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, protection

UNICEF in the State of Palestine (SoP) works to uphold the rights of children to access services and protection, from early childhood through to adolescence. Our objective is to ensure that every child in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, irrespective of background or circumstance, has an equal chance to fulfil their potential.

In the past years, UNICEF in the State of Palestine has achieved a high reach and engagement through its communication channels. UNICEF-SoP would like to build on this and continue engaging with our audience, who are not only seek information but are willing to have important conversations on crucial issues concerning children’s wellbeing and rights. 

How can you make a difference?

Under the supervision of the Human Resources Manager and the technical guidance of the UNICEF Regional Counsellor, the Staff Counsellor will develop and implement a stress management programme aimed at attending to the psychological needs of UNICEF staff management in the State of Palestine, with a focus on Gaza Field Office.  The work will be done from the preventive and curative perspective at the individual, team and organizational levels.

The main objective of the stress management programme is to mitigate the impact of chronic stress on staff, to raise awareness about trauma, stress and stress management, to facilitate the provision of assistance to staff/family experiencing trauma and/or work related and/or personal problems, to facilitate the provision of immediate support following a traumatic incident, to promote social support and other strategies aimed at improving the overall well-being of UNICEF staff in the State of Palestine.

The Staff Counsellor will work in close coordination with Country Management Teams, Emergency Coordinators, HR, Staff Association, Peer Support Volunteers (PSVs), the UN Medical Clinic and UN Staff Counsellors. Frequent missions to Jerusalem and the West Bank are required. While the critical need is for a staff counsellor who will be based in Gaza, they will also provide support to Sudan and other offices in the Region. The multi-country approach will allow the incumbent appointed to travel in and out of Gaza, including to Sudan and the Regional Office in Amman, Jordan.

Your key functions/accountabilities

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 Management Programme addressing the psychosocial needs identified with an aim of improving Staff Well-Being in the State of Palestine.

This includes:

- Assisting in developing the programme framework;

- Developing strategies for implementing the framework;

- Monitoring the impact of the framework on the country 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 stress and boost protective factors by:

- Providing 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.

- 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.

- Coordinating the Peer Support Volunteers (PSVs) Programme for State of Palestine office.

- Coordinate with UNDSS, agency 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 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, psycho-education, 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 reaching out and visits to staff in the State of Palestine.

- Provide pre and post-deployment briefings/debriefings to 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 HR Manager and 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…

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.

Experience:

- At least 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 Requirement:

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

The UNICEF competencies required for this post are…

(1) Builds and maintains partnerships (2) Demonstrates self-awareness and ethical awareness (3) Drive to achieve results for impact (4) Innovates and embraces change (5) Manages ambiguity and complexity (6) Thinks and acts strategically (7) Works collaboratively with others (8) Nurtures, leads and manages people.

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

UNICEF reserves the right to conduct further vetting/assessment within the scope of child safeguarding as appropriate. 

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 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. UNICEF is committed to promoting the protection and safeguarding of all children. All selected candidates will 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.

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:

Special Remarks: In the current evolving emergency context, this position will be based in Gaza where medical facilities have been negatively affected and individual chronic and/or serious medical conditions cannot be adequately addressed.

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. For this position, eligible and suitable 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.

This is required for all posts requiring a higher education degree. “UNICEF only considers higher educational qualifications obtained from an institution accredited/recognized in the World Higher Education Database (WHED), a list updated by the International Association of Universities (IAU) / United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The list can be accessed at http://www.whed.net/

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

The VA is open to all (internal and external candidates)

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.