United Nations Resident Coordinator Offices (UNRCO)

United Nations Resident Coordinator Offices (RCOs) support the Resident Coordinator, the most senior UN development official in a country, who leads the UN country team and coordinates UN support for the 2030 Agenda. Following General Assembly resolution 72/279, the function was separated from UNDP in 2019 and placed in the UN Secretariat, managed by the Development Coordination Office (DCO) in New York. Some 130 Resident Coordinators lead 132 offices serving 162 countries and territories.

RCO and DCO vacancies are advertised on the UN Careers portal (careers.un.org) as Secretariat posts. A typical office has five core professionals: a head of office, an economist, and officers for data and results, partnerships, and communications, alongside National Officers and support staff. Resident Coordinator posts themselves are open only to members of the RC Pool, reached through the Resident Coordinator Assessment Centre.

Resident Coordinator Office staff work on joint UN planning, economic and policy analysis, financing partnerships, data and results reporting, and strategic communications on behalf of the whole UN country team. Offices are small, so staff work closely with the Resident Coordinator, government counterparts and UN agencies. Posts are located in more than 130 country offices, with DCO roles in New York and regional hubs in Addis Ababa, Amman, Bangkok, Istanbul and Panama.