Staff Counsellor - Ssa10- WAE

Organizational Context

The World Food Programme (WFP) is the world's largest humanitarian organization, dedicated to saving lives and building peace through food assistance. WFP operates in complex emergencies, striving to create a diverse, skilled, and inclusive workforce committed to its values. The organization emphasizes employee well-being and professional development, offering opportunities to work globally with passionate colleagues.

Job Purpose

The Staff Counsellor in Gaza will provide essential psychological support to WFP national staff and their dependents, addressing the significant mental health impacts of living and working in a crisis-affected region. This role involves assessing psychosocial needs, delivering culturally sensitive individual and group counselling, and offering crisis intervention and follow-up support. The Staff Counsellor will also play a key role in promoting staff well-being through proactive initiatives, contributing to the design of awareness materials, and building a referral network for specialized mental health services. Maintaining high ethical standards and administrative duties, including reporting, is crucial to ensure continued staff resilience and effective support in challenging environments.

Responsibilities

The Staff Counsellor in Gaza will provide essential psychological support to WFP national staff and their dependents, addressing the increasing mental health challenges stemming from ongoing crises. This role involves assessing psychosocial needs, offering culturally sensitive individual and group counselling, and providing crisis intervention and follow-up support. The Counsellor will actively promote staff well-being through engagement and wellness initiatives, contributing to the design of awareness materials and guidelines. A key responsibility is building a referral network for specialized mental health services and ensuring adherence to the highest ethical standards in psychological service provision. Administrative duties, including maintaining statistics and reporting, are also required. The position emphasizes collaboration, crisis response, and maintaining a supportive environment for staff navigating difficult circumstances, contributing to the overall mission of the World Food Programme in Palestine.

Work Experience

Requires a minimum of five years of progressive, relevant professional post-graduate experience. Experience in hardship locations or providing counseling in difficult, insecure environments is advantageous. Strong knowledge of counseling facets, excellent communication skills, problem-solving abilities, and proficiency with technology (PowerPoint, Excel, Word) are essential. The ability to work effectively across organizational boundaries in a diverse, multicultural setting is also required.

Skills

Psychological support, trauma-informed counselling, crisis intervention, staff wellness promotion, mental health referral, ethical practice, administrative reporting. Strong communication, problem-solving, partnership building, and tech proficiency (MS Office). Cross-cultural collaboration, diversity sensitivity. Expertise in stress management, critical incident stress, trauma, conflict resolution. Fluent in Arabic, good English.

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