Human Resources Officer (Talent Acquisition Services), P4 Job at UNON

UN Jobs, United Nations Jobs, UNON Jobs,

• Job Opening ID: 265665
• Job Network : Management and Administration
• Job Family : Human Resources
• Category and Level : Professional and Higher Categories, P-4
• Duty Station : NAIROBI
• Department/Office : United Nations Office at Nairobi
• Date Posted : Oct 14, 2025
• Deadline : Nov 27, 2025

Org. Setting and Reporting

The United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON) is the UN headquarters in Africa and the Director-General of UNON is the representative of the Secretary-General in Kenya. UNON supports programme implementation of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP),the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) and the Resident Coordination System (RCS) globally, as well as other UN offices in Kenya and elsewhere, by providing administrative, security, conference and information services. For more information, visit www.unon.org.

This post is located in the Human Resources Management Service (HRMS), Division of Administrative Services (DAS), UNON. The incumbent reports to the Chief, Human Resources Management Service.

Responsibilities

1. Strategic Leadership and Management of the Talent Acquisition Unit:

• Provide strategic leadership, direction, and day-to-day management of the Talent Acquisition Unit, ensuring innovation in service delivery, continuous staff development, and equitable workload distribution.
• Lead the planning, organization, and implementation of the Unit’s annual work programme, aligning activities with organizational priorities and HRMS strategic goals.
• Drive innovation and the adoption of automation and transformative practices across talent acquisition services.

2. Talent Acquisition and Recruitment Services:

• Oversee end-to-end recruitment process, including job openings across all applicable categories (General Service, National Professional Officers and Professional and higher levels), ensuring timely, transparent, and inclusive processes in line with the relevant Staff Regulations and Staff Rules.
• Lead the design and implementation of innovative, proactive outreach and sourcing strategies to attract diverse, high-quality talent, including non- and underrepresented groups, in alignment with the organization’s Diversity and Inclusion Strategy.
• Direct the development of talent pools, rosters, and skills databases to support workforce mobility, succession planning, and critical talent pipelines.
• Oversee vacancy management under managed reassignment programmes (e.g., JPO, YPP, G-to-P) in coordination with OHR in New York.
• Oversee the engagement of consultants and individual contractors, ensuring effective use of expert rosters.
• Champion the use of data-driven insights, predictive analytics, and recruitment technologies to enhance decision-making and service delivery.
• Ensure alignment with inter-agency HR frameworks and lead the provision of Common Back Office recruitment services, fostering harmonization and shared efficiencies.

3. Job design and Classification Services:

• Manage classification and reclassification of posts up to and including D1 level, ensuring fairness, transparency, and adherence to ICSC standards; review and endorse submissions for D2-level posts to OHR, New York.
• Provide strategic advice on job design, development of job descriptions, and the effective use of Generic Job Profiles to support consistency and mobility.
• Interpret and advise on classification policies and procedures, offering proactive guidance to managers.
• Manage classification appeals for General Service posts and coordinate with OHR on appeals for Professional and higher-level posts.
• Prepare analytical reports, statistics, and policy inputs on classification trends and issues.

4. Compensation and Benefits:

• Represent the organization in compensation and benefits matters, including coordination and participation in local salary and housing surveys, in close liaison with the International Civil Service Commission.
• Serve as Secretary of the Local Salary Survey Committee, ensuring effective organization and outcomes.

5. Representation, Outreach, and Inter-Agency Collaboration:

• Represent HRMS in internal committees, inter-agency working groups, HR networks, and statutory or staff-management bodies.
• Lead outreach and partnership-building efforts with other UN entities, governments, academia, and professional networks to strengthen talent pipelines and share recruitment innovations.
• Deliver briefings, presentations, and advisory sessions to senior management, staff, and stakeholders on recruitment, classification, and talent acquisition policies and practices.

6. Acting as Officer-in-Charge.

7. Perform other related duties as may be assigned.

Competencies

• PROFESSIONALISM: Knowledge of human resources policies, practices and procedures and ability to apply them in an organizational setting. Ability to identify issues, analyze and formulate opinions, make conclusions and recommendations on complex human resources policy and development issues. The ability to analyze and interpret data in support of decision-making and convey resulting information to management. Shows pride in work and in achievements. Is conscientious and efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results. Is motivated by professional rather than personal concerns. Shows persistence when faced with difficult problems or challenges. Remains calm in stressful situations.

• CLIENT ORIENTATION: Considers all those to whom services are provided to be “clients” and seeks to see things from clients’ point of view. Establishes and maintains productive partnerships with clients by gaining their trust and respect. Identifies clients’ needs and matches them to appropriate solutions. Monitors ongoing developments inside and outside the clients’ environment to keep informed and anticipate problems. Keeps clients informed of progress or setbacks in projects. Meets timeline for delivery of products or services to client.

• ACCOUNTABILITY: Takes ownership of all responsibilities and honours commitments. Delivers outputs for which one has responsibility within prescribed time, cost and quality standards. Operates in compliance with organizational regulations and rules. Supports subordinates, provides oversight and takes responsibility for delegated assignments. Takes personal responsibility for his/her own shortcomings and those of the work unit, where applicable.

• LEADERSHIP: Serves as a role model that other people want to follow. Empowers others to translate vision into results. Is proactive in developing strategies to accomplish objectives. Establishes and maintains relationships with a broad range of people to understand needs and gain support. Anticipates and resolves conflicts by pursuing mutually agreeable solutions. Drives for change and improvements. Does not accept the status quo. Shows the courage to take unpopular stands. Provides leadership and takes responsibility for incorporating gender perspectives and ensuring the equal participation of women and men in all areas of work. Demonstrates knowledge of strategies and commitment to the goal of gender balance in staffing.

JUDGEMENT/DECISION-MAKING: Identifies the key issues in a complex situation and comes to the heart of the problem quickly. Gathers relevant information before making a decision. Considers positive and negative impacts of decisions prior to making them. Takes decisions with an eye to the impact on others and on the Organization. Proposes a course of action or makes a recommendation based on all available information. Checks assumptions against facts. Determines the actions proposed will satisfy the expressed and underlying needs for the decision. Makes tough decisions when necessary.

Education

• Advanced university degree (Master’s degree or equivalent) in human resources management, business or public administration, law or related area is required. A first-level university degree in combination with two (2) additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of an advanced university degree.
• Successful completion of both degree and non-degree programs in data analytics, business analytics or data science programs is desirable.

Work Experience

• A minimum of seven (7) years of progressively responsible experience in human resources management or administrative services is required.
• A minimum of five (5) years of experience leading talent acquisition services as a service provider for large organizations, working with a wide range of clients in an international setting, is required.
• At least three (3) years of hands-on experience in implementing advanced technologies and automation tools within talent acquisition and sourcing services is required.
• At least five (5) years of experience in supervising internationally diverse teams of not less than 7 staff is desirable.
• Two (2) years or more of experience in data analytics or related area is desirable.

Languages

• English and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For this job opening, English is required. French is desirable.
• The table below shows the minimum required level for each skill in these languages, according to the UN Language Framework (please consult https://languages.un.org for details).

Required Languages

Language	Reading	Writing	Listening	Speaking
English	UN Level II	UN Level II	UN Level II	UN Level II

Desirable Languages

Language	Reading	Writing	Listening	Speaking
French	UN Level II	UN Level II	UN Level II	UN Level II

Assessment

• Evaluation of qualified candidates may include an assessment exercise which may be followed by competency-based interview.

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