Security and Safety Specialist, Nairobi, Kenya, P3 TA

Role Overview

This role sits within UN Women’s security team and provides dedicated backstopping coverage for the Africa region under the direction of the acting Deputy Global Security Advisor. The specialist advises and supports headquarters, regional, multi-country, and country offices, along with UN Women security field personnel, to help them meet their security and safety responsibilities. In practice, this means monitoring threats, reviewing security risk measures, guiding offices through compliance systems, coordinating security plans, and connecting field teams with the wider UN security community—all so that UN Women personnel, assets, and programmes across Africa remain protected and operational.

The position is a temporary appointment based in Nairobi, Kenya, running through 30 November 2026, with mission travel expected within the coverage area and internationally as needed.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide security guidance and operational approvals: Offer accurate, timely security advice to Country, Multi-Country, and Regional Offices, interpret UN and UN Women security policies, and approve organisational missions while tracking emerging threats and their impact on personnel, premises, and programme design.
• Oversee security assessments and residential measures: Conduct substantive reviews of security situations at duty stations, assess UN Women premises and equipment, and provide recommendations on risk management, including Residential Security Measures for staff residences and advice on current threats and safety trends.
• Engage with the security community: Liaise with host government authorities, military and police officials, UN entities, NGOs, and other actors; participate in security management meetings such as the SMT, UNCT, and OMT; and represent UN Women in working groups, conferences, and training sessions as directed by the Global Security Adviser.
• Manage security information and communication: Collect and verify security information, update the security intranet portal, disseminate analytical products and security advisories to personnel, maintain a security network, and establish warden systems or communication trees where applicable.
• Develop and implement security plans: Oversee the UN Women Security Plan in line with the UN Security Plan, maintain personnel lists, support the preparation and review of plans, advise on security equipment purchasing, submit clearance/movement requests, and keep the Global Premises Directory current.
• Monitor compliance with Security Risk Management Measures (SRMM): Compile data for SRMM self-assessments and the UN Security and Safety Compliance Survey (SSCS), advise Security Focal Points on SSCS completion and Security and Safety Compliance Action Plans, and ensure organisational risk acceptance is reflected in policies and protocols.
• Report incidents and provide inputs: Collate information for incident reports, SRM assessments, country briefings, and position papers, and contribute timely written reports from the field to the UN Security Management System.
• Develop and deliver training: Participate in UNSMS training development, create UN Women-specific security training, orient new personnel, deliver briefings and mainstreaming sessions on security, business continuity, and occupational health and safety, and provide specialised training as guided by the Global Security Adviser.

Requirements & Qualifications

• Education: Advanced university degree (Master’s or equivalent) in security management, business administration, political/social science, psychology, international relations, or a related field, OR a first-level university degree combined with two additional years of qualifying experience. A senior Command and Staff College qualification with command experience from the UN, military, or police may also be accepted in lieu of the advanced degree.
• Experience: At least 5 years of progressively responsible experience in security, with a minimum of 2 years at the international level across country, regional, or global contexts.
• Risk assessment experience: Demonstrated experience conducting security and safety risk assessments as part of operational planning and enabling operations.
• Desirable experience: Exposure to disaster or conflict operations, implementation of business continuity programmes, regional/global security roles, and familiarity with the United Nations Security Management System.
• Languages: Fluency in English is required; working knowledge of another official UN language—preferably French, Arabic, Chinese, Russian, or Spanish—is desirable.
• Core competencies: Integrity, professionalism, respect for diversity, gender sensitivity, accountability, creative problem solving, effective communication, inclusive collaboration, stakeholder engagement, and the ability to lead by example.
• Functional skills: Strong analytical and interpersonal abilities, client focus, capacity to plan and deliver under pressure, competence in crisis and stressful environments, and the ability to present information clearly and build effective partnerships at all levels.

What We Offer / Why Join

This temporary appointment offers the chance to act as a key security enabler for UN Women’s work across Africa, shaping how offices prepare for and respond to risk while remaining mission-focused. You will work closely with country, regional, and global security colleagues, participate in high-level UN security coordination forums, and contribute to the safety of personnel operating in complex environments. This is an opportunity to apply senior-level security expertise in a multicultural, gender-focused organisation where effective risk management directly supports programme delivery.