This vacancy is open for Hungarian nationals only.

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, results.

UNICEF’s Global Shared Services Centre (GSSC) in Budapest, Hungary provides services to UNICEF offices globally in the areas of Finance, Human Resources, Payroll and Information Technology.

GSSC has won the 2019 Business Services Firm of the Year in Hungary, one of 26 regional awards announced at the Central and Eastern European Business Services Summit & Awards held in Warsaw, Poland.

The Global Shared Services Centre HR Administration Section delivers HR support and services to UNICEF staff and offices globally in the areas of Onboarding and Benefits and Entitlements. The section provides accurate and timely processing and payment of staff salaries, benefits and entitlements, manages a simplified process for keeping your records up to date, supports a streamlined on-boarding experience for staff new to UNICEF or those moving duty stations. The services provided by HR Administration Section optimizes organizational effectiveness and consistency, promotes positive client experience, improves quality assurance of HR services and allows staff in the field to focus on delivering results for children.

How can you make a difference?

The role of Human Resources Officer supports the delivery of the section by ensuring the efficient and effective delivery of seamless end-to-end HR transactional services for UNICEF staff in assigned areas. This role ensures quality, timely and consistent client service, while exploring business process improvement opportunities to increase efficiency and effectiveness in accordance with the HR strategy and work plan, aligned with the GSSC Management Plan as well as the goals and strategic needs of the organization.

The incumbent will provide functional and technical guidance to end-users of UNICEF’s electronic/online HR Systems in managing complex HR processes and relevant personal actions. The Human Resources Officer will also be responsible to provide extensive guidance and support to newly appointed staff through training, coaching, work shadowing and contributing to development of best practices and business processes in the area of HR Administration, including monitoring of quality and efficiency in delivery of HR services as well as performance management of responsible staff under her/his supervision.

The effectiveness of the support provided by the Human Resources Officer results in the timely, equitable, transparent and systematic administration of all human resource matters regarding benefits, entitlements, contract renewals and termination and timely and effective training programs on human resources to newly recruited staff, which in turn will contribute towards the establishment of a client oriented culture in the GSSC, and promote the Centre’s capacity to support country offices in delivering programs which help the most vulnerable women and children across the world.

Summary of key functions/accountabilities:

1. Ensure equity, transparency and consistency in the interpretation, determination and administration of international and local conditions of service, terms of employment, benefits and allowances in accordance with UN/UNICEF regulations and rules.

• Advise management and staff on correct interpretation and application of HR policies and procedures and provide guidance as required.
• Review and approve SAP transactions and related personnel actions.
• Ensure services are delivered to designated client groups within the expected SLAs with accuracy and high-quality standards.
• Approve critical transactions in a timely and accurate manner and ensure that HR related transactions/HR entitlements/benefits are monitored in accordance with business processes and service level agreements.

2. Responsible for performance and development of team members.

• Manage the team and deliver supervisory support on aspects related to performance, leave, training, career development etc.
• Ensure ongoing monitoring and discussions around individual performance and support development of the staff member by facilitating career progression and opportunities.
• Enable high-level of staff engagement and morale by providing continuous listening, support, mentoring etc. for team members.

3. Responsible for the delivery and implementation of training related to HR entitlements, benefits and business processes.

• Support the HR Manager/Specialist in keeping staff abreast on HR rules and regulations, business processes, processing of entitlements and benefits by delivering training and coaching the newly hired workforce in GSSC.
• Advise managers/supervisors on appropriate approaches to be used in resolving any potential issues.
• Serve as technical resource person and provide administrative guidance to staff.

4. Contribute to projects, budget preparation and review process.

• Support the implementation of projects across HR Administration Section and work closely with Subject Matter Experts, Quality Assurance and other support functions within GSSC to streamline and innovate processes.
• Conduct analysis of staffing patterns and needs of the office. Participate in management meetings affecting HR planning and management.
• Manage orientation and briefing to newly arrived staff.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

• A first university degree (bachelor’s degree) is required in Human Resources, Business Administration, International Relations, Social Sciences, Psychology or other related areas. Master’s degree in a relevant field is an asset.
• A minimum of 2 years of progressively responsible experience in human resources.
• Minimum 6 months managerial / supervisory experience is desirable. Any supervisory experience including formally backfilling for supervisory roles will be taken into account.
• Hands on, and practical experience is required in analyzing and approving transactions with understanding of benefits and entitlements in human resources administration or services.
• Experience in working in one of the enterprise resource planning systems (such as SAP, Oracle, Peoplesoft, etc.) is required.
• Work experience with the United Nations or an international organization is desirable.
• Knowledge of UN Human Resources rules, regulations and procedures is considered an asset.
• Working knowledge of ServiceNow or similar CRM ticketing system is desirable.
• Previous experience of shared services/business support center environment is highly desirable.

• Fluency in English (verbal and written) is required.
• Knowledge of an additional UN Language (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, Spanish) is considered an asset.

National Officer (NO) staff are nationals of the country in which they perform functions of a technical and professional nature. Eligible applicants are nationals of Hungary. 

National Officer staff are locally recruited staff and therefore, candidates are personally responsible for any travel and accommodation arrangements. UNICEF does not facilitate MFA accreditation for locally recruited staff.

Remarks: Requirement for internal applicants 

Internal applicants from the GSSC must have their Learning Paths completed already at the time of application otherwise they cannot be considered. Additionally, they must attach a snapshot/copy of the completed path at their current grade to their applications.

Please visit the Learning and Development portal for more information.

For every Child, you demonstrate…

UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: https://www.unicef.org/careers/get-prepared#Values

UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships (2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness (3) Drive to achieve results for impact (4) Innovates and embraces change (5) Manages ambiguity and complexity (6) Thinks and acts strategically (7) Works collaboratively with others (8) Nurtures, leads and manages people

During the recruitment process, we test candidates following the competency framework. Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels: competency framework here

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance. Appointments may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Government employees that are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.