Staff Counsellor P4

World Food Programme • Panama City, FL

5d

About The Position

The challenges of working in difficult conditions to bring much-needed food and support to our recipients, while inherently rewarding, can place a great deal of pressure and stress on WFP staff. As a part of a multidisciplinary team, the Staff Wellness Unit is committed to the promotion of psychological and physical health in the broadest sense so staff can continue to function at high levels to meet the mandate of the organization. We do this by identifying and addressing psychological risk factors in the workplace, and through the provision of counselling services to staff members and their dependents.

WFP is looking for a highly qualified Staff Counsellor to join the Staff Wellness Unit based in Panama City, covering the country offices in Latin America and the Caribbean. This job is part of Global Headquarters (GHQ) and based in LACRO region, Panama. The position reports to the Chief of Staff Counselling. This role requires regular or on short-notice travelling to Country/Area/Field offices. Job holder will be a part of multidisciplinary team under Staff Wellness division. The job requires in-depth technical knowledge and experience needed to identify, analyse and resolve complex work-related issues such as stress, interpersonal and cross-cultural dynamics, and psychosocial coping in hazardous emergency contexts. The job holder provides technical expertise, advice and solutions that support strategic results, and formulates new strategies and technical approaches where appropriate.

Requirements

• Advanced university degree (Doctorate, Masters) in Clinical or Counselling Psychology, Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, Clinical social work, psychiatric nursing or demonstrably equivalent studies from a recognized institution.
• Registration/ Licensure as a mental health professional with a college, board, association or other regulatory body
• Typically (8) years (of which three international) of progressively responsible professional post graduate experience relevant to the field is required.
• Fluency (level C) in both oral and written communication in English and Spanish is required.
• Broad specialist expertise in the assessment of mental health needs and the assessment of psychosocial risk factors.
• Broad knowledge of all facets of counselling services and demonstrated skills to coordinate services and create a trusted environment in which others can talk confidentially.
• Ability to coordinate and manage crisis situations which involve diverse actors and stakeholders.
• Ability to strategically plan and deliver counselling services.
• Strong initiative-taker and demonstrated ability to take independent decisions.
• Working knowledge of occupational health and safety strategies to mitigate work-related stress and promote motivated and healthy staff.
• Excellent communication skills (oral, written and presentation).
• Conflict resolution and mediation skills.
• Ability to communicate effectively with people of both genders and diverse national and cultural backgrounds.
• Ability to design and manage implementation of trainings/information sessions to a wide range and different audiences.

Nice To Haves

• Additional training or certification in a broad range of related fields, such as alcohol/substance abuse, resilience, cross-cultural communication, conflict resolution, mediation, trauma etc. will be an advantage.
• Experience either working in a hardship location or providing counselling services to staff working under very difficult and insecure environments is an asset.
• Experience in working in the Latin America region is an asset.
• Proficiency (Level C) in French is desirable.
• Intermediate knowledge (level B) of an additional official UN language: Arabic, Chinese, Russian, and/or Portuguese (a WFP working language) is an asset.

Responsibilities

• Contribute to the development of the Global Wellness Division Strategic Plan and implement the psychosocial wellbeing strategy for the region/country reflecting the global psychosocial wellbeing projects.
• Provide active psychological support and advice on strategic developments in the region/country involving the major implications on staff (i.e. emergency operations, critical incidents, office rightsizing) to ensure continued staff well-being and that managers and staff are provided with the effective support to manage change.
• Provide culturally sensitive counselling services to individuals, groups of staff and/or their immediate family members across a broad range of issues, to ensure staff wellness.
• Design, develop and roll-out a range of general and context specific trainings related to resilience, conflict resolution, team-building and cultural sensitivities to improve morale, health, and team dynamics.
• Develop and deliver tailored training sessions and workshops on relevant topics to enhance workplace morale and team dynamics.
• Provide a summary and materials of all training sessions and workshops conducted, along with feedback and evaluations from participants.
• Provide psychosocial support on demand and during emergency operations, critical incidents, and office rightsizing.
• Provide pre and post-deployment briefings to staff being deployed to emergency or hardship duty stations;
• Partner with all the functions within WFP and also with institutions outside to address psychological risks at the individual, unit and organizational level and to ensure psychologically healthy workplace.
• Identify and liaise with high quality local and regional mental health resources that can be used for referrals and/or during times of crisis.
• Lead initiatives to promote a healthy workplace including partnering with Staff Counsellors at other UN agencies and provide expert guidance to managers within the region on staff well-being issues.
• Support and maintain the WFP Peer Support Volunteer Network (PSV) through training and supervision; disseminate training materials and related protocols.
• Design and maintain the content for the Wellbeing App.
• Contribute to the development of policies and guidelines, as well as written and visual materials to increase awareness regarding important themes and topics related to Staff Wellness.
• Provide coordination, guidance and leadership to the country-based Staff Counsellors in the region to enable high performance levels.
• Take an active role in the implementation of the psychosocial wellbeing strategy and the UN Mental Health strategy across the region.
• Maintain at all times, high standard of professional ethics and confidentiality consistent with the Wellness Division Ethical Guidelines and Standards of Practice, actively engage with management and staff, listen to their concerns, and stay approachable.
• Take responsibility for an equitable and inclusive workplace which incorporates all dimensions of the WFP diversity and inclusion framework.
• Complete administrative duties such as maintaining statistics or activities and completing reporting requirements as per the requirement of LACRO Management and Staff Wellness Division.
• Provide regular reports on trends in the support needed, successful interventions, examples of staff cases handled, and suggested improvements for future responses.
• Participate and collaborate in UNSSCG activities, and relevant working groups.
• Other as required.

Benefits

• WFP offers an attractive compensation and benefits package, including basic salary, post adjustment, relocation entitlement, travel, visa and shipment allowances, 30 days’ annual leave, home leave, an education grant for dependent children, a pension plan, and medical insurance.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees