Job Description
Be at the heart of HR, ensuring seamless operations and providing vital support, expert guidance, and valuable services that empower our teams and strengthen partnerships.
The Barbados Country Office is designed as a strategic vehicle to support Caribbean nations in the implementation of the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for SIDS (ABAS), helping Caribbean leaders drive a global agenda on climate justice and financing.
The region, a complex archipelago of 13 sovereign states and numerous dependent territories, faces disproportionate vulnerabilities to economic shocks, natural disasters, and the accelerating impacts of climate change. In direct response to these challenges, UNOPS has designated operations in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) as a corporate priority for its 2026–2029 Strategic Plan.
The Barbados Country Office’s primary mandate is to Speed Up and Scale Up engagements across 17 Caribbean SIDS, ensuring that partner expectations are met with agility and precision. Through dedicated operational presence, UNOPS Barbados Country Office will streamline complex regional logistics and foster stronger collaboration with sovereign governments and financial institutions in the Caribbean.
The Barbados Country Office will focus on, high-value solutions that address the specific priorities of the Caribbean SIDS, including:
- Economy (Economic Resilience, Disaster Risk Reduction, Energy Transition)
- Nature and Climate (Climate Action and Support, Biodiversity Action, Ocean Conservation and Sustainable Use)
- Human Capital (Secure Safe and healthy societies, Productive populations, Gender equality and women’s empowerment)
- Infrastructure (Resilient infrastructure in Rule of Law, Health, Transportation, Education, etc.)
- Improve countries project management capabilities as well as implementation capacity and project formulation to access just finance.
The HR Associate administers and implements a wide range of HR plans and processes that support Office personnel. Serving as the primary point of contact for internal and external clients, the HR Associate provides timely guidance, information and support on HR procedures, services and initiatives, ensuring consistent and client-focused service delivery.
Policy Development and Implementation Support
- Collect, maintain, and continuously update data on workforce trends, risks, and opportunities to inform HR policy development and corporate initiatives.
- Support the rollout and implementation of HR strategies and initiatives aligned with corporate objectives.
- Generate workforce data and statistics to support planning, including personnel movement analysis.
- Communicate HR policy updates and new initiatives to management and personnel, offering clarification and guidance where needed
- HR Advice
- Provide guidance on HR systems and processes, including recruitment, contract administration, position management, performance management, and benefits and entitlements in line with UNOPS rules and procedures.
- Offer day-to-day advice to personnel on administrative processes and practices.
- Act as a liaison between HR and internal/ external clients, proactively facilitating access to information and services as authorized.
- Support a positive onboarding experience by ensuring the timely processing of onboarding documentation.
- Advise supervisors and hiring managers on recruitment procedures, performance management, learning initiatives, and approaches to managing underperformance.
- Support institutional gender and diversity efforts by advising on issues of equity, compliance, inclusion, and organizational values.
Talent Acquisition and Administration
- Contribute to all stages of the recruitment and selection process, including requisition creation, longlisting, testing, interviews, reference checks, approvals, offer/rejection communications, and HR system updates.
- Prepare and calculate fees for Individual Contractor Agreement (ICA) personnel.
- Advise UNOPS personnel, consultants, partners and project personnel on conditions of service and entitlements based on contract modality, ensuring a smooth and client-focused onboarding process.
- Maintain recruitment plans, rosters and tools to support effective workforce planning and retention.
- Coordinate with the Shared Services Centre (SSC) on personnel administration matters.
- Research policy precedents and support the HR Lead in addressing talent acquisition issues, considering any applicable exceptions.
- Submit transactional HR data in the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and other HR information systems, covering a range of functions including:
- Recruitment and selection, e.g. requisition initiation, approvals, offers/ rejections, etc.
- Contractual and position actions (e.g. appointments, extensions, separations, reclassifications, etc).
- Ensure completion of HR processes (e.g. absence requests, performance evaluations, etc) by following up with supervisors and supervisees.
- Establish and maintain tracking systems, alerting the HR Lead to pending actions and upcoming deadlines.
- Maintain accurate personnel files and reference records.
- Support or conduct payroll verification activities.
Knowledge Building and Sharing
- Support the organization, facilitation and delivery of training and learning sessions on HR topics.
- Participate in knowledge-sharing initiatives and Communities of Practice (CoPs), contributing insights and lessons learned from HR project implementation,
- Conduct research on HR-related topics and contribute to the drafting of reports, summaries and briefing notes.
