How to Get a Job at OCHA: A Practical Guide
OCHA coordinates the global humanitarian response to crises. Here's how to break into the organisation — from entry-level roles to senior coordination positions.
How to Get a Job at OCHA: A Practical Guide
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) plays a central role in every major humanitarian crisis worldwide. Unlike implementing agencies (UNICEF, WFP, UNHCR), OCHA's role is coordination — bringing together UN agencies, governments, and NGOs to deliver a coherent response. Working at OCHA means being at the centre of humanitarian decision-making, often in extremely challenging environments.
What OCHA Does
OCHA manages the UN humanitarian system architecture:
- Leads the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) and the global cluster system
- Manages the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) and country-based pooled funds
- Publishes humanitarian situation reports, needs assessments, and funding appeals
- Coordinates civil-military relations in conflict settings
- Runs ReliefWeb, the world's largest humanitarian information platform
Types of Roles at OCHA
OCHA employs staff across several professional families:
Coordination and programme
- Humanitarian Affairs Officers (HAO) — the core professional role
- Head of Office / Senior Humanitarian Affairs Adviser — country-level leadership
- Civil-Military Coordination Officers
Information management
- Information Management Officers — the fastest-growing role type; combines GIS, data analysis, and humanitarian reporting
- Web and content management (ReliefWeb team)
Finance and administration
- Pooled fund managers overseeing CERF and humanitarian country team funds
Policy and advocacy
- Policy officers at HQ in New York and Geneva
Entry-Level Pathways
Getting into OCHA without prior UN experience is difficult but possible through:
1. JPO (Junior Professional Officer) positions: funded by member states; check your national government's JPO programme. OCHA JPO positions are among the most competitive.
2. OCHA internships: primarily based in New York, Geneva, and country offices. Internships are unpaid but provide valuable network access.
3. Surge capacity rosters: OCHA maintains surge rosters for humanitarian affairs officers and information managers who can deploy rapidly to emergencies. Being on a roster is not a guaranteed position but creates regular short-term opportunities.
4. National Officer (NO) positions: if you are a national of a country with an OCHA presence, NO positions offer entry at a competitive grade.
Skills and Experience OCHA Values Most
- Humanitarian context experience: field deployments to active crises (conflict, natural disaster, displacement) are almost essential for coordination roles
- Information management: GIS (ArcGIS, QGIS), data visualisation, and Power BI skills are in extremely high demand
- Cluster coordination: having worked as a cluster co-coordinator or in a cluster lead agency significantly strengthens applications
- Language: French or Arabic in addition to English greatly expands your eligibility for OCHA positions
Where OCHA Jobs Are Posted
OCHA vacancies appear on inspira (the UN Secretariat's HR system), ReliefWeb, and DevProcure. Because OCHA is part of the UN Secretariat (not a separate agency), many of its positions are posted through the same system as other Secretariat bodies.
Set up a DevProcure alert filtered to OCHA or humanitarian coordination roles to receive matching vacancies as soon as they are posted.