UN Job Levels Explained: G-1 to USG — What Each Level Means
Every UN post is classified before it is advertised. This guide maps the G-1 to G-7, P-1 to P-5 and D-1 to D-2 grades, the ASG and USG levels above them, the National Officer category, and the non-staff NPSA, ICS, LICA, IICA and SC series.
Scan any UN vacancy list and the same pattern appears: a P-3 here, a G-6 there, an NO-B or a LICA-10 somewhere else. Those labels decide who can hold the post, how you are recruited and how you are paid.
The International Civil Service Commission (ICSC) sets the structure. Its Professional and higher categories comprise five Professional grades (P-1 to P-5), two Director levels (D-1 and D-2) and, in some organizations, Assistant Secretary-General and Under-Secretary-General. General Service is separate and paid locally.
General Service: What the G-1 to G-7 Grades Mean
The General Service (GS) category covers administrative, secretarial and clerical support, plus technical work such as printing, security and maintenance. These posts are locally recruited from the area where the office sits, and GS staff rarely move between duty stations. The education floor is secondary school, not a university degree.
The ladder runs G-1 to G-7, and published experience bands differ by agency:
- UNFPA: G2 2 years, G3 3, G4 4, G5 5, G6 6, G7 7.
- UNICEF: G-1 to G-4 one to four years, G-5 to G-6 five to six, G-7 seven or more.
Neither band is system-wide.
Professional Grades: What Do P-1 to P-5 Signify?
Professional posts are recruited internationally and, per the ICSC, require a university or professional background. Agencies normally expect an advanced degree.
- P-1 and P-2 — entry grades; UNHCR recruits its Junior Professional Officers at P-2.
- P-3 — established specialist working with limited supervision.
- P-4 — senior specialist; some posts supervise subordinate Professional and support staff.
- P-5 — lead level, adapting established standards and integrating a technical function organization-wide.
On years, the agencies disagree: UNFPA sets P-4 at 7 years, UNICEF at 8, and both put P-5 at 10. A 2026 UNFCCC P-3 post in Bonn asked for five years.
Director Level: What Changes at D-1 and D-2?
D-1 and D-2 are the Director levels, inside the Professional and higher categories, not a separate one. The change is managerial: UNFPA expects directors to manage a team, set priorities and allocate resources for a whole office or unit. The ladders are long — UNFPA puts D-1 at 15 years, UNICEF at 12 to 13.
Assistant Secretary-General and Under-Secretary-General
ASG and USG sit above D-2, and the ICSC notes these levels exist in some organizations and not others — where the equivalents are titled Assistant Director-General and Deputy Director-General. They are not filled through the ordinary vacancy process: the Secretary-General has discretionary authority to appoint senior leaders, and posts are advertised on the UN’s senior leadership page.
The National Officer Category Most Candidates Never Notice
National Professional Officers (NPOs) do professional work — the same substance as a P post — but they are recruited nationally, to a duty station in their own country, and their functions require national knowledge of institutions and systems. The ICSC describes them as performing work that cannot be carried out as effectively by internationally recruited staff.
Grades run NO-A to NO-D in most agencies: UNFPA sets NOB at 2 years, NOC at 5 and NOD at 7. UNICEF runs its ladder one rung higher, to NO-5 (NO-E).
NPSA, ICS, LICA, IICA and SC: The Non-Staff Series
Not every UN job is a staff job: alongside P, G and NO posts sit contract modalities with their own level numbers — but no UN post grade.
- NPSA: UNDP’s National Personnel Service Agreement — a service-based contract of 1 day to 1 year, levelled at grades such as NPSA-7 and NPSA-9.
- ICS: an individual contractor service. UNOPS publishes an ICS Level on its notices; WIPO states an ICS agreement is not a staff contract and carries no paid leave, insurance or pension.
- LICA and IICA: UNOPS’s local and international individual contractor agreements. A 2026 UNOPS notice for a Lead Engineer is advertised at LICA 10; UNHCR has posted roles at LICA-6 (GS 6).
- SC: the Service Contract, a non-staff modality UNDP uses only in country offices and regional centres outside headquarters.
"An assignment under a consultant or individual contractor contract does not carry with it a level or grade with respect to a United Nations salary scale." — ST/AI/2013/4, United Nations Secretariat
How Do You Work Out Which Level Fits You?
Start with the vacancy, not the ladder.
- Staff or non-staff first. P, G and NO are staff appointments; NPSA, ICS, LICA and SC are not.
- Local or international next. G is local support, NO is local professional, P and D are international.
- Read the Education and Work Experience sections. There is no system-wide years-per-grade rule.
- Check the category field, not the title. The same title at two agencies can sit at different grades.
When you are ready, browse every open vacancy and filter by grade, agency or duty station and compare the notices side by side — the level field shows fastest whether a role fits you.
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