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UNICEF works in over 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, defend their rights, and help them fulfill their potential, from early childhood through adolescence.

At UNICEF, we are committed, passionate, and proud of what we do. Promoting the rights of every child is not just a job – it is a calling.

UNICEF is a place where careers are built: we offer our staff diverse opportunities for personal and professional development that will help them develop a fulfilling career while delivering on a rewarding mission. We pride ourselves on a culture that helps staff thrive, coupled with an attractive compensation and benefits package.

Visit our website to learn more about what we do at UNICEF.

For every child, Hope

The post is based in the Regional Office for Middle East and North Africa (MENARO) based in Amman and reports to the Regional Staff Counsellor with a non-negotiable condition for travel to Gaza and other Level 3 Emergencies locations.  The Staff Counsellor will implement and contribute to a resiliency and stress management programme aimed at attending to the psychological needs of UNICEF staff in Gaza and Level 3 Emergencies.  The work will be carried out from the preventive and curative perspective at the individual, team, and organizational levels.

How can you make a difference?

The main objective of this role is to provide psychosocial and counseling skills to staff and mitigate the impact of complex trauma and chronic stress on staff and families. This will be a roving post in a Level 3 Emergencies providing tools on trauma and stress regulation skills, conducting individual, group, family sessions, and raising psycho education awareness on how stress impacts the mind, body and brain. The roving emergency staff counselor will provide critical incident support, work closely with both field and country office managers to help design a trauma informed organizational approach for enabling staff to continue serving children in need. 

Key accountabilities and duties:

1. Under the guidance of the Regional Staff Counsellor and in collaboration with the Country Management Team and HR, facilitate the development, implementation of a Stress and Trauma Informed Management Programme addressing the psychosocial needs identified with an aim of improving Staff Well-Being in the Level 3 emergency Countries and Feld offices.  This includes: 

• Assisting in developing the programme framework; 
• Developing strategies for implementing the framework; 
• Monitoring the impact of the framework on the country and field level; 
• Lobbying and providing input for improvement.  

2. Facilitate the provision of effective psycho-social support to staff leadership, managers and individual staff prioritizing emergency locations with the aim to mitigating trauma and stress and boost protective factors by: 

• Providing support and advice to the leadership and managers in offices on trauma informed approaches and healthy work practices. These approaches will focus on how to effectively support staff during, and after critical incidents and protracted crisis. Recommend suitable staff support resiliency strategies to managers during and following emergencies and other crises. 
• Providing staff with individual and/or group counselling as needed (i.e. assessment, short-term intervention, referral); 
• Contributing to identification of creative ways of building a network of external mental health providers available to provide services to staff. 
• Coordinate with UNDSS, sister UN agencies, MENA counsellors and PSVs, to ensure the provision of adequate psychosocial support during emergencies. 
• Assess and monitor psycho-social needs and issues affecting the wellbeing of staff. 
• Design and provide training and awareness raising activities for staff and managers on trauma and stress informed approaches, as well as strengthening healthy workplace practices to the extent possible. 

3. 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, mental health 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 psycho education information about typical stress and trauma reactions, support- and referral information. 
• Facilitating appropriate acute and complex 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 remote support and extended visits to staff in the Level 3 Emergencies. 
• Provide pre, transitional and post-deployment briefings for new staff. 

4. Monitoring and oversight:  

• Providing on a regular basis statistics and trends on issues related to staff well-being, whilst maintaining  confidentiality. Alert the Senior Management on trends that may be of concern in offices or offices requiring targeted support or Managerial intervention. Capture lessons learnt and best practices for dissemination as appropriate. 

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

Minimum requirements:

• Education: An advanced university degree is required in counselling, clinical psychology or a field related to mental health. Additional training or certification in Trauma and Stress Management is an added advantage.
• Work Experience: A minimum of five years of work experience in staff support, mental health, cross-cultural communications, counselling and related areas preferably gained within the UN system or international development/humanitarian aid sector.
• Language Requirements: Fluency in English and Arabic is required.

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:

• Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness
• Works Collaboratively with others
• Builds and Maintains Partnerships
• Innovates and Embraces Change
• Thinks and Acts Strategically
• Drive to achieve impactful results
• Manages ambiguity and complexity

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious or ethnic background, and persons with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization. To create a more inclusive workplace, UNICEF offers paid parental leave, breastfeeding breaks, and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. UNICEF strongly encourages the use of flexible working arrangements. Click here to learn more about flexible work arrangements, well-being, and benefits.

According to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), persons with disabilities include those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory impairments which, in interaction with various barriers, may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others. In its Disability Inclusion Policy and Strategy 2022-2030, UNICEF has committed to increase the number of employees with disabilities by 2030. At UNICEF, we provide reasonable accommodation for work-related support requirements of candidates and employees with disabilities. Also, UNICEF has launched a Global Accessibility Helpdesk to strengthen physical and digital accessibility. If you are an applicant with a disability who needs digital accessibility support in completing the online application, please submit your request through the accessibility email button on the UNICEF Careers webpage Accessibility | UNICEF.

UNICEF does not hire candidates who are married to children (persons under 18). 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 based on gender, nationality, age, race, sexual orientation, religious or ethnic background or disabilities. 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, and selected candidates with disabilities may be requested to submit supporting documentation in relation to their disability confidentially.

UNICEF appointments are subject to medical clearance.  Issuance of a visa by the host country of the duty station is required for IP positions and will be facilitated by UNICEF. Appointments may also be subject to inoculation (vaccination) requirements, including against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid). Should you be selected for a position with UNICEF, you either must be inoculated as required or receive a medical exemption from the relevant department of the UN. Otherwise, the selection will be canceled.

Remarks:

As per Article 101, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, the paramount consideration in the employment of the staff is the necessity of securing the highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity.

UNICEF’s active commitment to diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children.

Government employees who are considered for employment with UNICEF are normally required to resign from their government positions 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. 

UNICEF does not charge a processing fee at any stage of its recruitment, selection, and hiring processes (i.e., application stage, interview stage, validation stage, or appointment and training). UNICEF will not ask for applicants’ bank account information.

All UNICEF positions are advertised, and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process. An internal candidate performing at the level of the post in the relevant functional area, or an internal/external candidate in the corresponding Talent Group, may be selected, if suitable for the post, without assessment of other candidates.

Additional information about working for UNICEF can be found here.