Welcome to the United Nations

Information for professional posts

Officers recruited to professional posts serve under the contractual status of staff members of the United Nations, in the field and at Headquarters, including the Standing Police Capacity (SPC) of the Police Division.

Staff receive their salary from the United Nations and follow the United Nations Staff Regulations, Rules, and other administrative issuances. Recruitment of staff members is coordinated with the UN Office for Human Resources Management (OHRM).


The profiles for professional posts vary from mission to mission. Still, examples include Head of Police components, Chief of Staff, Transnational Organized Crime Expert, Special Assistant to Police Commissioner.


The average recruitment time for a Police officer seconded by a national police service to a Professional Post is six to nine months from submitting the documents by the Permanent Mission to the United Nations Police Division. For positions at the Police Division, the average recruitment time varies from nine months to one year.

Rules and Regulations

The requirements for officers recruited as temporary staff members follow the United Nations professionals and higher categories classification, with education, experience and language matching the position.

Process

Generation

1. Invitation for nominations/advertising: The Selection and Recruitment Section in the Police Division sends a Note Verbale with a Job Opening (JO) announcement for the vacant post/s to the Permanent Missions of Member States in New York. In some cases, where a post is not filled through nominations from Permanent Missions, the Police Division resorts to Inspira to temporarily fill the post through a temporary job opening (TJO). Operational requirements determine the Job Opening posting period (can vary from 15 to 90 days).

2. Nomination of Candidates: Permanent Missions of Member States of the UN should submit, duly completed (typed) and signed, United Nations Personal History Form (P.11) and the Employment and Academic Certification form or printed Personal History Profiles (PHP) for each nominated candidate (see III.1.E and III.1.F).

Each nomination should include a certification from the Permanent Mission that the candidates have not been convicted of and is not currently under investigation or being prosecuted for any criminal, human rights or disciplinary offence, with the exception of minor traffic violations (driving while intoxicated or dangerous or careless driving are not considered minor traffic violations for this purpose). Other required certifications are outlined in the relevant vacancy announcement note verbale and in the Application Procedure for Professional Contracted Positions in United Nations Police Components in Peace Operations or Special Political Missions Requiring Official Secondment from National Governments of UN Member States.

Selection for service with the United Nations is made on a competitive basis. It is therefore essential that all the P.11/PHP be completed with a view to presenting the candidates academic qualifications, experiences and language as they relate to the requirements as set out in the relevant Job Opening. To ensure adequate evaluation, the following data is mandatory: date of joining active police service, rank, educational degree, graduation from police training institution, post titles, detailed duties description in each post starting from the initial assignment after the graduation from the police training institution, availability of additional qualifications, previous international experience (UN, African Union, European Union etc.), contact details (telephone and e-mail address). In the event a Permanent Mission wishes to recommend a candidate for several posts, a separate P.11/PHP should be submitted for each post.

It is strongly recommended that Member States carefully pre-screen their applicants and nominate only candidates that meet all the requirements for the advertised position. As United Nations Police is committed to recruit more female officers, Member States are strongly encouraged to nominate qualified female police officers. Preference will be given to equally qualified women candidates.

Permanent Missions are requested to present their candidates in one single submission, in accordance with the deadline date of the Job Opening, under cover of a Note Verbale listing the names of the candidates and referring to the corresponding Job Opening announcements. The list should include the following information: rank, first name, last name, gender, date of birth, date joined active police service, passport/national ID/police ID number and type of police service where the police officer is employed in his or her country (see III.1.D).

Applications must be hand-delivered by Permanent Missions to the Police Division, Office of Rule and Law and Security Institutions, Department of PeaceOperations in accordance with the specific directions in the relevant Note Verbale. The Permanent Mission should also confirm that selected candidates will be released, in a timely manner, from their national obligations for service with the UN (III.1.G).

3. Pre-selection (CV Analysis and assessment): The Selection and Recruitment Section in the Police Division undertakes substantive assessment for candidates that meet the eligibility requirements for the post. This can include a written examination over email. The examination helps in assessing the technical knowledge of candidates. Candidates who pass are subject to competency-based interviews.

The short-list for candidates up to P-5 posts is approved by the Police Adviser. Short-lists for PD-1 and D2 posts and higher are to be coordinated through the Office of approved by the Assistant-Secretary- General for Rule of Law and Security Institutions and the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations and, when applicable, through the Office of the Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs. The Department of Political Affairs is consulted on the posts related to special political missions.

A panel of at least three people, including at least one female, hold a competency based interview with short-listed candidates. The objective is to determine, through behavior-based questions, the degree to which the candidate possesses the key competencies and core values identified on beforehand as most essential to the specific post and outlined in the Job Opening. The results of the interviews are compiled in a Comparative Evaluation Report, including a concluding statement if the candidate is recommended or not.

4. Selection: Based on the recommendations of the interview-panel, SRS and the relevant hiring manager (i.e. the Police Adviser or the Head of Mission) will consider the following factors in selecting a candidate:

  • equally qualified female candidates are given priority.
  • Geographical representation.
  • Requisite qualifications and experience.

The final selection is approved by the Police Adviser. The selection of the UN Police components leadership on the levels P-5 and D-1 will require additional endorsement of Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations and selection of D-2 post requires the approval of the Secretary-General. Once a candidate is selected, the Police Division informs the Permanent Mission, which subsequently informs the candidate.

5. Mission deployment: The deployment of the selected officers to the Mission is regulated by the relevant guidance and implemented by the UN Executive Office of Human Resources Management (OHRM) (regarding the selection of UN Headquarters staff) or the field mission and a Regional Support Center Department of Field Support/Field Personnel Division (DFS/FPD) (regarding the field personnel). The Police Contributing Countries (PCCs) should facilitate the release of the selected officers from their national police service duties and process all necessary administrative formalities. The above UN pillars process all essential administrative formalities regarding the officers chosen, including disciplinary and medical clearances, visa issuance (when applicable, travel arrangements, etc. Selected candidates need to provide a medical clearance form (MS-2) and other required documentation [link to all required documentation]. Upon clearance from the Medical Services Division, the Police Division requests the Department of Field Support and the Mission to organize the travel and Visa arrangements.

5. Extension: The initial appointment of one year for this category in the field can be extended one year at a time and should not exceed four years. The request for an extension from the mission confirms that the officer has received a ‘fully satisfactory/fully competent’ performance appraisal. For all subsequent requests, a performance appraisal of ‘exceeds expectations’ is required. The initial appointment will be two years for police officers serving as staff members at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. Otherwise, the same rules apply for an extension.