Almost every United Nations vacancy lists a grade, such as P-3, G-5 or D-1. The grade is shorthand for three things at once: how senior the role is, whether it is recruited internationally or locally, and roughly where it sits on the pay scale. Once you can read a grade, you can target the roles that actually match your background and stop applying to posts that are two levels off.
This guide explains the main grade categories used across the UN common system. Individual agencies vary in the detail, but the structure below holds almost everywhere.
The Professional category (P-1 to P-5)
Professional posts are recruited internationally, which means they are open to candidates worldwide and staff can be posted to different duty stations and countries. They usually require an advanced university degree, or a first degree with additional years of relevant experience.
- P-1 and P-2: entry-level professional roles. P-2 is the typical starting grade for someone with a master’s degree and a couple of years of experience.
- P-3: mid-level. Several years of relevant professional experience are expected.
- P-4: senior specialist or manager, often leading a team or a substantial area of work.
- P-5: principal or chief level, leading a unit or a major programme.
Director level (D-1 and D-2) and above
D-1 and D-2 are senior management roles, leading divisions, large country offices or major programmes. Above the director level sit the most senior appointments, Assistant Secretary-General (ASG) and Under-Secretary-General (USG), which are leadership positions rather than competitively advertised jobs in the usual sense.
General Service and related local categories (G)
General Service staff, graded roughly G-1 to G-7, are recruited locally at a specific duty station to provide administrative, technical and support services: programme assistants, finance and HR assistants, IT support, and similar roles. They normally require knowledge of the local language and relevant experience rather than an advanced degree, and they are not rotated internationally.
National Professional Officers (NO)
National Professional Officer posts, graded NO-A to NO-D, are professional roles recruited nationally within a country office. They carry professional-level responsibilities but draw on national expertise and local knowledge, and are filled by nationals of the country where the office is located.
Field Service and mission posts (FS)
Field Service grades are used for staff in peace operations and field missions, covering technical, logistics and support functions in often difficult environments. Missions also advertise international Professional and National posts using the categories above.
How grade relates to pay
Each grade has a series of steps, and salaries follow the published UN common system salary scales maintained by the International Civil Service Commission. International Professional salaries are adjusted for the cost of living at each duty station through a mechanism called post adjustment, so the same grade can pay differently in different cities. Exact figures change over time, so always check the current scales rather than relying on a number you saw once.
Reading a grade on a vacancy
When you see "P-3" on a listing, read it as an internationally recruited, mid-level professional role. "G-5" is a locally recruited general service role. "NO-B" is a nationally recruited professional post. Match the grade to your own experience: applying one grade above your level is reasonable if you meet the criteria, but applying several grades off is usually a wasted application.