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UNESCO Jobs

Find out everything about Jobs and Careers with UNESCO!

Working for an organization such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is an opportunity that could change your life. The organization combines good remuneration with meaningful work towards building peace through international cooperation in education, sciences and culture. You will be able to construct influential networks as well as receive encouragement to develop professionally. In addition, working for UNESCO means having a global career with a global reach, in a multicultural and pleasant environment.

Because of the above-mentioned reasons, in addition to a competitive remuneration package, career mobility, and the support that successful candidates receive once they are assigned to a position at the organization, UNESCO Jobs selection processes are highly sought-after by many young professionals, making them highly competitive.

In pursuit of its mission, the OpenIGO network has developed support and guidance services, with the aim of highly increasing your chances of success in these competitive selection processes. These services include revising your application documents (curriculum vitae/resume and cover letter) and a mock interview, as per the United Nations model.

We also have the Landing your dream job at the United Nations eBook, a powerful tool to enable you to strategically develop your career and equip you for each stage of any UN Jobs selection process!

For more information, access:

UN Jobs – Products & Services

UNESCO overview

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is a UN agency that seeks to build peace through international cooperation in education, culture and the sciences. Through partnerships with governments and civil society, UNESCO aims, among other goals, to increase access to quality education, strengthen freedom of speech and the press, encourage scientific progress, preserve and stimulate global cultural diversity, promote a culture of peace and non-violence and stimulate environmental and sustainable awareness. Besides its headquarters in Paris (France), the agency has 50 Field Offices and around 90 institutes and specialized centers around the world.

UNESCO’s main focus: To foster broader access to education, culture and the sciences in developing nations.

Themes addressed by UNESCO:

Education
Sciences and research
Culture
Communication and information
Environment and climate change
Violence prevention

UNESCO Jobs - Selection Processes

In order to start a career with UNESCO, applicants must know what are the existing recruiting initiatives, their eligibility criteria and different stages of the selection processes, as well as have a broad understanding of the culture and values of this complex international organization.

International Professionals

International Professionals at UNESCO are recruited internationally and are expected to serve at distinct duty stations throughout their career within the organization. Jobs in this category require a high degree of education, expertise, analytical and communication skills, as well as managerial leadership skills. To know in detail about the standard recruitment requirements of this category, check UNESCO International Professionals – Standard recruitment requirements.

UNESCO also provides opportunities for young graduates from non- and under-represented countries through their Young Professional Programme: UNESCO YPP.

General Service (HQ & Field)

General Services staff at UNESCO are locally recruited at Headquarters and in the country where the duty station is in. They must possess a work permit. The main functions of this category include administrative, secretarial and clerical support and specialized technical functions such as security, building maintenance and printing. To know in detail about the standard recruitment requirements of this category, check UNESCO General Service (HQ & Field) – Standard recruitment requirements.

National Professional Officers

National Professionals Officers (NPO) at UNESCO are locally recruited staff who perform functions at a professional level. They are expected to bring national experience and knowledge to the work of UNESCO in their country. To know in detail about the standard recruitment requirements of this category, check UNESCO National Professional Officers – Standard recruitment requirements.

Temporary Assignments

There are different types of temporary assistance contracts at UNESCO. They are: Service Contracts, Individual Consultants, short-term contracts and temporary appointments. To know in detail about the difference between these contracts, check UNESCO – Temporary assignments.

Internships

To know all about UNESCO Internship opportunities, check UNESCO Internships.

UNESCO Jobs - General Requirements

Before applying for a vacancy at an organization, it is important to understand which staff profile it employs and looks for in its selection processes. This will help you to: understand if your professional profile fits with what the organization is looking for; to get ready, in order to have greater chances of success in future selection processes, and to prepare better curriculum and application documents required for your application.

Therefore, an overview of the UNESCO staff profile will be presented in this section, so that you will be able to gain a better understanding of what this organization looks for in its human resources.

The standard recruitment requirements that UNESCO applies for minimum educational requirements combined with a minimum number of years of relevant work experience are the following:

Professional experience

Source: UNESCO Careers website

Education

An advanced university degree (Master or equivalent) in education, culture, science, social and human sciences, communication, business administration or other related fields is required for posts in the professional category at UNESCO. A Doctorate degree may be a requirement for specific job openings.

Languages

Advanced knowledge of English or French (these are the working languages of the organization) is required. Good knowledge of the other language is considered an asset. Knowledge of one of the official languages of UNESCO (Arabic, Chinese, Spanish or Russian) is considered as an additional asset.

UNESCO Jobs - Salary and Benefits

UNESCO offers remunerations in accordance with United Nations-wide salary scales, policies and practices, therefore being an excellent career choice in terms of payment and benefits.

Salaries

UNESCO offers a competitive package of salaries and benefits which are set by the International Civil Service Commission (ICSC) and are similar across UN Agencies. The remuneration is made of two elements:

Base salary
Post adjustment (different for each location, since the cost of living varies between stations)

Family

UNESCO staff members may be eligible for an array of family allowances and benefits linked to the dependency status of members of their family.

Education

UNESCO contributes to the cost of education of dependent children, in case it is applicable.

Relocation

A settling-in grant is paid to assist in meeting the costs when arriving at or relocating to a new duty station. Travel and shipping expenses are paid to UNESCO staff members on assignment, and when moving from one duty station to another. At some duty stations, a hardship allowance linked to living and working conditions is also offered. A rental subsidy can normally be granted to help new arrivals.

Holidays and leave

Annual leave is granted to staff at the rate of 2.5 working days per month. The maternity leave is comprised of 16 weeks of paid leave, whereas the paternity leave is comprised of 4 weeks of paid leave; increased to 8 weeks in non-family duty stations. Finally, at Headquarters, French public holidays are non-working days. In field offices, official holidays are established in accordance with local United Nations practice.