Sport Coordination Team Intern

Deadline for Applications

February 11, 2026

Hardship Level (not applicable for home-based)

H (no hardship)

Family Type (not applicable for home-based)

Family

Staff Member / Affiliate Type

Internship

Target Start Date

2025-11-13

Terms of Reference

Organizational context

UNHCR’s Partnership and Coordination Section (PCS) is responsible for ensuring UNHCR approaches partnerships in a strategic and coherent manner. The Service provides support to regional and country offices on relationships with UN agencies, NGOs, sport organizations, advocacy partners and others and ensures that UNHCR exercises effective field leadership and coordination in line with its mandate and agreed frameworks. Located in Geneva, PCS comprises the Sport Coordination Unit, the  Inter-Agency and Coordination Unit (IAC) and the NGO and Civil Society Unit.

The incumbent will be part of the Sport Coordination Unit, which works to provide guidance and support on the use of sport as a tool for protection and development in forced displacement situations, as well as identifying and nurturing sport partnerships and programme opportunities that benefit the people, children and youth in particular, that UNHCR works with and for.

The position:

UNHCR is looking for individuals with a wide range of skills and a strong interest in the mission of the organization to support our work. The incumbent will work under the overall responsibility of the Project Coordination Officer (Sport),

The incumbent’s tasks shall include, inter alia:

• To support the coordination of the FIFA Legacy Fund and FIFA Foundation projects
• To support the team in the continued roll-out and implementation of the UNHCR sport strategy
• To support the team’s outreach efforts and communication with existing and new sport partners including organizing meetings and producing minutes and briefing notes
• To support the Sport Coordination Team in its role as Co-convenor of the Sport for Refugees Coalition, following the launch of the Multistakeholder pledge on sport for Inclusion and Protection at the December 2023 Global Refugee Forum
• To conduct media monitoring and produce a weekly update on sports initiatives for /with refugees/displaced communities globally
• To update internal communication sites and support the knowledge sharing within the organization around sports
• To support the use of CRM tools such as Salesforce to manage the data and information around sport partners
• To produce other materials, as required, related to the sport for protection approach and the use of sport as a tool for protection
• To support the broader PCS team during meetings and events
• To undertake any other tasks as required

Essential minimum qualifications and professional experience required:

In order to be considered for an internship, candidates must meet the following criteria:

• Be a recent graduate (those persons who have completed their primary or master’s degree in the year immediately preceding application) or a current student in a graduate school programme from a university or higher education facility accredited by UNESCO;
• Have strong English language skills; any other language is an asset

Other essential criteria/ skills:

• Strong interest in the humanitarian cause
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Excellent communication skills - both orally and in writing
• Experience preparing briefs, presentations and communication materials
• Strong computer skills including a working knowledge of Microsoft Office 365,
• Research, analysis and information management skills
• Diplomacy
• Discretion
• Meticulous attention to detail
• Effective time management
• Strong organizational abilities

Candidates should also:

• Have a strong interest in sport for development and peace, communication and advocacy, humanitarian, development or external relations work
• Have an interest in issues related to child/youth development
• Have some experience with Photo/video editing tools, Adobe InDesign (or other graphics design software), Salesforce and/or an interest in learning new software packages as required

Please note that candidates who have immediate relatives (father, mother, son, daughter, brother or sister) working as staff members of UNHCR are not eligible.

Location

The successful candidate will be based with the team in the Geneva, Switzerland.

Conditions

The internship is for six months, and the start date is ASAP. It is a full-time role with working hours starting from 9.00am to 6:00pm Monday to Friday (40 hours per week) based in Geneva Switzerland.

To apply

Interested applicants should submit their application through Workday JR.
The UNHCR workforce consists of many diverse nationalities, cultures, languages and opinions. UNHCR seeks to sustain and strengthen this diversity to ensure equal opportunities as well as an inclusive working environment for its entire workforce. Applications are encouraged from all qualified candidates without distinction on grounds of race, colour, sex, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation and gender identity.

We welcome applications from candidates with a refugee background.

Other information

This position doesn't require a functional clearance

Remote

No