Chief, Staff Welfare Section

Chief of Section (Staff Welfare)

ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT:

The Staff Welfare Section (SWS) is part of the Staff Health and Welfare Service (SHWS) in the Division of the Human Resource Management (DHRM). The SWS is mandated with the provision of the psychosocial support to the UNHCR employees and their families worldwide. The services the Section offers aim at preventing and minimizing the negative impact of stress at the workplace on employee¿s wellbeing and their working capacity in UNHCR.

The Chief of Section (Staff Welfare) works under the direct supervision of the Head of the Staff Health and Welfare Service  to whom he/she is accountable for the professional impact of the Staff Welfare Section and outposted and regional Staff Welfare Officers. The incumbent is expected to provide overall strategic direction in relation to staff welfare in UNHCR ensuring that such a strategy is well coordinated within the SHWS, reflected in the People Strategy of DHRM and alligned with the Global Strategic Objectives of UNHCR. The incumbent is responsible for resource management of the Section from resource planning (budget and staffing) to supervision.

The Chief of Section (Staff Welfare) supervises directly the SWS at the Headquarters and a number of 3 outposted Staff Welfare Officers (SWOs) in the field. The incumbent also provides technical supervision to the regional SWOs and liaises closely with their line managers.  Close collaboration with the regional hosts of the field based Staff Welfare Officers (SWOs) is required as well as with the management of the Bureaux.

The incumbent will have to develop close coordination between SWS and other sections of DHRM (Personnel Administration and Payroll Section, Career Management Section, Appointment and Promotion Section) and outside the DHRM (Field Safety Service, Office of the Ombudsman, Inspector General¿s Office, Staff Council, Office of the Ethics Director, Legal Affairs Service) while respecting the confidentiality and professional integrity.

The Chief of Section (Staff Welfare) will represent UNHCR in interagency bodies, programmes and activities discussing the staff welfare related issues. The Chief, SWS is also affiliated to the UN Staff and Stress Counsellors Special Interest Group (UNSSCG) and is the member of the Advisory Committee of the UNSSCG. Networking with similar professional partners in other humanitarian NGOs or institutions and companies that would benefit the development in staff welfare of UNHCR is expected.

Travel, and at times on a very short notice to various UNHCR operations including to those in high risk environments  should be expected.


FUNCTIONAL STATEMENT:

Accountability

- UNHCR is the workplace where staff members are supported and feel supported in coping with the challenges occuring in the course of their functions either in ther professional or personal lives. There is a clear strategy that lists psycholosocial hazards and risks for mental health associated with the work as well as the mitigating measures to address the negative impact of the exposure to those hazards.
- UNHCR employees (all contracts) have access to professional and confidential psychosocial counselling when they feel they need and can use these services without fear of being stigmatized.
- There is a high level of awareness of the Staff Welfare Section and its services amongst the UNHCR management, its  employees and their family members.
- Action protocols (especially crisis intervention protocol) exist and involve other relevant services and sections.

Responsibility

- Provide the overall financial and administrative management to the Staff Welfare Section including budget planning, selection and performance management with the help of the SW senior assistant and SW associate.
- Ensure the quality of work of SWOs thorugh  professional selection, technical support, supervision and feedback to the SWOs, and continuous education 
- Coordinate the work of all staff welfare officers ensuring that their resources are used efficiently and that the staff welfare programmes are reasonably consistent across the regions.
- Ensure that there is a good team spirit within the staff welfare team and provide the condition for professional exchange and creativity. Ensure that there is a continuous dialogue with the hosts of the regional functions co-supervising the field based SWOs and that the work of SWOs is well integrated in the regional plans.
- Maintain the system of reporting on work and impact of the SWO activities globally.
- Develop and continuously evaluate the stategy of psychosocial support to UNHCR employees (all contracts) and their families that includes the following areas: (i) occupational mental health risks including cumulative and traumatic stress, HIV in the workplace, substance abuse, interpersonal conflicts and harassment; (ii) orientation and adaptation to the new environment, including programmes for newcomers, support in rotation to the staff and to the families; (iii) specific needs arising from emergency operations and critical incidents (psychological and psychosocial support following the security evacuations or security incidents); (iv) team dynamics and team building; (v) support to staff and management through various HR processes (i.e. rotation, career support and development, downsizing, retirement); (vi) social issues (work-life balance, family related matters, children related matters); and any other area that may become relevant for the life of the staff impacting eventually on the efficiency of the organisation.
- Pro-actively advise the Head of SHWS, Director DHRM and other Divisional Directors, Supervisors and Managers at all levels on staff well-being areas as indicated above.
- Coordinate and cooperate closely with other Sections within and outside DHRM raising awareness and advocating for the staff welfare issues at the highest levels and gaining support for the staff welfare projects.  Take part and/or initiate various working groups focusing on the well-being of the staff oriented towards finding alternative and better solutions through policy changes or defining the best practices.
- Create and implement a communication strategy, which would clearly communicate to staff all the elements of the staff welfare strategy and how they could benefit from it.
- Provide an input related to staff welfare in various learning programmes in terms of both development of learning modules and facilitation of learning programmes in order to insure that staff welfare issues are mainstreamed to the maximum extent possible. Specifically, oversee the global Peer Support Personnel Programme.
- Maintain close collaboration with the Staff Counsellors in other UN agencies with similar programmes sharing experiences and resources to the extent possible.
- Ensure the proper running of the Special Constraints Panel.
- Provide individual and group support when possible.

Authority

- Enforce the implementation of the strategy related to staff welfare through the bureaux  and the operations.
- Intervene in crisis and other situations with appropriate psychosocial interventions for UNHCR employess and their families as well as for the management.
- Prioritize the resource allocation including the location of the outposted Staff Welfare Officers (Bangkok and Nairobi).
- Endorse the SWO's workplans at Headquarters and in the regions.
- Run functional clearance prcedure for the candidates for the SWO's posts at the Headquarters and in the regions.
- Verify the staff welfare related policies or HR policies affecting the staff welfare.
- Carry out psychosocial assessments for the UNHCR staff for the HR processes (Special Constraints Panel, D&E waivers) or upon request by the Medical Section and Head of SHWS. 
- Represent UNHCR in the UN Staff/Stress Counsellors Speical Interest Group and at interagency meetings, UN/INGO working groups and international conferences on questions related to staff welfare and staff support.
- Apply the UN Confidentialy Guidelines for Staff/Stress Counsellors.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCES:

- Advanced University degree in psychology, clinical social work, psychotherapy, counselling or other mental health care professional qualifications.
- Minimum 15 years of the relevant job experience at the professional level in the same functional area (counselling) out of which a minimum of 10 years should be at the international level.
- Demonstrated management skills.
- Demonstrated competencies in project management and coordination.
- Demonstrated competencies in monitoring and evaluation.
- Proven inter-personal skills and the capacity to easily establish rapport with staff at different levels.
- Proven experience of working with groups.
- Excellent knowledge of English and working knowledge of another official UN language.


DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS AND COMPETENCIES:

- Knowledge of the Staff Counselling in the UN system
- Conflict resolution and mediation skills.
- Familiarity with the risk management model.