Employment Categories
The UN staff categories include diverse roles across levels of responsibility and specialized fields. Main categories are Professional and Higher (P and D levels), General Service and related roles, National Professional Officers, Field Service, and Senior Appointments. Career advancement at the UN is based on merit, though movement between categories is restricted and requires specific assessments. Some roles within the Professional category are filled through global competitive exams, such as the Young Professionals Program.
Professional (P) and Director (D) roles at the UN are internationally recruited, involving rotations across global duty stations. These positions demand advanced degrees or equivalent work experience: P-2 (2 years), P-3 (5 years), P-4 (7 years), P-5 (10 years), and P-6/D-2 (15 years). Specific educational standards apply for fields like medical and language roles. Proficiency in English or French is essential, with additional UN languages as assets. Roles span nine job networks, requiring analytical skills, substantive expertise, and, for senior levels, program leadership and resource management.
The General Service category provides essential support for UN operations across various administrative, clerical, and technical roles within nine job networks. These positions require a high school diploma or equivalent, a minimum age of 18, and relevant work experience as specified in each job opening. Language proficiency in English or French is generally required, depending on location. While these are general requirements, certain roles, such as Security Service, Trades, Public Information, and Language Teachers, have additional or specialized criteria. For further details, please refer to the UN Careers Page.
The UN engages Consultants and Individual Contractors for project-based roles. Consultants are specialists hired for advisory functions, such as conducting research or directing seminars, and can work up to 24 months within a 36-month period. Individual Contractors handle specific tasks, usually short-term, limited to 6 months or, in special cases, 9 months within a 12-month period.
Selection: Candidates registered in the Consultants Roster may be directly contacted when opportunities match their expertise. Active applications through Inspira are also encouraged.The UN is one of the world’s largest employers of language professionals and welcomes applications from across the globe. There are career opportunities in translation, interpreting, editing, verbatim reporting and other fields.
Language staff work mostly with the six official UN languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. Applicants for language positions must have a perfect command of one official language and excellent knowledge of at least one other. The one exception is the small German Translation Section at UN Headquarters in New York, which requires a perfect command of German. In addition to Competitive Examinations for Language Positions (CELPs), examinations for placement on the Secretariat’s Global Language Register (GLR) of language professionals eligible for contractual work or temporary appointments are organized on an as-needed basis.
The first step is to apply to take one of competitive examinations for language positions or CELPS. These examinations are used to fill positions at United Nations Headquarters in New York, at the United Nations Offices at Geneva, Nairobi and Vienna, and at the Regional Commissions located in Santiago, Bangkok, Beirut and Addis Ababa.
Employment Grades
Grades determine the rate of basic pay associated with a specific level of work or range of difficulty, responsibility, and qualification requirements.
Most International Organizations follow the United Nations Common System professional grade structure. Please note that the years of experience referred to in the chart is years of relevant experience after the completion of an undergraduate degree, unless stated otherwise in the individual vacancy announcement. As these positions are very competitive it is recommended that you apply to positions for which you exceed the minimum years of experience.
| Level | Grade | Required Experience |
|---|---|---|
| Entry | P-1 | 0-2 years 1 |
| Entry | P-2 | 2+ years 2 |
| Entry | P-3 | 5+ years |
| Mid | P-4 | 7+ years |
| Mid | P-5 | 10+ years |
| Senior | D-1 | 15+ years |
| Senior | D-2 | 15+ years |
2 No experience is required if applying to P-2 positions that are part of the Young Professionals program.
Coordinated organizations (NATO, OECD, and others)
The A category is made up of seven levels, the entrance level being A1 and the most senior being A7. Most staff are at A3 and A4 levels. Levels A5 and above are considered management levels. Level A1 is considered transitory and generally only applied to trainees. Each Coordinated Organization has a separate but similar manner of determining the level of A grade posts. Some organizations apply a point factor system while others practice a "whole level" description method. Some organizations may offer positions with a range of grades, such as A2/A3.
Other international organizations
Please visit the employment pages of individual international organizations to learn more about unique professional grading systems if the organization of your choice is using a different system than those listed above. Please view our international organization contact information page for links to employment websites.
Salaries
Salaries established by international organizations are typically competitive. Pay in UN professional and senior positions are made up of two main elements: 1) base salary and 2) post adjustment. UN salaries are based on those of the U.S. Civil Service plus an amount that will vary from 10-20%.
As countries generally do not tax their nationals’ income from international organizations, most international organizations (including UN agencies) set salaries on a "net-of-tax" basis. In addition, they provide other allowances that vary according to individual circumstances and the cost-of-living at the work location. The most important of these allowances is the "post adjustment," which serves to equalize purchasing power for international civil servants wherever they serve.
To determine whether the salary and benefits package offered by an international organization is desirable, applicants should compare the international organization’s "net" salary plus post adjustment and any other offered allowances with their current "after-withholding" salary, allowances and benefits.
While salaries are usually quoted in dollars, they are paid in whole or part in the currency of the country where the individual serves. The take-home pay, therefore, can vary with changes in the dollar exchange rate.
All U.S. citizens and permanent residents remain subject to federal income tax and also may be subject to U.S. state and local taxes. However, special tax provisions apply to Americans working overseas, for example, with international organizations. For authoritative information on federal taxes for these cases, see IRS Publication 54, Tax Guide for U.S. Citizens and Resident Aliens Abroad. For information on state or local taxes, please consult the tax authority’s guidance.
Benefits
Please visit the International Civil Service Commission and Coordinated Organisations (CO) websites to learn more about the benefits offered by the majority of international organizations. If the international organization of interest is not a part of either group please visit our international organization contact information page for links to the employment pages of specific international organizations.