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 

UNICEF Syria was established in 1970 and has been working with partners to help empower children to fully claim and enjoy their rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Syria continues to face one of the most complex emergencies in the world. Unprecedented humanitarian needs are compounded by displacement inside the country and across its borders, extensive destruction of civilian and social services infrastructure, devastating impacts on the economy, and most importantly, the breakdown of the social fabric that stitched the country together for decades.

With the strong presence on the ground and partnerships with local communities and organizations across multiple sectors, UNICEF aims to reach more children and families. Upholding the humanitarian principles, UNICEF supports integrated, multi-sectoral programming and continues to improve sustained, equitable and safe access to critical basic services in areas where the needs are the highest.

UNICEF aims to reach children no matter where they are or live. UNICEF has field offices in Aleppo, Deir ez-Zor, Homs, Qamishli and Tartous.

For information on the work of UNICEF, please visit UNICEF Syria.

 

Background on the Assignment:

UNICEF Syria recognizes the growing need for accessible, in-person mental health support for its staff. Recent assessments have highlighted ongoing challenges related to stress, work-life balance, and emotional well-being. To address these needs, the office is seeking qualified psychologists to provide timely, confidential, and effective mental health services across its field locations.

How can you make a difference? 

UNICEF Syria Country Office is soliciting proposals from qualified individuals with relevant qualifications and experience in individual and group counseling, and psychosocial support; the establishment of contracts with national consultants will ensure providing consistent access to a variety of resources for staff members to seek professional and efficient wellbeing support, through providing easy access to confidential counselling services, as well as conducting regular wellbeing interventions.

 

MAJOR TASKS TO BE ACCOMPLISHED: 

• Provide individual and group professional counselling sessions.
• Design and deliver mental health and wellbeing workshops/sessions/interventions such as understanding and managing Stress, trauma and resilience, as per the emerging needs and requirement of offices.
• Design wellbeing plan for the country office and field offices based on the context, and in collaboration with the different stakeholders in each office.

 

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

 

Academic qualifications:

•    An advanced university degree (Master’s or higher) in clinical psychology, organizational psychology, psychiatry, counselling, clinical social work or related mental health profession.

•    Additional training or certification in staff support and traumatic/critical incident stress as well as a broad range of related fields, such as Employee Assistance Program, alcohol/substance abuse, family counselling, coaching, stress management, trauma management, secondary trauma is desired.

 

Work experience / Technical competencies:

•    A minimum of five (5) years of professional experience in staff support, human behavior, and performance, learning and motivation; psychological research methods, assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders, cross-cultural communications and training, and related areas, preferably gained within the UN system or international development/humanitarian aid sector.

•    Demonstrates experience with emergency context, and knowledge of the wellbeing challenges in country.

 

Competencies:

•    Communication with impact, confidentiality, people oriented.

•    Demonstrated cultural sensitivity and ability to work in a multicultural environment

 

Language requirement:

• Fluency in English and Arabic is required.

 

For every Child, you demonstrate… 

UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS). 

To view our competency framework, please visit  here. 

 

Evaluation Criteria for proposal: 

A) Technical Evaluation (e.g. maximum 80 Points)             

B) Financial Proposal (e.g. maximum of 20 Points) 

For more details, the terms of reference can be found here:  LTA Terms of Reference-PSS Counsellor (Announcement).pdf

 

CONTRACTS CREATED AGAINST THE LTA.

Whenever services are required, details of the requirement/deliverables including quantities and deadlines will be presented to the top-ranking LTA holder. Should this consultant not be available for this assignment, UNICEF will contact the second ranked consultant and so on.

Upon receipt of confirmation of availability and interest in the assignment, a contract will be issued with the prices/fees agreed in the LTA. The consultant must sign the contract prior commencement of work.

Payment will be made after completion of deliverables and submission of invoices for the actual work completed, subject to satisfactory performance.

 

HOW TO APPLY:

The application to be submitted through the online portal and should contain four separate attachments:

 

1. A Cover letter explaining suitability for position 
2. ii. Curriculum Vitae (CV)
3. A Financial Proposal as per the template attached  LTA Financial Proposal Template.doc
   Please do not forget to specify your name in the file while saving (to be uploaded online under “Financial Proposal” tab).
4. At least 3 Referees from Direct Supervisors

Important Note: Please do not indicate financials anywhere else in the online application form, please mark "n/a or 00", under the fee related questions in the online application form.

Without all the above 4 requirements, your application will be considered incomplete and invalid and will not be considered further.

• Any attempt to unduly influence UNICEF’s selection process will lead to automatic disqualification of the applicant.

• Joint applications of two or more individuals are not accepted.

 

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. 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.

Remarks:  

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

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures, and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws. 

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.

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.