National Staff Counsellor

Tags: social work mental health English Spanish Environment
  • Added Date: Monday, 01 December 2025
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Applications are welcome from internal and external candidates. For all IOM vacancies, applications from qualified and eligible first-tier candidates are considered before those of qualified and eligible second-tier candidates in the selection process. For the purpose of this vacancy, internal candidates are considered first-tier candidates

ย Organizational Context and Scope :

Under the overall supervision of the Chief of Mission (CoM) in Islamabad, Pakistan, the direct supervision of the Regional Staff Counsellor in RO Bangkok, Thailand and in close coordination with the relevant units in ย Country Office as well as Senior Staff Welfare Officer at Headquarters, the National Staff Counsellor will be responsible and accountable for implementing ย  the staff welfare activities in IOM Country Office.

Responsibilities and Accountabilities :

Provide in-person and online psychological counselling and support, confidential one-to-one and group sessions, to staff members and dependents.Provide psychological and counselling support to staff members in post critical incidents and other emergencies.ย Conduct psychosocial risk assessments in the workplace and help, as appropriate, to address highlighted issues.Provide recommendations to the CoM and relevant stakeholders on improvements for the effective implementation of the UN Mental Health Strategy and IOM People Strategy inย  Country Offices.ย Participate in and, when required, coordinate Staff Welfare responses to emergencies and critical incidents; liaise with the Senior Staff Welfare Officer in case of complex emergencies requiring a coordinated response; ensure that Country Officeโ€™s ย security plans include provisions to provide for the psychosocial needs of staff during emergencies and following critical incidents.Develop and provide training to all staff on relevant topics including stress management, emotional processing, dealing with critical incidents, wellbeing; provide targeted training to Managers/ Heads of Units to increase their knowledge and skills to create a supportive working environment and increase awareness on mental health issues.Produce psycho-educational material for dissemination.ย Work with the Managers/ Heads of Units to develop preventative initiatives (e.g. preparing for critical incidents).ย Offer consultations to the Managers/Heads of Units to address specific needs on request and/or to explore avenues for enhancing humanitarian staff wellbeing and mental health in accordance with the UN Mental Health Strategy.Collaborate with colleagues in UN/ international non-governmental organizationย (INGO) staff in relevant units (e.g. UNDSS, Staff Welfare, Human Resources etc.)Identify and liaise with local and regional mental health resources that can be used for referrals or in times of crisis; refer staff members, who are in crisis, and require emergency psychological and/psychiatric support to appropriate external providers.Ensure that reports and other administrative duties are carried out to a professional standard; develop tools for data collection, analysis, monitoring and reporting mechanisms atย  Country Office level while maintaining ย  records and producing ย regular reports; keep the Senior Staff Welfare Officer updated on numbers and statistics of services provided inย  Country Office.ย Participate in Staff Welfare team meetings and activities (monthly group supervision, team coordination meetings, team retreats, etc.) Participate to the relevant UN Working Group and other relevant technical fora, and liaise withย  UNย counterparts on matters related to the staff welfare.ย Ensure the adherence to the professional standards of theย United Nations Stress and Staff Counsellors Group (UNSSCG) as well as the Code of Ethics for UN Staff Counsellors.Perform such other duties as may be assigned.

Required Qualifications and Experience :

Education :

Masterโ€™s degree in Clinical Psychology, Counselling,ย  or Psychiatry or a related field from an accredited academic institution with ย five years of relevant professional experience; or,University degree in the above fields with ย seven years of relevant professional experience.Must possess an active license or certification, or demonstrate registered membership in a legitimate professional organization in the field most relevant to their degree, including psychiatry (medicine or nursing), psychology, counseling, marriage and family therapy, or social work.

Experience :

Minimum of ย five years of relevant counseling experience post licensure/certification/registration, with experience in a similar setting such as an international and/or humanitarian organization is preferred;Experience with counselling and psychosocial interventions;Experience of working with other UN Agencies, International Humanitarian Organizations or Employee Assistant Programmes is considered essential; and,ย Demonstrated familiarity with the impact of working conditions of humanitarian workers on their well-being;ย 

Skills :

Excellent communication and writing skills;In depth knowledge of the broad range of migration related subject areas dealt with by the Organization;Familiarity with diversity and its implementation;Knowledge of modern technologies, e.g. teleservices; and,ย Readiness to travel and work in emergency contexts.

Languages :

IOMโ€™s official languages are English, French, and Spanish.ย 

Required :

For this position, fluency in English and Urdu is required (oral and written).

๐Ÿ“š ๐——๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—›๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—š๐—ฒ๐˜ ๐—ฎ ๐—๐—ผ๐—ฏ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—จ๐—ก ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฏ! ๐ŸŒ๐Ÿค ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ก๐—˜๐—ช ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ฟ๐˜‚๐—ถ๐˜๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—š๐˜‚๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—จ๐—ก ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฏ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต ๐˜๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜ ๐˜€๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—จ๐—ก๐—›๐—–๐—ฅ, ๐—ช๐—™๐—ฃ, ๐—จ๐—ก๐—œ๐—–๐—˜๐—™, ๐—จ๐—ก๐——๐—ฆ๐—ฆ, ๐—จ๐—ก๐—™๐—ฃ๐—”, ๐—œ๐—ข๐—  ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ผ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€! ๐ŸŒ

โš ๏ธ ๐‚๐ก๐š๐ง๐ ๐ž ๐˜๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐‹๐ข๐Ÿ๐ž ๐๐จ๐ฐ: ๐๐จ๐ฐ๐ž๐ซ๐Ÿ๐ฎ๐ฅ ๐“๐ž๐œ๐ก๐ง๐ข๐ช๐ฎ๐ž๐ฌ ๐ก๐จ๐ฐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ ๐ž๐ญ ๐š ๐ฃ๐จ๐› ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐”๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ž๐ ๐๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ ๐๐Ž๐–!

Competencies

The incumbent is expected to demonstrate the following values and competencies:

VALUES -ย All IOM staff members must abide by and demonstrate these five values:

Inclusion and respect for diversity:ย Respects and promotes individual and cultural differences. Encourages diversity and inclusion.

Integrity and transparency:ย Maintains high ethical standards and acts in a manner consistent with organizational principles/rules and standards of conduct.

Professionalism:ย Demonstrates ability to work in a composed, competent and committed manner and exercises careful judgment in meeting day-to-day challenges.

Courage:ย Demonstrates willingness to take a stand on issues of importance.

Empathy:ย Shows compassion for others, makes people feel safe, respected and fairly treated.

Core Competencies -ย Behavioral indicators โ€“ย Level 2 in case of direct reportsย 

Teamwork:ย Develops and promotes effective collaboration within and across units to achieve shared goals and optimize results.

Delivering results:ย Produces and delivers quality results in a service-oriented and timely manner. Is action oriented and committed to achieving agreed outcomes.

Managing and sharing knowledge:ย Continuously seeks to learn, share knowledge and innovate.

Accountability:ย Takes ownership for achieving the Organizationโ€™s priorities and assumes responsibility for own actions and delegated work.

Communication:ย Encourages and contributes to clear and open communication. Explains complex matters in an informative, inspiring and motivational way.

Notes

Any offer made to the candidate in relation to this vacancy notice is subject to funding confirmation.This selection process may be used to staff similar positions in various duty stations. Recommended candidates will remain eligible to be appointed in a similar position for a period of 24 months.National Professional Officers should be nationals of the country of their employment. NPOs perform work at the professional level and the same standards of recruitment qualifications and performance, required for International Professional staff.Appointment will be subject to certification that the candidate is medically fit for appointment, verification of residency, visa, and authorizations by the concerned Government, where applicable.IOM has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and IOM, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination based on gender, nationality, age, race, sexual orientation, religious or ethnic background or disabilities.IOM does not charge a fee at any stage of its recruitment process (application, interview, processing, training or other fee). IOM does not request any information related to bank accounts.IOM only accepts duly completed applications submitted through the IOM online recruitment system. The online tool also allows candidates to track the status of their application.For further information and other job postings, you are welcome to visit our website: IOM Careers and Job Vacancies

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