely with UNOPS leadership, PCG delivers on the organization’s People Goals—shaping culture, nurturing leaders, enabling flexibility and fairness, building future-ready teams, and setting people up for success. Core capabilities include strategic HR partnering, policy integration, and process simplification through digitization. PCG prioritizes leadership development, workforce diversity, personnel well-being, and innovation in HR practices. By focusing on culture transformation and talent excellence, PCG ensures that UNOPS remains agile, equitable, and capable of delivering results in complex operational environments.

The HR Senior Officer is part of the UNOPS Surge Mechanism within the People and Culture Group (PCG).

The Surge Mechanism enables the rapid mobilization and deployment of highly experienced personnel and specialized experts to reinforce the capacity of UNOPS offices during periods of immediate operational need. Surge assignments are characterized by their urgency, short duration and focus on supporting offices operating in complex, high-risk or rapidly evolving environments.

The Surge Mechanism provides support across five primary areas:

• Opportunity Shaping - provides technical expertise during opportunity development to strengthen strategic positioning and proposal design.
• Timely Kick-Off - supporting the early stages of project implementation to establish operational readiness and effective project delivery.
• Back on Track - providing targeted support to stabilize underperforming projects or strengthen critical operational functions.
• Gap Filling - addressing temporary capacity gaps to maintain business continuity, operational effectiveness and compliance.
• Critical Response - rapidly deploying technical expertise to support emergency response and fragile contexts.

Surge personnel may be deployed remotely or in person to offices worldwide, including hardship and emergency duty stations. Assignments are typically short-term, lasting from several weeks up to six continuous months. During each assignment, personnel report operationally to the requesting office while maintaining a secondary reporting line to the Surge Coordinator.

Please note that this vacancy primarily aims to establish a pool of qualified professionals interested in short-term opportunities on home-based retainer contracts. Successful candidates from this recruitment process may also be considered for full-time open-ended (no end date) contract, should a need arise in future.

The HR Senior Officer provides strategic and operational HR expertise to UNOPS offices worldwide through short-term surge deployments. The role supports offices experiencing critical capacity needs by delivering timely HR support and ensuring the effective implementation of UNOPS HR policies, procedures and people practices.

Depending on the nature of the assignment, the incumbent may provide advisory services, strengthen existing HR functions, or temporarily assume responsibility for HR leadership within the office. Assignments may cover a broad range of HR service lines, including workforce planning, talent acquisition, contract administration, employee relations, organizational development, learning and performance management, while responding to the specific priorities of the requesting office.

Between deployments, the HR Senior Officer contributes to strengthening the Surge Mechanism by supporting knowledge management, developing guidance and learning materials, capturing lessons learned, analysing workforce trends, and contributing to continuous improvement initiatives that enhance surge readiness and organizational capability.

This Terms of Reference is generic in nature and establishes the core responsibilities and competencies expected of the role. Given the diverse operational contexts in which surge assignments take place, the specific objectives, deliverables and scope of work for each deployment will vary and will be defined in assignment-specific Terms of Reference issued by the requesting office.

1. Policy Development and Implementation Support

• Contribute to HR policy development and corporate initiatives by providing data-driven insights on workforce trends, risks and opportunities, and by sharing country-specific best practices.
• Maintain a strong understanding of the Office’s financial and operational priorities, and, in consultation with management, lead the implementation of corporate HR strategies and initiatives.
• Design and lead HR projects and initiatives that align with corporate HR strategy and support the achievement of organizational goals.
• Collaborate with leadership to develop and implement workforce planning initiatives that promote efficient service delivery and optimized workflows; monitor workforce status and emerging trends.
• Communicate changes in HR policies and the rollout of new initiatives to both management and personnel, offering guidance and support as needed. 
• Maintain, or oversee the maintenance of, HR analytics and data parameters to support informed decision-making within the Office.

2. HR Advice 

• Provide strategic guidance on the application of HR policies in people management, proactively assessing and anticipating HR needs to deliver value-added, consultative support to management on personnel-related matters.
• Design, deliver and model HR services, programmes and communications that enhance the experience of prospective and current personnel, as well as UNOPS partners.
• Collaborate with corporate HR teams to advise, support and mediate on sensitive and complex issues, including grievances, potential code of conduct violations, harassment, abuse, workplace disputes, performance improvement plans, and other personnel relations matters.
• Promote line management accountability in the implementation of HR policies and effective team leadership, providing coaching and guidance to strengthen supervisory capabilities and foster constructive, two-way communication between managers and their teams.
• In collaboration with management, support continuous improvement and professional development by advising on, planning, and monitoring learning and development activities.
• Partner with leadership to advance institutional gender and diversity priorities by offering education and guidance on equity, compliance, inclusion, and diversity-related matters.

3. Talent Acquisition and Management 

• Oversee the implementation of talent acquisition and management policies and processes,  including job classification, recruitment, onboarding, performance management, learning and development, fee/ salary and benefits administration, and contract administration.
• Coordinate the effective administration of various contractual modalities, including loans, exchanges and secondments, ensuring smooth engagement and collaboration with relevant partners.
• Collaborate with corporate HR teams to lead personnel realignment exercises, such as job fairs, ensuring timely competency mapping, sourcing, selection, placement and transition of talent.
• Identify critical talent needs and develop comprehensive, forward-looking plans to attract, develop and retain key talent. Leverage workforce planning tools and recruitment strategies to ensure timely and inclusive hiring aligned with organizational goals.

4. Team Management 

• Oversee the HR team to ensure the effective delivery of high-quality HR services and results across the assigned countries/ geographic areas of operation.

5. 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

• Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) in any discipline with 4 years of relevant experience OR

• Master’s degree (or equivalent) in any discipline or related fields 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 one or more of the following areas:
  • Talent acquisition and workforce planning;
  • HR operations and contract administration;
  • employee relations and performance management;
  • organizational design and development; or
  • strategic HR advisory services.
• Experience providing HR advice to managers on the interpretation and application of HR policies, procedures and best practices.
• Experience managing multiple HR priorities simultaneously and delivering results within tight deadlines.
• Experience analysing HR data and producing reports or dashboards to support evidence-based decision-making.
• Experience working in the UN system or in humanitarian response.

Desired

• Experience working in multicultural and geographically dispersed teams.
• Experience supporting HR functions in development, humanitarian, fragile or emergency contexts.
• Experience leading or supporting organizational change, restructuring, workforce planning or business transformation initiatives.
• Experience developing HR dashboards, workforce analytics, KPIs or management reporting using tools such as Google Looker Studio, Power BI, Tableau, Excel, or similar business intelligence platforms.
• Experience using generative AI solutions (e.g. Microsoft Copilot, Gemini or similar technologies) to improve HR processes, develop knowledge products, analyse information, automate routine tasks or support operational decision-making.
• Experience designing or improving HR processes through automation, workflow optimization or digital transformation initiatives.

• UNOPS does not accept unsolicited resumes. 
• 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. 
• Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and invited to proceed to the next stage of the selection process, which may include various assessments. 
• UNOPS embraces diversity and is committed to equal employment opportunity. Our workforce consists of a wide range of nationalities, cultures, languages, races, gender identities, sexual orientations, and abilities. We strive to sustain and strengthen this diversity, fostering an inclusive working environment where all personnel are treated with respect and have equal access to opportunities.
• UNOPS evaluates all applications based on the skills, qualifications and experience outlined in the vacancy announcement. We are committed to a fair and transparent selection process and welcome diverse perspectives, including those of women, indigenous and racialized communities, individuals of diverse gender identities and sexual orientations, and persons with disabilities.
• We are committed to enabling all candidates to perform at their best during the assessment process. If you are shortlisted and require support or reasonable accommodation to complete any assessment, please inform our human resources team upon receiving your invitation.
• UNOPS has zero tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), sexual harassment, and other forms of abusive conduct, including discrimination, abuse of authority, and harassment. To uphold these standards, background checks are conducted for all final candidates to help ensure that individuals with a history of such conduct are not hired. By applying for a position with UNOPS, candidates acknowledge and consent to these verification processes.
  

• 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.