Field Staff Counsellor

Org. Setting and Reporting

Administratively the incumbent is reported to the Director of Relief and Social Services (HQA) and Technically is reported to the Senior Programme Manager Staff Care (HQA)

Responsibilities

• With technical supervision from Staff Care team, work closely with the Field Offices in integrating staff care and wellbeing into field office workplans. • Provides Psychosocial Support during emergencies and Critical Incidents to groups and/or individual staff members and their dependents; This Psychosocial Support includes but is not limited to psycho-education, psychological first aid, family support and coordination of services for individual or group interventions; facilitates appropriate traumatic stress interventions, following a critical incident or traumatic event; recommends and arranges for individual and/or group follow up support to staff and their dependents. • Under the guidance of HQA, supports in responding to critical and security incidents by conducting assessment on the impact of the event, suggesting appropriate interventions with technical advice from staff care team; makes recommendations for follow-up or referral purposes; coordinates with Peer Helpers and the staff care team (HQ) to ensure the provision of adequate psychosocial support during emergencies and ongoing collaboration with all well-being stakeholders. • Supports in delivering field relevant psychoeducation materials, assists in implementation of resilience building programs in the field and aids in strengthening referral mechanism and mental health networks for seeking psychosocial support on ground; in line with Relief and Social Services (RSS) Staff Care Plan and the global mental health strategy plan; contributes to the development and implementation of training and educational materials and provides continuous psychosocial status and needs assessments; carries out briefing sessions on staff care and related issues and provides group support sessions for staff. • Provides inputs on stress mitigating strategies and activities to enhance the welfare, resilience, and wellbeing of UNRWA personnel; provides support and advice on healthy work environment and culture. • Collaborates on an area-level with Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) teams and focal points for an integrative approach with UNRWA staff whereby integrative framework is implemented to ensure culturally sensitive psychosocial support related symptoms or syndromes. • Maintains detailed records and data base of psychosocial activities and provides comprehensive reports on monthly basis or as required; provides statistics and trends analysis on issues related to staff wellbeing whilst maintaining confidentiality; prepares ad-hoc and special reports as required; captures lessons learnt and best practices and disseminates, as appropriate. • Supports in building capacities of peer support groups in collaboration with focal points based on established models and provides continuous guidance to the group coordinators on further capacity building initiatives. • Performs other duties as may be assigned by the supervisor and the director of the department.

Competencies

• Demonstrate UN Core Values of Professionalism, Integrity and Respect for Diversity and Core Competencies of Communication, Working with People and Drive for Results apply by default. • Ability to develop clear goals consistent with agreed strategies, capability to develop, monitor and adjust plans and actions as necessary. • Acts in accordance with the profession's ethics and values respects and promotes individual and cultural differences. • Ability to prepare, coordinate and conduct meetings and workshops. • Excellent communication, interpersonal and negotiation skills. • Ability to present data and information in a clear and constructive way; and • Ability to work under pressure.

Education

• A university degree from an accredited educational institution in Counselling Psychology, Clinical Psychology, Psychiatry, Clinical/ Psychiatric, Social Work or other Mental Health related profession. • Additional training or certification in traumatic / critical incident stress as well as a broad range of related fields, such as alcohol/substance abuse, family counselling, training, stress management is strongly desired. • Certification or country specific licensure authorizing the incumbent to deliver mental health services is mandatory.

Job - Specific Qualification

Not available.

Work Experience

It is required to have at least five years of relevant experience providing professional counselling services. It is required to have experience in management and/or coordination of mental health and psychosocial support programmes and activities, as well as experience in preparing and conducting relevant training in humanitarian settings, in a large governmental or international organization is an asset. It is required to have background on or familiarity with emergency or hardship duty station.

Languages

Excellent command of written and spoken Arabic. Command of spoken English is an asset.

Assessment

Evaluation of qualified candidates may include an assessment exercise which may be followed by competency-based interview.

Special Notice

Type of Contract: Limited Duration Contract (LDC), Band F. UNRWA internal candidates on LDC and FT should the selected candidate be on FT position, and subject to agreement between the releasing and receiving Departments/Field, that candidate may have a lien to their position for the duration of their contract. Duration of Contract: 6 months (renewable subject to availability of funds, performance and need). Grade & Salary: LDC- Band F monthly basic salary ranges ($ 1,731.80). Other Benefits: Other benefits include compulsory medical insurance, 30 days of annual leave pro-rated to the duration of the contract where less than one year, and family allowance (if applicable). Additional benefits: - 2.5 days of sick leave for each completed month of service. - Maternity Leave, upon meeting eligibility requirements. - 2 weeks paternity leave. upon meeting eligibility requirements. Desirable Qualifications • Master’s or a postgraduate qualification in relevant field. • Familiarity with the historical and geopolitical context of the region and specifically UNRWA mandate. • Experience in social work and case work interventions. • Training experience in a broad range of related fields, such as alcohol/substance abuse, Stress management, critical incident stress and cross-cultural communication. This vacancy notice is open to external and internal candidates on LDC and FT contracts. Only candidates residing in Gaza and within commuting distance of the duty station with authorization to work in the duty station at the time of application are eligible to apply. The Agency will not assume responsibility or accountability to support or facilitate the issuance of work permit in Jordan, and without a valid work permit, the appointment may be rescinded. Preference will be given to registered Palestine refugees and candidates assisting the Agency to meet its commitment to gender parity. UNRWA welcomes applications from qualified candidates with disabilities. A roster may be created from this selection exercise. Only applications that have been fully completed in UNRWA's online e-recruitment system Inspira will be considered and no late applications will be accepted. The PHP should be completed with full relevant work experience under the experience tabs as per the requirements in the Job Opening. All acquired university degrees must also be stated, if applicable. Applicants applying to positions for Grades 12 to 20 or LDC Bands E to H must submit a cover letter/motivational statement in order to be considered. Additionally, providing incorrect or misleading information on an application will result in the immediate disqualification of a candidate. For UNRWA internal staff, they are required to specify and include their current UNRWA grade level. To do so applicants should select under "Category" RLG, scroll down to see all categories, then select their local grade. Equivalency: Equivalency may apply for this post. NB: Work experience alone or formal qualifications with no relevant work experience are not considered an acceptable combination. Advertisements published only in English will only accept applications in English, and Arabic submissions will not be considered. The Agency may disqualify applicants whose name appears on the UN Sanctions List or a UN database of staff separated for reason of misconduct or of staff who separated whilst misconduct processes were pending. UNRWA shares investigation and misconduct information with other UN Agencies, and past and prospective employers, about staff members who have been separated for misconduct, or who have separated whilst an investigation and/or disciplinary process for misconduct is underway; and such persons may be prohibited from employment with the United Nations. The Agency will immediately disqualify applicants who are ineligible for any reason in accordance with the Agency regulatory framework. UNRWA is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions from UN member states, regional bodies, business foundations and individual contributions. The mission of UNRWA is to help Palestine refugees achieve their full potential in human development under the difficult circumstances in which they live. For more details on UNRWA, please visit: https://www.unrwa.org/

United Nations Considerations

Staff members are subject to the authority of the Commissioner-General of UNRWA and to assignment by him or her. UNRWA is committed to achieving gender parity at all levels of staffing under the current UN-wide gender agenda and strongly encourages applications from qualified applicants from under-represented groups. At UNRWA, the paramount consideration in the recruitment and employment of staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence and integrity, with due regard to geographic diversity. All employment decisions are made on the basis of qualifications and organizational needs. UNRWA is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. Reasonable accommodation for applicants with disabilities may be provided to support participation in the recruitment process when requested and indicated in the application. UNRWA Considerations UNRWA staff are expected to uphold the highest standards of efficiency, competence, neutrality, impartiality and integrity. This includes respect for and commitment to human rights, diversity and non-violent means of dealing with all kinds of conflict. Only persons who fully and unconditionally commit to these values should consider applying for UNRWA jobs. Candidates will not be considered for employment with UNRWA if they have committed violations of international human rights law, violations of international humanitarian law, sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, or sexual harassment, or if there are reasonable grounds to believe that they have been involved in the commission of any of these acts. Candidates who have committed crimes other than minor traffic offences may not be considered for employment. The Agency may disqualify applicants who have separated for reason of misconduct, who left a UN Agency while misconduct processes were pending, or who appear on the UN Sanctions List. UNRWA is a non-smoking work environment. Applicants are urged to follow carefully all instructions available in the online recruitment platform, inspira. For more detailed guidance, applicants may refer to the Manual for the Applicant, which can be accessed by clicking on “Manuals” hyper-link on the upper right side of the inspira account-holder homepage. The evaluation of applicants will be conducted on the basis of the information submitted in the application according to the evaluation criteria of the job opening and the applicable internal legislations of the United Nations including the Charter of the United Nations, resolutions of the General Assembly, the Staff Regulations and Rules, administrative issuances and guidelines. Applicants must provide complete and accurate information pertaining to their personal profile and qualifications according to the instructions provided in inspira to be considered for the current job opening. No amendment, addition, deletion, revision or modification shall be made to applications that have been submitted. Candidates under serious consideration for selection will be subject to reference checks to verify the information provided in the application. Job openings advertised on the Careers Portal will be removed at 11:59 p.m. (New York time) on the deadline date.

No Fee

THE UNITED NATIONS RELIEF AND WORKS AGENCY FOR PALESTINE REFUGEES IN THE NEAR EAST (UNRWA) DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE OR REQUEST MONEY FROM CANDIDATES AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT AND ONBOARDING PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING, ONBOARDING). UNRWA DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.