Job Description

Please note that this vacancy is only open to eligible staff members who have been individually notified of their eligibility to apply for positions advertised in the Accelerated Posting Compendium.

June 12, 2026

A (least hardship)

Family

PR3

Professional

Reason

Regular > Regular Assignment

2026-05-26

Human Resources Officer

Organizational Setting and Work Relationships
The Human Resources Officer supports the UNHCR's People Strategy and contributes to the implementation of the 2018 independent Human Resources review, which resulted in the establishment of HR strategic priorities and the reconfiguration and transformation of the Division of People Management (DPM) from a largely transactional model into a strategic business partner for field operations and senior management. Having the right people in the right place at the right time is at the core of enabling UNHCR to protect and respond to forcibly displaced and stateless persons. By attracting, retaining and developing a talented, diverse and agile workforce while nurturing a culture of excellence, respect and wellbeing for all, UNHCR's Human Resources acts as a strategic partner to the organization enabling a people-centric culture.
The Human Resources Officer contributes to the development of a HR customer service-oriented culture that values proactivity, continuous improvement, innovation and high performance. By translating operational needs into workforce action and individual development needs, the Human Resources Officer plays a critical role. The main areas of work of the Human Resources Officer include the implementation of HR policies, staff administration, workforce planning, recruitment, and talent development with inclusion, diversity and gender as a cross-cutting issue. S/he will also support the implementation of the staff health and counselling plans and in fostering an inclusive and respectful working environment. The incumbent maintains employee confidence and protects the organization and its workforce by keeping human resource information confidential.

The Human Resources Officer is usually supervised by Head of Office, or Senior HR Officer in a Country Operation, or the most senior HR staff in a Regional Bureau. She/he supervises HR Professional and General Service staff.

The incumbent maintains a direct working relationship with a number of functions across the Division of People Management (DPM). For positions in Bureaux or Country Operations, the incumbent also works closely with the Senior HR Partner, the Senior Medical Officer and Senior Staff counsellor for his/her region.
He/she also maintains contact and close cooperation with other UN agencies in the region or country and represent UNHCR in the working groups/task forces within country/regional UN inter-agency mechanisms.

All UNHCR staff members are accountable to perform their duties as reflected in their job description. They do so within their delegated authorities, in line with the regulatory framework of UNHCR which includes the UN Charter, UN Staff Regulations and Rules, UNHCR Policies and Administrative Instructions as well as relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, staff members are required to discharge their responsibilities in a manner consistent with the core, functional, cross-functional and managerial competencies and UNHCR's core values of professionalism, integrity and respect for diversity.

Duties
- Strategic workforce advice and operational support:
- Engage with management to understand priorities, and provide advice and solutions on all aspects of HR in line with delegated HR authorities.
- Support HR initiatives that support organizational culture change such as good people management practices, and promoting gender, inclusion and diversity.
- Plan and implement HR operational activities to ensure timely provision of HR solutions, prioritizing according to the needs and risks.
Assignments and Talent Acquisition:
- Manage the process of recruitment, assignment and reassignment of locally-recruited staff and affiliate workforce, ensuring compliance with UNHCR rules and procedures, and providing advice to managers where required.
- Set up and run (Regional) Assignments Committee.
- Conduct outreach campaigns to attract diverse applicants. Ensure proper consideration is given to all applicants without discrimination.
- Analyse, track and report on recruitment and assignments trends for management, including efforts to reach gender parity.
- Take a proactive approach to risk management in the areas of recruitment, ensuring the issues are identified, addressed and reported and, where appropriate, escalated.
Advice to managers and staff, and contribution to an inclusive work environment:
- Build dialog and outreach with staff to provide support with their queries; and also promote dialog between staff and management to help find solutions to HR-related issues.
- Be proactive in identifying issues, themes and patterns affecting the workforce's health and welfare, including sexual harassment and abuse of authority.
- Ensure that on-boarding, induction, re-integration into the workplace and off-boarding support, is provided to colleagues; Induction programmes should include information on Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) and Sexual Harassment, Code of Conduct as well as workforce's rights and obligations.
HR policies and inter-agency:
- Enforce compliance with UNHCR's Human Resources policies and procedures and the UN staff rules, regulations and UNHCR administrative instructions.
- Participate in a network among HR staff members in the region in order to harmonize implementation of HR policies and initiatives, collect field insights to inform the development of DPM policies and activities; identify and share HR best practices, also through contacts with other UN agencies.
Duty of Care:
- Contribute to establishing and maintaining a medical evacuation plan with senior management, Field safety and the Senior
- Medical Officer.
- Support the development and implementation of a Duty of Care strategy. Identify and assess issues related to duty of care including physical, mental health and safety of UNHCR's workforce. Promote work/life balance and flexible working arrangements with managers and staff.
For positions in Regional Bureaux only:
- In the absence of a Senior Talent Development Officer in the Bureau:
- Implement a talent development and sourcing strategy for UNHCR workforce in the region, in line with UNHCR's needs and staff members' career planning.
- Equip HR teams and Managers in the region with skills on people management and tools related to talent development, career guidance and performance management.

- Support the identification and management of risks and seek to seize opportunities impacting objectives in the area of responsibility. Ensure decision making in risk based in the functional area of work. Raise risks, issues and concerns to a supervisor or to relevant functional colleague(s).
- Perform other related duties as required.

Minimum Qualifications
Education & Professional Work Experience
Years of Experience / Degree Level
For P3/NOC - 6 years relevant experience with Undergraduate degree; or 5 years relevant experience with Graduate degree; or 4 years relevant experience with Doctorate degree

Field(s) of Education
Human Resources Management; Human Resource Development;
Personnel Administration; Business Administration; or other relevant field.

Certificates and/or Licenses
Not specified

Relevant Job Experience
Essential
Experience working in Human Resources. Sound knowledge of general HR policies, processes and systems.
Desirable
Proven ability to identify and implement successful business related HR interventions. Experience in some of the following areas: HR administration, workforce planning, recruitment, HR policy or talent development. Experience in HR information technology systems and tools. Experience in field humanitarian operations and/or emergency settings. Experience working with the United Nations. Experience working in a multi-cultural setting.

Functional Skills
HR-Local mass recruitment
HR-Talent Development and Nurturing
HR-Coordination and Oversight of Workforce Mobility
HR-HR data and people analytics
HR-Employee Relationship Management
SO-Critical Thinking and problem solving
SO-Situational Judgement
SO-Learning Agility
HR-HR Business Partnering
HR-Inclusion, Diversity and Gender strategy design and implementation
RM-Risk Management
(Functional Skills marked with an asterisk* are essential)

Language Requirements
For International Professional and Field Service jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English.
For National Professional jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English and local language.
For General Service jobs: Knowledge of English and/or UN working language of the duty station if not English.

All UNHCR workforce members must individually and collectively, contribute towards a working environment where each person feels safe, and empowered to perform their duties. This includes by demonstrating no tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse, harassment including sexual harassment, sexism, gender inequality, discrimination and abuse of power.

As individuals and as managers, all must be proactive in preventing and responding to inappropriate conduct, support ongoing dialogue on these matters and speaking up and seeking guidance and support from relevant UNHCR resources when these issues arise.

This is a Standard Job Description for all UNHCR jobs with this job title and grade level. The Operational Context may contain additional essential and/or desirable qualifications relating to the specific operation and/or position. Any such requirements are incorporated by reference in this Job Description and will be considered for the screening, shortlisting and selection of candidates.

Essential attributes

• Substantial experience in Human Resources function with extensive knowledge of UNHCR human resources policies, procedures, and systems, including those related to both regular staff and affiliate workforce categories. The candidate should have broad exposure to all aspects of HR management across different duty stations in large scale operations under various contractual modalities and management experience of large HR teams of national and international staff across multiple field locations. This position was downgraded for budget purposes from P4 to P3 but the level of responsibilities remains those of a P4.
• Strong organizational, communication, and team management skills are essential, along with the ability to provide sound guidance within the framework of established rules and regulations while proposing practical and innovative operational solutions.
• The candidate must have proven direct experience of interaction and capacity to guide and challenge senior staff in her/his area of expertise.
• To effectively perform the responsibilities of the position, the successful candidate must demonstrate solid experience including Recruitment processes for both national and international staff, including proficiency in relevant Workday modules, Staff development and support, Personnel administration for UNHCR and affiliate workforce personnel, Performance management, Comparative review exercises, and Staff welfare initiatives.
• Strong experience with COMPASS, particularly in position planning and budget apportionment;
• Experience conducting staffing reviews and workforce planning exercises, including annual workforce planning and RAF, in large-scale operations.
• Familiarity with IGO/LAS and Management Evaluation mechanisms and procedures.
• Active participation in HR Working Groups under the OMT framework.
• Experience serving as Ex-Officio member in Assignment Committees.

Desirable attributes:

• The candidate should also demonstrate strategic vision, planning and organizational abilities, and strong analytical thinking. This position requires a high level of energy, initiative, and enthusiasm to effectively lead and motivate a large HR team and to develop innovative HR solutions. Flexibility, teamwork, and strong interpersonal, managerial, negotiation, networking, and conflict resolution skills are critical for building consensus and operating effectively in a complex environment.
• Ability to work effectively under pressure and manage multiple priorities simultaneously.
• Adaptability to operational changes and shifting priorities; and
• Strong client orientation and conflict resolution skills.

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Operational context

Occupational Safety and Health Considerations:

To view occupational safety and health considerations for this duty station, please visit: https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel

Nature of Position:

The HR Officer reports directly to the Representative and is responsible for managing and overseeing all human resources functions within the operation. The incumbent supports the Representative by providing strategic and operational input on staffing and budget reviews, recruitment and onboarding processes, performance management, staff welfare, and conflict resolution matters.

The HR Officer also collaborates closely with other UN agencies in Türkiye on Inter-Agency initiatives, including salary and housing surveys and other common back-office functions.

The HR Officer leads the HR Unit and provides support to more than 250 staff members located across the Country office in Ankara, a sub-office in Gaziantep, field units in Adana, Sanliurfa, Izmir, Van, Ankara, Agri and field office Istanbule. The HR Unit consists of a diverse and big team primarily based in the Country Office in Ankara.

The HR Officer will be responsible for managing staffing arrangements for large-scale, tightly earmarked projects, while ensuring the implementation of highly flexible contractual and staffing modalities.

Living and Working Conditions:

The Türkiye UNHCR operates through its Country office in Ankara, a sub-office in Gaziantep, field units in Adana, Sanliurfa, Izmir, Van, Ankara, Agri and field office Istanbule.

Climate in Ankara: Ankara has a continental climate with cold, snowy winters due to its elevation and inland location, and hot, dry summers. Rainfall occurs mostly during the spring and fall. Because of Ankara’s high altitude and its dry summers, nightly temperatures in the summer months are pleasantly cool. July and August tend to see the highest temperatures, exceeding 30°C / 86°F. Light cotton clothing is recommended for summer and light jackets may be needed for cool summer nights. For winter, warm clothes, coats and boots are recommended

Particularly the central areas of the big cities in Turkey are not very different from any other Western city. There is a good choice of hotels in Ankara and Istanbul, but the choice is somewhat limited in many other parts of the country, except for summer resorts. The prices of hotels are subject to continuous changes due to domestic inflation and changes in the value of the Turkish Lira on foreign exchange markets.

The usual practice for renting an apartment is to consult real-estate agents or advertisements in the local English language newspaper.
Single houses with surrounding gardens are very scarce in Ankara. When available, they are generally more expensive than apartments. Therefore, most international personnel live in apartments. New arrivals are usually able to find an apartment in about a month of arrival

The main cities have a number of hospitals where well-trained specialists and surgeons in all branches of medicine can easily be found. Prescribed medicines are not always available in the hospital and may need to be purchased from a pharmacy.
Private clinics are generally well equipped and offer services of an acceptable quality. There are also private hospitals of top international standards in Ankara and Istanbul. The number of this type of hospitals is increasing day by day. Laboratory tests are available both in these hospitals and in established private laboratories.

There are only a few schools in Turkey that cater to foreign residents. These range from kindergarten through primary to high school level. Courses are in one or more foreign language although some
subjects are taught in Turkish in some schools. The American, British, French, and Pakistan Embassies sponsor their own private schools in Ankara.

The general security situation in Ankara remains calm and stable, with security level assessed as 1 (Minimal) in line with the general threat assessment. There have been no serious security incidents recorded in Ankara since 2016. The Turkish security forces are trained, well-resourced and effective. Although thefts and burglaries have been reported in Ankara from time to time, the crime rate is assessed as low and Residential Security Measures (RSMs) do not apply in Ankara. The UN is not considered as a direct target, although the situation can change rapidly due to regional and/or international developments. Civil unrest and protest demonstrations occur in parts of Ankara, against different socio-political and socio-economic issues and likely to continue in the foreseeable future. Hazard incidents including road traffic crashes, extreme weather conditions, and occasional stray dog bites remain a concern for the safety of staff. UNHCR security management is guided by the UN Common Security Management System and security advisories are shared with staff as and when required.

Additional Qualifications

Skills

Bachelor of Arts: Business Administration, Bachelor of Arts: Human Resource Development, Bachelor of Arts: Human Resources Management, Bachelor of Arts: Personnel Administration

Certifications

Competencies

Accountability, Analytical thinking, Change capability & adaptability, Client & results orientation, Commitment to continuous learning, Communication, Empowering & building trust, Judgement & decision making, Managing performance, Managing resource, Organizational awareness, Planning & organizing, Teamwork & collaboration

https://icsc.un.org/Home/SalaryScales

Compendium

Accelerated Posting Compendium 2026 - Part B

Additional Information

This position doesn't require a functional clearance