United Nations Secretariat

Last updated 2 August 2026

All organisations · Secretariat entity · The UN Secretariat and its entities

Where it posts vacancies

careers.un.org

What it hires

  • Political affairs and peacebuilding officers (DPPA, DPO missions)
  • Human rights officers (OHCHR) and humanitarian affairs officers (OCHA)
  • Legal officers (Office of Legal Affairs and mission rule-of-law functions)
  • Programme management, administration, finance and budget officers
  • Public information and communications professionals
  • Field Service category staff (logistics, security, mission support) for peace operations

Contract types

FTA (fixed-term, 1 to 5 years, renewable; the standard international staff contract), TA (temporary, up to 364 days, fewer entitlements), Continuing Appointment (open-ended, after sustained service). Internships and consultancies also run through the Secretariat but on separate terms.

Headquarters and footprint

New York HQ; major hubs in Geneva, Vienna and Nairobi; regional commissions and peace operations give it a presence on every continent.

Before you apply

Portals, contract names and recruitment routes change. Verify against the organisation’s own pages before relying on anything here: careers.un.org · hr.un.org. This entry was last verified 2026-06.

What the full directory adds

Enrolled students get the rest of this entry: how the portal actually behaves and where applications die in it, what the organisation is like to work in, the mistakes that recur in applications to it, and the realistic route in at each level. See what is included.

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