Staff Counsellor, NO-C, LAC Regional Office, Panama City, Panama #123559 (5 months Temp Appt)

Contract

This is a NO-3 contract. This kind of contract is known as National Professional Officers. It is normally only for nationals. It's a staff contract. More about NO-3 contracts.

This is a National Officer position, only nationals of Panama are eligible to apply. This is a 5 months Temporary Appointment that could be extended, subject to funding availability, organizational needs and satisfactory service.

UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

UNICEF promotes the rights and welfare of all children and adolescents in everything we do. Together with our allies, we work in 190 countries and territories to transform this commitment into practical actions that benefit all children, especially focusing our efforts on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded, worldwide.

For every child, hope The UNICEF Latin America and Caribbean Regional Office is based in in Panama, operating in 36 territories, including 24 country offices.

UNICEF works to put the rights and well-being of the most disadvantaged children at the heart of the social, political, and economic agenda, in line with our equity focus, working across our organization and with our partners in government, civil society and the private sector to support shifts in public policy, fuel social engagement, and increase investment for children.

For information of the work of our organization in the LAC Region, please visit our website: UNICEF LAC Region

How can you make a difference?

Purpose of the Job The UNICEF Staff Counsellor position is committed to the promotion of mental health and well-being with the goal of building the resilience of staff so that they can continue to function at high levels in order to meet the mandate of the organization. This is accomplished through the provision of counselling services to staff members and their dependents and by identifying and addressing psychological risk factors in the workplace.

Under the supervision of the Regional Director, the Staff Counsellor will develop and implement a wellbeing programme aimed at attending to the psychological needs of UNICEF staff and management in the LAC Region. The work will be done from the preventative perspective at the individual, team and organizational levels.

The Staff Counsellor will work in close coordination to provide support to staff and collaborate with Country Management Teams, HR, Staff Association, Peer Support Volunteers (PSVs), the UN Medical Clinic and other UN Staff and Stress Counsellors. This post is based in the Regional Office but with the regional remit and thus frequent field missions to the designated countries of coverage will be required.

Provide services to Regional Office, support ROMT, HR and Staff Association.

Key Functions, accountabilities and related duties/ tasks: 1. Psychosocial support: • Facilitate the provision of effective psychosocial support to managers and individual staff prioritizing emergency locations with the aim of mitigating stress and increasing resilience in staff and their dependents. • Provide a safe and confidential environment where staff members are able to address professional and personal problems related to mental health either individually or in groups (modality: assessment, short-term intervention, referral). • Provide online and in-person support and advice to the leadership and managers in offices on healthy work practices and approaches on how to effectively support staff and encourage resilience. Recommend suitable staff support strategies to managers during and following emergencies and other crises. • Deliver preventative psychoeducational programmes/training to address systemic issues and recurrent problems within teams and offices; develop and deliver tailored online and in-person workshops and webinars for staff in different Country Offices, raise awareness on common mental health themes and act as an advocate for anti-stigma programming. • Provide pre/post-deployment briefings to new staff in high risk or emergency locations. • Develop a creative system to build a network of external mental health providers available to provide services to staff. • Coordinate the Peer Support Volunteer (PSV) Programme for the country offices and help organize the PSV retreat.

2. Provide Critical Incident Stress Management to groups and/or individual staff following critical incidents. A holistic approach to critical incident management is used and may include services such as practical support, psychoeducation, psychological first aid, strategic advice to leadership, family support and individual or group interventions. The Staff Counsellor will be responsible for: • Contacting the affected staff member(s) and offering information about typical stress reactions, support and referral information. • Facilitating appropriate traumatic stress interventions, following a critical incident or traumatic event. • Recommending and arranging for individual and/or group follow-up support to staff and their dependents. • Regular follow-up contact and visits to staff in field offices. • Coordination with UNDSS counsellors, agency counsellors and PSVs, to ensure the provision of adequate psychosocial support during emergencies.

3. Monitoring and oversight: • Providing on a regular basis statistics and trends on issues related to staff well-being, whilst maintaining confidentiality. Alert the Regional Staff Counsellor on issues that need follow up and medical intervention. Provide Support to PSV when they face a demanding situation that require expert intervention. • Provide input and support to HR in Country Offices for the development of their wellbeing plans.

4. Other It is expected that the professional applies a Gender Perspective and Human Rights-Based approach in their interventions. The integration of a DEI (Diversity, equity and inclusion) approach is key for the performance of this role.

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have… Education: -Master’s degree in counselling, clinical psychology, or organizational psychology. -Additional training or certification in staff support and traumatic / critical incident stress as well as a broad range of related fields, such as alcohol/substance abuse, family counselling, training, and stress management. -Certification or country-specific licensure authorizing the incumbent to deliver mental health services.

Experience: -A minimum of five years of professional experience in psychological counselling, organizational psychology. Additional training experience in a broad range of related fields, such as stress management, counselling techniques, critical incident stress and cross-cultural communication, and mindfulness, would be an asset. -Applicants with international experience will have an advantage. -Well-developed communication, leadership, and team building proven skills. -Background on or familiarity with emergency or hardship duty stations is desirable. -Experience in the United Nations System is desirable, and experience with UNICEF will be a strong asset. -Knowledge of the regional trends and culture is an asset. -Experience working in a diverse, multicultural environment will be an asset.

Language Requirements: Fluency in English and Spanish is required. Working knowledge of French or Portuguese will be an asset.

For every Child, you demonstrate... UNICEF’s Core Values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust and Accountability and Sustainability (CRITAS) underpin everything we do and how we do it. Get acquainted with Our Values Charter: UNICEF Values

UNICEF competencies required for this post are… Builds and maintains partnerships, Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness, Drive to achieve results for impact, Innovates and embraces change, Manages ambiguity and complexity, Thinks and acts strategically, Works collaboratively with others, and Nurtures, leads and manages people.

During the recruitment process, we test candidates following the competency framework. Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels: competency framework here.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

We offer a wide range of benefits to our staff, including paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF is committed to promote the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

Remarks: UNICEF’s active commitment towards diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children. For this position, eligible and suitable male and female candidates are encouraged to apply.

Mobility is a condition of international professional employment with UNICEF and an underlying premise of the international civil service.

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance. Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station, which will be facilitated by UNICEF, is required for IP positions. Appointments are also subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Government employees that are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government before taking up an assignment with UNICEF. UNICEF reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment, without compensation, if a visa or medical clearance is not obtained, or necessary inoculation requirements are not met, within a reasonable period for any reason.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.