Atoms for Peace - The International Atomic Energy Agency
The IAEA is widely known as the world's "Atoms for Peace" organization within the United Nations family. Set up in 1957 as the world's centre for cooperation in the nuclear field, the Agency works with its Member States and multiple partners worldwide to promote the safe, secure and peaceful use of nuclear technologies.
The IAEA Secretariat — the international body of staff tasked with running the Agency — is made up of a team of some 2560 multidisciplinary professional and support staff from more than 100 countries. They come from scientific, technical, managerial and professional disciplines.
Most of these men and women work at Agency headquarters in Vienna, Austria. Others work at IAEA regional offices in Toronto and Tokyo; liaison offices in New York and Geneva; and research laboratories in Seibersdorf, Austria and Monaco. The organizational framework of the IAEA comprises six major departments: Management, Nuclear Sciences and Applications, Nuclear Energy,Nuclear Safety and Security, Technical Cooperation and Safeguards.
The work of staff in these departments is as diverse as the landscape of peaceful nuclear technologies. Safeguards inspectors and analysts check and verify the whereabouts of sensitive nuclear material. Technical officers run projects that help countries bring fresh water to cities and richer harvests to farmers' fields. Others help scientists to better understand and protect the environment, and some also help medical doctors to prevent and treat diseases. Nuclear experts, radiation specialists and engineers assist countries with meeting safety standards at nuclear plants, or to more safely manage and transport radioactive material.
There are also IAEA staff who work behind the scenes in a range of positions, such as computer specialists, book editors and publishers, translators and interpreters, communication professionals, accountants, financial experts and conference organizers. They work to keep systems running, constituencies informed and channels open for the valuable exchanges of information influencing the world's nuclear development.
The contributions of IAEA staff are multiple and varied. They underpin the Agency's important "atoms for peace" mission and, in turn, support efforts for international peace and development.
Working Toward Peace and Prosperity
The IAEA offers challenging assignments in a stimulating multicultural workplace. As international civil servants, staff members engage with current, meaningful issues of global peace, security and development. They are personally committed to the mission of the Agency, and their dedication is reflected in the lasting change that the IAEA's work makes around the world.
Focus on Gender
For many years, the United Nations has faced serious challenges in its efforts to achieve gender equality in staffing, and the IAEA is no exception.
In 2007, the IAEA and the IAEA Director General approved the Gender Equality Policy to work towards increasing the number of women in the IAEA's professional and higher categories and to implement gender mainstreaming into its programmes. In the last ten years, the percentage of women in these categories has increased from 18% to 24%, and we continue to search for and encourage women to consider employment with the IAEA.
We invite you to learn more about some of our efforts to recruit women at the IAEA, our family-friendly work environment and our resources for women.
Working at the IAEA
The IAEA is the world's centre of nuclear cooperation. Its mission is to assist governments in ensuring the safe and peaceful global development of nuclear energy and related technologies.
The IAEA has more than 2200 staff members from more than 100 countries with expertise in a variety of scientific, technical, managerial and professional disciplines. In terms of language skills, IAEA staff are typically multi-lingual. Agency business is usually conducted in English, but knowledge of other official languages (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, or Spanish) is an advantage. At Agency headquarters in Vienna, knowledge of German is an additional asset, both for professional contacts and for life outside of office hours.
Most IAEA staff members work at Agency headquarters in Vienna, Austria, with others working at the IAEA regional offices in Toronto and Tokyo, liaison offices in New York and Geneva, and research laboratories in Seibersdorf, Austria, and in Monaco.