Call Centre Associate

December 21, 2025

B

FamilyFamily

GS6

General Service

Reason

Regular > Regular Assignment

2026-01-01

Call Centre Associate

Organizational Setting and Work Relationships

The Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was established in 1950 by the United Nations General Assembly. The agency is mandated to provide protection, assistance and seek durable solutions for refugees and stateless persons. UNHCR has also been involved under certain circumstances in enhancing protection and providing humanitarian assistance to internally displaced persons.

The Call Centre Associate will support the Call Centre staff ensuring the Call Centre functions effectively, producing daily, weekly, and monthly reports on the implementation of the Call Centre, ensuring the team is fully up to date on available services and assistance, scheduling appointments, providing general information to Persons of Concern (PoCs) on assistance and services available, answering questions of PoCs on the status of their cases, and referring cases with protection emergencies to the relevant staff member/unit. S/he may also assist occasionally in face-to-face counselling with refugees at the UNHCR Reception Centre.

The Call Centre Associate normally reports to a more senior Protection colleague. The incumbent will provide counselling to individuals by telephone. The incumbent may conduct initial protection interviews. The role involves drafting comments and documents about the interview.

All UNHCR staff members are accountable to perform their duties as reflected in their job description. They do so within their delegated authorities, in line with the regulatory framework of UNHCR which includes the UN Charter, UN Staff Regulations and Rules, UNHCR Policies and Administrative Instructions as well as relevant accountability frameworks. In addition, staff members are required to discharge their responsibilities in a manner consistent with the core, functional, cross-functional and managerial competencies and UNHCR’s core values of professionalism, integrity and respect for diversity.

Duties

• Oversee the UNHCR Call Centre staff and operations.

• Ensure Call Centre staff respond to the calls in a kind, helpful, and professional manner.

• Remain abreast of all information and updates on assistance and services to refugees. Liaise with relevant units – protection, registration, field, mass information, etc. to receive updates, organize briefings for Helpline staff, and ensure information being provided by the Call Centre is accurate and up-to-date.

• Compile and report on trends emerging from the Call Centre – including concerns, frustrations, and information coming from refugees.

• Generate daily, weekly and monthly reports on the number of calls received, average waiting time, number of referrals made, etc.

• Observe and listen to Call Centre staff for quality control purposes.

• Liaise closely with colleagues to ensure the most effective operation of the Call Centre.

• Utilize UNHCR tools to enable refugees to make appointments at the reception centre, update bio-data, etc.

• Refer cases to protection colleagues for assistance, as needed.

• Answer and respond immediately to emergency calls received on the Call Centre, including collecting relevant information and forwarding to the appropriate colleague for assistance.

• Provide basic counselling to refugees.

• Make outbound calls to refugees as needed to schedule appointments, collect information, participate in emerging exercises, etc.

• Provide face to face counselling and information dissemination periodically at the UNHCR reception centre.

• Compile and enter the statistical data into the protection database.

• Support the identification and management of risks and seek to seize opportunities impacting objectives in the area of responsibility. Ensure decision making in risk based in the functional area of work. Raise risks, issues and concerns to a supervisor or to relevant functional colleague(s).

• Perform other related duties as required.

Minimum Qualifications

Education & Professional Work Experience

Years of Experience / Degree Level

For G6 - 3 years relevant experience with High School Diploma; or 2 years relevant work experience with Bachelor or equivalent or higher

Field(s) of Education

Not applicable.

Certificates and/or Licenses

Not specified.

(Certificates and Licenses marked with an asterisk* are essential)

Relevant Job Experience

Essential

Relevant professional job experience. Ability to work with people from different cultural backgrounds.

Desirable

Work experience with UNHCR is an advantage. Completion of UNHCR's related learning activities is an advantage.

Functional Skills

IT-Computer Literacy

CO-Drafting, Documentation,

DM-Data interpretation, reporting and presentation

CO-Cross-cultural communication

(Functional Skills marked with an asterisk* are essential)

Language Requirements

For International Professional and Field Service jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English.

For National Professional jobs: Knowledge of English and UN working language of the duty station if not English and local language.

For General Service jobs: Knowledge of English and/or UN working language of the duty station if not English.

Competency Requirements

All jobs at UNHCR require six core competencies and may also require managerial competencies and/or cross-functional competencies. The six core competencies are listed below.

Core Competencies

Accountability

Communication

Organizational Awareness

Teamwork & Collaboration

Commitment to Continuous Learning

Client & Result Orientation

Managerial Competencies

Empowering and Building Trust

Judgement and Decision Making

Managing Performance

Cross-Functional Competencies

Technological Awareness

Planning and Organizing

Analytical Thinking

All UNHCR workforce members must individually and collectively, contribute towards a working environment where each person feels safe, and empowered to perform their duties. This includes by demonstrating no tolerance for sexual exploitation and abuse, harassment including sexual harassment, sexism, gender inequality, discrimination, and abuse of power.

As individuals and as managers, all must be proactive in preventing and responding to inappropriate conduct, support ongoing dialogue on these matters and speaking up and seeking guidance and support from relevant UNHCR resources when these issues arise.

This is a Standard Job Description for all UNHCR jobs with this job title and grade level. The Operational Context may contain additional essential and/or desirable qualifications relating to the specific operation and/or position. Any such requirements are incorporated by reference in this Job Description and will be considered for the screening, shortlisting and selection of candidates.

Demonstrated experience working with UNHCR PRIMES tools (mainly proGres V4 and Kobo).

Practical experience in Communication with Communities (CwC) particularly managing and monitoring two-way communication channels such as helplines community feedback systems, Reception, and information desks.

Experience supervising teams in high-volume clients within humanitarian or refugee settings.

Knowledge of protection principles, including confidentiality, informed consent, and safe communication with vulnerable individuals and AAP principles and demonstrated capacity to provide capacitation.

Capacity to analyze data and propose timely remedial actions for improvement as needed.

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Operational context

Occupational Safety and Health Considerations:

To view occupational safety and health considerations for this duty station, please visit this link: https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel

Nature of Position:

The Helpline Manager functions within the country office Protection unit of UNHCR Iran. Under the direct supervision of the Associate Registration and Identity Management Officer, the incumbent plays a critical role in ensuring timely, accurate, and protection-sensitive communication with persons falling under UNHCR mandate across the country.

 

Iran hosts one of the largest refugee populations globally, with significant operational demands for protection intervention and assistance delivery. In this context, the UNHCR Helpline serves as an important communication channel, providing forcibly displaced persons calling UNHCR  with up-to-date publicly available information. The Helpline Manager ensures that the helpline functions as an effective accountability and feedback mechanism aligned with UNHCR’s global standards on Protection, AAP (Accountability to Affected People), and data protection.

 

The incumbent oversees the day-to-day work of the Helpline Operators, providing technical guidance, quality assurance, and performance management. S/he ensures that operators deliver consistent, protection-sensitive, and culturally appropriate communication in line with UNHCR policies, standard operating procedures (SOPs), and UNHCR’s communication with community (CWC) workflows. The post requires close coordination with other units  and field offices to ensure timely identification and referral of most vulnerable or urgent cases, and effective monitoring of trends and feedback received through the helpline. S/he contributes to analysis of helpline data to support operational planning, detect emerging issues, and strengthen accountability and communication strategies.

 

Given the sensitivity of personal information handled through helpline interactions, the incumbent ensures strict adherence to data protection principles and confidentiality standards as well as quality and accuracy of calls. S/he fosters an environment of professionalism, empathy, and respect within the helpline team, promoting continuous learning and service improvement.

Living and Working Conditions:

Additional Qualifications

Skills

CO-Cross-cultural communication, CO-Drafting and Documentation, DM-Data interpretation, reporting and presentation, IT-Computer Literacy

Certifications

Competencies

Accountability, Analytical thinking, Client & results orientation, Commitment to continuous learning, Communication, Empowering & building trust, Judgement & decision making, Managing performance, Organizational awareness, Planning & organizing, Teamwork & collaboration, Technological awareness

https://icsc.un.org/Home/SalaryScales

Compendium

Additional Information

This position doesn't require a functional clearance