Private Partnerships and Philanthropy Assistant

Host entity: UNHCR CHN

Volunteer type: National

Areas of expertise: Knowledge management, research, reporting, Humanitarian affairs, protection, Communication, advocacy, public information

Application deadline: 11/10/2026

Mission and objectives

Our primary purpose at UNHCR is to safeguard the rights and well-being of people who have been forced to flee. Together with partners and communities, we work to ensure that everybody has the right to seek asylum and find safe refuge in another country. We also strive to secure lasting solutions. For over half a century, UNHCR has helped millions of people to restart their lives. They include refugees, returnees, stateless people, the internally displaced and asylum-seekers. Our protection, shelter, health and education has been crucial, healing broken pasts and building brighter futures.

Assignment context

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was established on December 14, 1950, by the United Nations General Assembly. The organisation is mandated to provide protection (including assistance) and seek durable solutions for millions of refugees and other displaced populations around the world. The UNHCR Office in China was established in 1979. China has been party to the 1951 Convention and 1967 Protocol since 1982, but has yet to establish a national asylum system.

This United Nations Volunteers (UNV) assignment is part of the Private Sector Partnerships (PSP) work of the UNHCR Office in China, which sits within UNHCR’s Division of External Relations and is responsible for mobilizing resources and other forms of support from the private sector. Since 2019, the UNHCR China Office has strengthened its engagement with the Chinese private sector through its PSP team, focusing on partnerships with corporations, foundations, high-net-worth individuals and the general public to support UNHCR’s global work.

The UN Volunteer will support the PSP team by conducting desk research on corporate and high-net-worth individual partnership opportunities, contributing to partner mapping, background analysis, outreach preparation and resource mobilization efforts.

Task description

Under the supervision of the Associate PPH Officer, UNHCR China, the UN Volunteer will:

• Focus on researching companies, business leaders, foundations and high-net-worth individuals, with attention to their industry background, business priorities, corporate social responsibility interests, philanthropic preferences, giving history and potential alignment with UNHCR’s work.
• Support UNHCR China’s Private Sector Partnerships team by conducting desk research to identify and assess potential corporate partners and private philanthropy prospects.
• Prepare concise profiles, sector scans, prospect summaries and briefing notes to help the team understand partnership opportunities and tailor outreach approaches.
• Assist in tracking market and philanthropy trends, mapping key industries and business networks, monitoring public information on potential supporters, and maintaining organized research records to support corporate engagement, private philanthropy outreach and resource mobilization efforts.
• Perform other duties as assigned by the supervisor.

Skills and experience

Minimum requirements include:
• Fluency in English is required, and knowledge of Chinese is required or strongly preferred for researching Chinese-language public information.• Strong desk research, analytical and writing skills, with the ability to collect, organize and synthesize information from publicly available sources.
• Good understanding of business, corporate social responsibility, philanthropy, social impact or private sector engagement.
• Able to research and profile companies, foundations, business leaders and high-net-worth individuals, including their industry background, business interests, giving priorities and potential alignment with humanitarian causes.
• Good organizational skills, attention to detail.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office, especially Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
• Ability to prepare clear research summaries, prospect profiles, briefing notes and sector overviews are required.


Additional assets include:
• Previous experience or academic exposure in business research, market research, fundraising, corporate partnerships, philanthropy, communications, international development, humanitarian affairs or nonprofit work.
• Familiarity with China’s corporate sector, philanthropy landscape, foundations, business networks, high-net-worth individual giving trends, research databases, company information platforms or CRM systems would be an advantage.
• Prior experience with the United Nations, international organizations, NGOs or private sector partnership work is desirable but not required.

Competencies and values

• Accountability
• Adaptability and flexibility
• Creativity
• Judgement and decision-making
• Planning and organising
• Professionalism
• Self-management

Living conditions

The duty station of the national UN Volunteer is located in Beijing. The volunteer will receive a standard volunteer living allowance (VLA) as well as other entitlements. You can check full entitlements at the duty station at https://app.unv.org/calculator.

The complete UN Volunteer Conditions of Service is available at https://explore.unv.org/cos.

As this is a national UN Volunteer assignment, the UN Volunteer will be responsible for arranging his/her own housing and other living essentials.

Full eligibility requirements, conditions of service and application instructions are available on the official UNV platform.