UNOPS is hiring a home-based People Experience & Engagement Specialist in its People and Culture Group, at mid level (ICS 10) on an IICA 2 contract, with applications closing on 09 November 2026. At Youth Works Hub, we reviewed the full vacancy, and this guide covers the duties, requirements, competencies and contract terms.
Help Shape a Workplace Where People Feel Heard
This role is about helping to shape a workplace where people feel heard, valued and inspired to deliver. It does so through meaningful workforce engagement and recognition initiatives that strengthen organizational culture, celebrate contributions and foster a more inclusive personnel experience across UNOPS.
Position Details at a Glance
🏷️ Position Title: People Experience & Engagement Specialist
🗂️ Job Category: Strategy & Corporate Services
🏡 Duty Station: Home based
📶 Seniority Level: Mid Level
🔢 ICS Level: ICS 10
📄 Contract Type: ICA - IICA - Regular
📑 Contract Level: IICA 2
⏱️ Duration: Ongoing
About the People and Culture Group
The People and Culture Group (PCG) positions UNOPS as a people-centered, high-performing organization by driving the development of HR policies, talent frameworks and inclusive practices aligned with the strategic plan. Through the Integrated People Strategy, PCG empowers personnel, fosters an engaging and inclusive work culture, and enables the delivery of sustainable development solutions.
The People Goals Behind PCG's Work
Partnering closely with UNOPS leadership, PCG delivers on the organization's People Goals:
🎭 Shaping culture
🌱 Nurturing leaders
⚖️ Enabling flexibility and fairness
🔮 Building future-ready teams
🎯 Setting people up for success
PCG's Core Capabilities and Priorities
Core capabilities include strategic HR partnering, policy integration and process simplification through digitization. PCG prioritizes leadership development, workforce diversity, personnel well-being and innovation in HR practices. By focusing on culture transformation and talent excellence, PCG ensures that UNOPS remains agile, equitable and capable of delivering results in complex operational environments.
What Is the Purpose of This Role?
The People Experience & Engagement Specialist reports to the Advisor, Diversity & Inclusion. The role supports the design, coordination and implementation of initiatives aimed at strengthening organizational culture, workforce engagement and employee experience across UNOPS.
The incumbent is responsible for managing key corporate engagement initiatives, including the culture and engagement survey and UNOPS Awards, facilitating collaboration with stakeholders and culture ambassadors, and translating workforce insights into actionable recommendations. The role also contributes to corporate reporting on organizational culture and supports the implementation of DEI interventions.
Culture and Engagement Measurement and Action Planning
🗳️ Coordinate the planning and implementation of UNOPS culture and engagement surveys, including global rollout, communications and analyses.
🔎 Support the selection and onboarding of a new corporate survey provider, in collaboration with Procurement, ensuring alignment with organizational requirements for data privacy, accessibility, reporting and analytics.
🔗 Manage operational relationships with the survey provider, coordinating survey administration, timelines, deliverables, data quality and reporting requirements.
📊 Coordinate the dissemination of survey findings through corporate and disaggregated reports, dashboards and presentations, highlighting key trends, risks and actionable insights.
🗺️ Support the development and monitoring of organizational action plans in response to survey findings, working with relevant stakeholders to track progress and identify opportunities for improvement.
🌐 Coordinate and support the global network of Culture Ambassadors, facilitating capacity building, knowledge sharing and locally driven engagement initiatives.
👂 Support additional workforce listening and feedback mechanisms to identify emerging trends and opportunities to strengthen employee experience.
Personnel Recognition and the UNOPS Awards
🏆 Project-manage the annual UNOPS Awards programme, overseeing the end-to-end recognition cycle, including programme design, award categories, nominations, selection processes and recognition events.
🧩 Coordinate with selection committees, corporate teams and regional stakeholders to ensure transparent, consistent and timely implementation of the programme.
📣 Develop and implement engagement and communication activities to promote participation across UNOPS and recognize achievements, innovation and behaviours aligned with organizational values.
📈 Evaluate programme effectiveness through participation data, stakeholder feedback and lessons learned, recommending improvements to future recognition initiatives.
Culture Analytics and Corporate Reporting
🧮 Consolidate and analyze qualitative and quantitative information on organizational culture, workforce engagement and personnel experience to identify trends, risks and opportunities for improvement.
🗒️ Prepare analytical inputs, briefing materials and presentations on organizational culture and engagement for senior management and corporate governance processes.
🏛️ Contribute to reporting to the UNOPS Executive Board on organizational culture, including the preparation and validation of relevant data, analysis and narrative inputs.
📏 Support the development and monitoring of indicators to assess progress against organizational culture and engagement priorities.
🗄️ Maintain appropriate documentation, reporting tools and knowledge resources to support evidence-based decision-making and institutional learning.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Work
🏗️ Support the planning, coordination and implementation of corporate DEI initiatives aimed at fostering an inclusive, respectful and equitable workplace across UNOPS.
🧵 Collaborate with PCG teams and other stakeholders to integrate inclusive practices into workforce engagement initiatives and relevant people management processes.
🧰 Develop and facilitate awareness-raising activities, guidance materials, toolkits and workshops on inclusion, psychological safety, respectful workplace practices and cultural sensitivity.
🚧 Analyze workforce feedback and relevant data to identify barriers to inclusion and inform targeted interventions.
🔁 Monitor the implementation and effectiveness of assigned DEI initiatives, contributing to progress reporting, lessons learned and continuous improvement.
Knowledge Building and Sharing
🎓 Support the organization, facilitation and delivery of training and learning sessions on organizational culture, workforce engagement, personnel recognition and personnel experience.
💡 Participate in knowledge-sharing initiatives and Communities of Practice (CoPs), contributing insights and lessons learned from people experience and engagement project implementation.
📚 Conduct research on organizational culture, workforce engagement and personnel experience topics and contribute to the drafting of reports, summaries and briefing notes.
Skills UNOPS Lists for This Position
🔄 Culture Change
📉 Data Analysis
🌏 Diversity & Inclusion
🙌 Employee Engagement
📨 Internal Communications
🧠 Knowledge Management
📅 Project Management
🔬 Research
🤲 Stakeholder Engagement
Competencies UNOPS Expects
🧭 Develops and implements sustainable business strategies, thinks long term and externally in order to positively shape the organisation. Anticipates and perceives the impact and implications of future decisions and activities on other parts of the organisation.
🕊️ Treats all individuals with respect, responds sensitively to differences and encourages others to do the same. Upholds organisational and ethical norms, maintains high standards of trustworthiness and is a role model for diversity and inclusion.
👥 Acts as a positive role model contributing to the team spirit, and collaborates and supports the development of others. For people managers only: acts as a positive leadership role model, and motivates, directs and inspires others to succeed, utilizing appropriate leadership styles.
🎗️ Demonstrates understanding of the impact of own role on all partners and always puts the end beneficiary first. Builds and maintains strong external relationships and is a competent partner for others (if relevant to the role).
✅ Efficiently establishes an appropriate course of action for self and/or others to accomplish a goal. Actions lead to total task accomplishment through concern for quality in all areas. Sees opportunities and takes the initiative to act on them, and understands that responsible use of resources maximizes impact on beneficiaries.
🌊 Open to change and flexible in a fast paced environment. Effectively adapts own approach to suit changing circumstances or requirements, reflects on experiences and modifies own behavior. Performance is consistent, even under pressure, and always pursues continuous improvements.
🔍 Evaluates data and courses of action to reach logical, pragmatic decisions. Takes an unbiased, rational approach with calculated risks and applies innovation and creativity to problem-solving.
💬 Expresses ideas or facts in a clear, concise and open manner. Communication indicates a consideration for the feelings and needs of others. Actively listens and proactively shares knowledge, and handles conflict effectively by overcoming differences of opinion and finding common ground.
Education Requirements
One of the following is required:
🎒 Bachelor's degree (or equivalent) with 7 years of relevant experience.
📜 Master's degree in Human Resources Management, Organizational Psychology, Behavioural Science, Organizational Development or a related field with 5 years of relevant experience.
Desired: professional training or certification in employee engagement, organizational development, DEI, project management or people analytics.
Experience You Need
🧪 Required: experience in end-to-end development, delivery and evaluation of organization-wide employee surveys, listening strategies, and recognition or organizational development programmes.
📝 Required: experience with data analysis, corporate reporting and engagement with senior stakeholders.
🏢 Desired: experience within the UN system or other international organizations.
Language Requirements
🗣️ English: fluent, required
🔤 French: fluent, desirable
🔠 Spanish: fluent, desirable
How UNOPS Handles Applications and Selection
🕛 Applications must be received before midnight Copenhagen time (CET) on the closing date of the announcement, and applications received after the closing date will not be considered.
📮 UNOPS does not accept unsolicited resumes.
🚫 UNOPS will at no stage of the recruitment process request candidates to make payments of any kind.
📞 Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and invited to proceed to the next stage of the selection process, which may include various assessments.
🧾 UNOPS evaluates all applications based on the skills, qualifications and experience outlined in the vacancy announcement.
♿ If you are shortlisted and require support or reasonable accommodation to complete any assessment, inform the human resources team upon receiving your invitation.
Diversity and Equal Opportunity at UNOPS
UNOPS embraces diversity and is committed to equal employment opportunity. Its workforce consists of a wide range of nationalities, cultures, languages, races, gender identities, sexual orientations and abilities, and it strives to sustain and strengthen this diversity, fostering an inclusive working environment where all personnel are treated with respect and have equal access to opportunities.
UNOPS is committed to a fair and transparent selection process and welcomes diverse perspectives, including those of women, indigenous and racialized communities, individuals of diverse gender identities and sexual orientations, and persons with disabilities.
Conduct Standards and Background Checks
UNOPS has zero tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA), sexual harassment and other forms of abusive conduct, including discrimination, abuse of authority and harassment. To uphold these standards, background checks are conducted for all final candidates to help ensure that individuals with a history of such conduct are not hired.
By applying for a position with UNOPS, candidates acknowledge and consent to these verification processes. It is UNOPS policy to conduct background checks on all potential personnel, and recruitment is contingent on the results of such checks.
Terms and Conditions
🪜 For staff positions only, UNOPS reserves the right to appoint a candidate at a lower level than the advertised level of the post.
⌛ For retainer contracts, you must complete a few mandatory courses (around 4 hours) in your own time before providing services to UNOPS. Refreshers or new mandatory courses may be required during your contract, and you will not receive any compensation for taking courses and refreshers.
📖 Further information on retainer contracts and contract types is listed under Links at the end of this post.
📘 All UNOPS personnel are responsible for performing their duties in accordance with the UN Charter and UNOPS Policies and Instructions, as well as other relevant accountability frameworks.
🌟 All personnel must demonstrate an understanding of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in a manner consistent with UN core values and the UN Common Agenda.
Find more roles like this one in the jobs section of Youth Works Hub.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the UNOPS People Experience & Engagement Specialist job remote?
The duty station is listed as home based. The role sits in the UNOPS People and Culture Group and reports to the Advisor, Diversity & Inclusion.
What level and contract does this position have?
It is a mid-level position at ICS 10, with the contract type ICA - IICA - Regular and the contract level IICA 2. The duration is listed as ongoing.
How much experience do I need?
You need a Bachelor's degree (or equivalent) with 7 years of relevant experience, or a relevant Master's degree with 5 years of relevant experience. Experience with organization-wide employee surveys, listening strategies, and recognition or organizational development programmes is required.
What will the specialist manage day to day?
The role manages key corporate engagement initiatives, including the culture and engagement survey and the annual UNOPS Awards programme. It also supports the Culture Ambassadors network, culture analytics, Executive Board reporting and DEI initiatives.
Which languages are required?
Fluent English is required. Fluent French and fluent Spanish are desirable.
What is the closing time for applications?
Applications must be received before midnight Copenhagen time (CET) on the closing date, 09 November 2026. Applications received after the closing date will not be considered.
Does UNOPS charge candidates a fee?
No. UNOPS states that it will at no stage of the recruitment process request candidates to make payments of any kind.
Who will be contacted after applying?
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and invited to the next stage of the selection process, which may include various assessments. Background checks are conducted for all final candidates.
Deadline
⏳ 09 November 2026
Links
Apply online: https://careers.unops.org/careersmarketplace/Login?jobId=4969
Official job posting: https://careers.unops.org/careersmarketplace/JobDetail/People-Experience-Engagement-Specialist/4969
More information on retainer contracts: https://drive.google.com/file/d/13FXRi20MZ0a49R-l82qT0OA0cX_5Bj3e/view?usp=sharing
More details about contract types: https://drive.google.com/file/d/15TJf0e2aJzEGewuEPWdGbPWsFoPjfUr8/view?usp=drive_link
