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Staff Welfare Officer

Nairobi

  • Organization: UNHCR - United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
  • Location: Nairobi
  • Grade: Mid level - P-3, International Professional - Internationally recruited position
  • Occupational Groups:
    • Human Resources
  • Closing Date: Closed

Before submitting an application, UNHCR staff members intending to apply to this Job Opening are requested to consult the IOM-FOM issued for this Compendium / Fast Track exercise, as well as the  Revised Policy and Procedures on Assignments (UNHCR/HCP/2015/2 refers). Staff Welfare Officer

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT
UNHCR has operations in 126 countries and 461 locations, carried on by over 12,000 staff members and affiliate workforce. Given the nature of work, the psychological hazards range from workplace stress, exposure to traumatic situations and vicarious exposure to traumatic experiences of people of concern. All these can reflect at the individual, interpersonal and team levels and can affect the staff well-being as well as the efficiency of the operation.

The Staff Health and Welfare Service (SH&WS) and more specifically its Staff Welfare Section (SWS), are entrusted with addressing these challenges. The Staff Welfare team comprises the Staff Welfare Officers based in Geneva, Dakar, Kinshasa, Nairobi, Juba, Bangkok, Amman and Beirut. The team works together in designing staff welfare programmes under the leadership of the Chief, SWS.

The SW function in Nairobi covers the UNHCR operations in East and Horn of Africa, the Great Lakes region (with the exception of DRC) and the Southern Africa Region and it is responsible for:

- Implementation of the existing global staff welfare projects including psychological preparation, end of assignment debriefings, critical incident response, training and coordination of the Peer Support Personnel Network and the implementation of the framework for staff support in high-risk environments.
- Provision of technical expertise related to programmes of psychological well-being of staff and their family members for each duty station within the operation (assessment of psychosocial needs, programme design, programme implementation and management, evaluation, training design and delivery).
- Provision of clinical work with colleagues and their family members (psychological assessment, individual/group counselling, crises interventions, referrals) when needed. 
- Provision of expert advice and guidance to the Representatives of the operations covered by the function, the Snr. Staff Welfare Officer in RSC Nairobi and the Chief of the Staff Welfare Section/ Staff Health and Welfare Service (SH&WS) at the HQ.

The position of the SWO is responsible for the francophone operations in the region as well as for the operations in the Southern Africa sub-region.
   
SUPERVISION RECEIVED
The Staff Welfare Officer is directly supervised by the Snr. Staff Welfare Officer at the Regional Service Center, Nairobi.

WORK RELATIONSHIPS AND CONTACTS
Within  UNHCR
- Work closely with the rest of the regional team in the RSC Nairobi. 
- Work closely with the Snr. Regional Medical Officer in RSC Nairobi for collaboration on individual cases involving the medical issues and necessitating the medical follow up.
- Closely cooperate with the Representatives in order to agree on the staff welfare priorities for the operation and report to the Representative on the key staff welfare issues, plans, action and progress.
- Closely collaborate with the HR staff, (Snr.) Field Safety Advisers in the operations whenever staff welfare overlaps with HR or security issues.
- Maintain close contacts with the Heads of Sub-Offices and Field Officer in order to ensure that the staff welfare needs are covered in their locations.
- Be available for counselling to all UNHCR colleagues in the region in person, by phone or by email. 
- When requested by the supervisor, be available to work with operations outside of the region of coverage.

With EXTERNAL Parties
- The incumbent is a member of the UNSSCG (UN Staff/Stress Counsellors Group)
- Maintain close collaboration with the counsellors in the region of coverage. 
- Build a network of local institutions and international and national NGOs in the region with psychological capacities.
- Maintain affiliations with professional organisations and associations to maintain the required level of professional expertise.
- Make oneself available to other organisations in the humanitarian community when appropriate and feasible.

FUNCTIONAL STATEMENT
Accountability
- The countries under the coverage have the staff welfare plans that correspond to the psychological risks in the operation.
- Staff in the region are familiar with the staff welfare resources and are comfortable using them
- High level of client satisfaction with the staff support provided is ensured.
- The ethical principles of the psychological profession where confidentiality is a paramount is observed.

Responsibility
- Undertaking psychological risk assessment for the operations of coverage and designing of the appropriate response programme in close collaboration with the operations and under the supervision from the Snr. SWO. 
- Such programmes should include but are not limited to individual or group counselling, trauma interventions, workshops/training, raising awareness and sensitization meetings, team building or other professional forms of support.
- Ensuring access for staff and family members to individual counselling either internally (with SWOs in UNHCR) or externally (by providing referrals and information about the available resources) for work related issues (stress, trauma, interpersonal conflicts, harassment, and job insecurity) and personal issues (family, marital, children or finance related problems).
- Providing timely response to critical incidents in the operations under the coverage in accordance with the UNHCR SOP on Support to staff affected by critical incidents. Organizing the psychological first aid (personally, through the Peer Support Personnel Network or other UN Staff Counsellors available in the country), assessments, referrals and necessary follow-up is undertaken and coordinated with the Snr. Staff Welfare Officer, Snr. Regional Medical Officer and relevant HR functions in the operation. Providing the guidance to the operational managers as required.
- Undertaking regular travels to the operations under coverage to implement the SW programmes or respond to the punctual needs.
- Implementing the global UNHCR staff welfare projects (psychological preparation for hardship assignment, end of assignment debriefing following hardship assignment, framework of support to high risk environments). 
- Maintaining regular contact with the counselling resources in the countries under the coverage including the members of the UN Staff/Stress Counsellors Group and other local/regional mental health professionals/ resources outside the UN system, e.g. NGOs, private practitioners.
- Training, supervision and coordination of the UNHCR Peer Support Personnel Network in the region through monitoring of their activities and supervising their work with the staff.
- Maintaining a record of individual staff welfare actions and interventions in the confidential folder of the MSRP or in the separate confidential database in accordance with the UN Confidentiality Guidelines for Staff/Stress Counsellors and relevant UNHCR policies on confidentiality of SW data. Provide monthly statistics to the SWS, HQ. Ensure timely reporting on field missions, general staff welfare assessments and related recommendations to the Representative and the Heads of Offices and the Snr. RSWO. Provide input in global reports by the SWS as required.
- Actively participate in the initiatives initiated by the Staff Welfare team aimed at further development of the staff welfare approach in UNHCR.
- Perform any other related duties agreed in consultation with the Snr. Staff Welfare Officer.

Authority
- Under the supervision of the SSWO, communicate directly with other functional units at Headquarters (FSS, Medical Section, Global Staff Accommodation, PAPS, Ombudsman, Staff Council, IGO, LAS, Desk) involved in case management when a specific case or incident requires.
- Make proposals relevant to improvement of staff well-being in the operation including identifying additional resources to support the programme implementation to Representative and the Snr. Staff Welfare Officer.
- Make confidential recommendations pertinent to mental health and psychosocial well-being of individual staff to the Snr. Staff Welfare Officer and the Snr. Regional Medical Officer. 
- Provide support to other organisations in the humanitarian community when appropriate and feasible.

ESSENTIAL MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE REQUIRED
- Advanced University Degree in Clinical Psychology, Psychotherapy, Counselling or other mental health care profession.
- Minimum 6 years of previous job experience relevant to the function of which 2 years should be in an International capacity.
- Demonstrated clinical experience and counselling skills.
- Proven skill of supporting teams and groups.
- Proven training skills.
- Proficiency in English and French.
DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS & COMPETENCIES
- Humanitarian experience in the Field is an asset.
- Conflict resolution and mediation skills are an asset. C001L3 - Accountability Level 3
C002L3 - Teamwork & Collaboration Level 3
C003L3 - Communication Level 3
C004L3 - Commitment to Continuous Learning Level 3
C005L3 - Client & Result Orientation Level 3
C006L3 - Organizational Awareness Level 3
M003L3 - Judgement and Decision Making Level 3
M004L3 - Strategic Planning and Vision Level 3
X001L3 - Analytical Thinking Level 3
X005L3 - Planning and Organizing Level 3
X008L3 - Stakeholder Management Level 3

Please note that the closing date for all vacancies in the Add. 3 to March 2017 Compendium is Thursday, 3 August 2017 (midnight Geneva time).

This vacancy is now closed.
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