Executive Coordinator

Organisation: UNDP
Location: Bonn, Germany
Deadline: 23 November 2026

The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme is the United Nations system-wide service for volunteerism. Established by the General Assembly in 1970 and administered by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), UNV mobilizes qualified, motivated and diverse volunteers to support United Nations mandates in development, peace and security, human rights and humanitarian action, while promoting volunteerism as an important means of implementing the 2030 Agenda.

Background

UNV works with organizations of the United Nations system, Member States, national and local institutions, civil society and communities. Its distinctive value lies in connecting the UN system with people and communities through volunteers, providing flexible talent and capacity solutions to UN entities while generating evidence, partnerships and policy support for volunteerism. The programme has evolved into a substantial global operation, with more than 17,000 UN Volunteers deployed in 172 countries in 2025, supported by close to 500 global personnel in UNV headquarters in Bonn, six regional offices and over sixty country presences and multi-country field units.

The current strategic context requires UNV to consolidate previous expansion and relevance as the system-wide service, while at the same time furthering its agility, efficiency, digital maturity, operational and financial resilience, and close alignment with the evolving needs of UN Country Teams and programme countries.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Executive Coordinator reports to UNDP Administrator and leads UNV within the policy, strategic and institutional framework established by the UN General Assembly, the UNDP/UNFPA/UNOPS Executive Board, UNDP Strategic Plan and the UNV Strategic Framework. The position combines the responsibilities of executive leader, strategic manager, and principal advocate of UNV.

The Executive Coordinator provides the overall vision, strategic direction and executive leadership required to fulfill UNV’s mandate and to translate the policy direction of the General Assembly and Executive Board into organizational priorities, strategies and partnerships. The incumbent leads the mobilization and stewardship of human, financial, institutional and partnership resources; represents UNV with Member States, UN entities and external stakeholders; and ensures that the programme operates with integrity, efficiency, transparency, accountability and strong results orientation.

The Executive Coordinator ensures that UNV remains responsive to Member States and UN partners while maintaining a strong focus on volunteer quality, inclusion, duty of care and the experience of volunteers throughout the service cycle.

The Executive Coordinator leads UNV in a way that continuously modernizes its service offer and promotes the strategic relevance of volunteerism in the UN system and beyond. He/she is accountable for positioning UNV as a trusted, effective and innovative system-wide service that enables the United Nations to draw on the skills, commitment and local knowledge of volunteers, while advancing recognition of volunteerism as a means of achieving peace and development.

In addition, the Executive Coordinator has delegated responsibility for coordinating daily management of common premises and common services for the organizations of the UN system at the UN Bonn campus, including related administrative, managerial and policy issues, as well as liaising with the Federal Government of Germany, the State Government of North Rhine-Westphalia and the City Municipality of Bonn on such matters.

1) Strategic leadership, planning and management

• Provide overall strategic leadership to UNV and translate General Assembly resolutions, Executive Board decisions, relevant UN system priorities and UNDP policies into organizational strategies, partnerships and practices.

• Lead the design and implementation of the UNV Strategic Frameworks, ensuring clear institutional priorities, implementation arrangements, measurable results, effective innovations and systematic monitoring of performance.

• Position UNV as an agile, fit-for-purpose and people-centered UN system-wide service, continuously adapting volunteer modalities, operating models and services to changing UN and country-level needs. Leads the institution in a way that continuously modernizes its service offer.

• Promote decentralization and appropriate delegation of authority so that UNV can respond effectively to country and regional requirements while maintaining corporate standards and accountability.

• Foster an organizational culture based on integrity, innovation, collaboration, inclusion, learning and service to UN partners and volunteers.

• Ensure that organizational structures, policies, business processes, digital capabilities and workforce arrangements remain aligned with strategic objectives.

• Inform and consult UNDP Administrator and senior UNDP leadership and ensure that UNV's governance and management arrangements remain consistent with its status as a UNDP-administered system-wide service.

2) External relations, representation and advocacy

• Serve as the principal spokesperson and representative of UNV with Member States, UN entities, civil society, academia, the private sector and other stakeholders. Contribute to intergovernmental dialogue on volunteerism, including follow-up to relevant General Assembly resolutions, Secretary-General reports, international observances and global policy processes. In doing so, demonstrates strong partnerships acumen and intuitional judgement.

• Advocate for volunteerism as a cross-cutting means of implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and as a contributor to peace and security, human rights and humanitarian action.

• Sustain high-level partnerships for the integration of volunteerism into national plans and policies. Maintain strategic engagement with Resident Coordinators and UN Country Teams and promote the inclusion of volunteerism in Sustainable Development Cooperation Frameworks and country programming.

• Position UNV as a source of credible evidence, policy advice and innovation on volunteerism, including through research, data, knowledge products and global advocacy.

• Mobilize support for inclusive volunteerism, with particular attention to participation by women, young and older people, persons with disabilities, people from developing countries and other groups that may face barriers to participation.

• Strengthen UNV's public profile while ensuring communications are evidence-based, consistent with UN values and focused on the contribution of volunteers to tangible results. Represent UNV at high-level international forums and public events, communicating its mandate, results and strategic priorities with clarity and credibility.

3) Results and resources management

• Ensure that UNV delivers the results approved by its governing bodies and that organizational performance is systematically measured, analyzed, communicated and used for decision-making.

• Oversee the effective and transparent management of UNV's financial, human, digital and other resources, consistent with UNDP policies, UN rules and applicable accountability frameworks.

• Safeguard the financial sustainability of UNV, strengthen the resource base, diversifying strategic partnerships, and maintain appropriate balances between institutional resources and requirements.

• Provide strategic stewardship of the Special Voluntary Fund and other flexible resources, ensuring that they are deployed where they can respond to emergencies and/or generate catalytic and innovative high-value impact.

• Oversee enterprise-level risk management, internal controls, audit follow-up and evaluation, ensuring that risks are identified early and addressed decisively.

• Strengthen data-driven management, including the use of artificial intelligence, digital tools, analytics and evidence to improve organizational performance, decision-making, cost-effectiveness and efficiency gains.

• Report transparently on results, resources, risks and performance to the Executive Board, UNDP leadership, Member States and other relevant stakeholders.

4) People, innovation and organizational effectiveness

• Champion the principle that UNV's central asset is its people: UN Volunteers, staff and the communities and partners with whom they work. Translates general duty of care commitments onto practical arrangements and initiatives.

• Ensure that volunteerism is delivered through high-quality, safe, inclusive and meaningful assignments, with appropriate duty of care throughout the volunteer life cycle.

• Oversee continued modernization of volunteer management, including flexible, short-term, part-time, remote and other modalities responsive to the evolving needs of UN entities and programme countries.

• Ensure that innovation, digital transformation, automation and responsible use of data and emerging technologies improve service quality, accessibility, speed and efficiency.

• Encourage experimentation and learning while maintaining appropriate safeguards, ethical standards and accountability.

• Strengthen UNV's ability to identify emerging needs and rapidly adapt its operating model, particularly in fragile, conflict-affected, humanitarian and crisis contexts.

• Foster a culture of continuous improvement in which evidence from volunteers, host entities, programme countries, evaluations and operational experience informs policy and management decisions.