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, commitment.

PURPOSE

Under the supervision of the Representative and the Technical Supervision of the Regional Staff Counsellor, the Staff Counsellor is expected to provide expertise to the management and staff, to support the overall well-being of UNICEF staff, as well as teams in UNICEF field offices in Sudan.

This post, in collaboration and technical guidance of the Regional Staff Counselor, will contribute to designing, establishing, and monitoring sustainable psychosocial referral services whereby the quality of services is evaluated and coordinated to better serve the needs of staff and their dependents.

How can you make a difference?

MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES AND TASKS

• The Staff Counsellor will identify activities aimed at raising awareness about healthy work practices; improving the work-life balance of UNICEF staff; facilitating the provision of assistance to staff experiencing work-related and/or personal problems; facilitating the provision of immediate support following a traumatic incident.
• The Staff Counsellor will work in coordination with the network of other UN counsellors available in the duty station. Frequent field missions and close collaboration with Chief of Field Offices, Chief of HR, Deputy Representative – programme and operations respectively.
• Under the general guidance and day to day management supervision of the Representative and technical guidance of the Regional Staff Counsellor,  facilitate the provision of effective psycho-social support to staff leadership, managers and individual staff members prioritizing the most isolated locations within  Sudan  to mitigate 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, and referral).
  • Facilitating the treatment of psychiatric disorders primarily through referrals, including to the medical services division, and through guidance to supervisors and senior management, where appropriate.
  • Coordinate with the Security Advisor and 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.
• 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, and strategic advice to leadership.
• 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.
• Training and awareness raising on Staff Well-Being related topics:

• Explore and contribute to the development of new modalities, such as e-learning and webinars, which make awareness raising material available and attractive to all staff.
• Cooperate with the Regional office to integrate subjects such as healthy work practices, managing stress and trauma, building resiliency etc. into learning strategies.

• Support to the Peer Support Volunteers Network in country:

• Provide regular supervision and training to PSV’s.
• Provide case by case support to PSVs as needed.

• Monitoring and oversight:  Provide on a quarterly basis statistics and trends on issues related to staff well-being, whilst maintaining confidentiality.  Alert the Representatives and Chief of HR on trends that may be of concern in the office requiring targeted support or Managerial intervention. Capture lessons learnt and best practices for dissemination as appropriate.
• Any other duties, as assigned by the supervisor.

If you would like to know more about this position, please review the complete Job Description here:  TA_TOR Staff Counsellor Port Sudan 2024.doc

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

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS AND COMPETENCIES

 Education:

Advanced University degree in counselling, clinical psychology, 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 alcohol/substance abuse, family counselling, training, stress management.

 Work Experience:

Minimum five years of international professional experience in staff support, mental health, cross cultural communications, counselling, and related areas.

Languages
– Fluency in written and spoken English and Arabic is required.
– Knowledge of other UN language is desirable.

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…

The competencies required for this post are:

  Core Values

• Care
• Respect
• Integrity
• Trust
• Accountability

Core Competencies (For Staff without Supervisory Responsibilities) *

• Demonstrates Self Awareness and Ethical Awareness (1)
• Works Collaboratively with others (1)
• Builds and Maintains Partnerships (1)
• Innovates and Embraces Change (1)
• Thinks and Acts Strategically (1)
• Drive to achieve impactful results (1)
• Manages ambiguity and complexity (1)

 UNICEF is committed to diversity and inclusion within its workforce, and encourages all candidates, irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, including persons living with disabilities, to apply to become a part of the organization.

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 also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks, and will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles.

Familiarize yourself with our competency framework and its different levels.

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 measures to include a more diverse workforce, such as paid parental leave, time off for breastfeeding purposes, 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:

UNICEF’s active commitment to diversity and inclusion is critical to deliver the best results for children. For this position, eligible and suitable female are encouraged to apply.

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.

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.