Background:
UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.
The prolonged emergency context in Ukraine, characterized by sustained security risks, high workloads, exposure to distressing information, and extended periods of uncertainty, has significantly increased psychosocial pressure on personnel. Staff and affiliated personnel are frequently required to operate under demanding conditions, balance emergency response with program delivery, and support affected communities while managing their own stress and well-being.
Providing access to professional stress counseling will help mitigate risks of burnout, secondary trauma, and decreased productivity, while strengthening individual coping mechanisms and resilience. Preventive and responsive mental health support is essential to maintaining staff performance, engagement, and duty of care, particularly in high-stress and crisis-affected environments.
In this context, UN Women Ukraine Country office is seeking to hire a Stress Counselor to provide individual counseling to colleagues as well as training webinars on Stress Management to all personnel to promote mental health, well-being, a healthy workforce, and enabling environment.
Description of Responsibilities/ Scope of Work
Under the overall guidance of the UN Women Representative and direct supervision by the Operations Manager, the National Consultant will:
Provide individual, group and critical incident counselling sessions to all personnel when needed. Identify, address and follow up on critical incident stress cases among the office. Conduct stress management webinars to all personnel, advising on coping mechanism and ways to promote productivity during quarantine time if requested.Assignment Deliverables:
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Deliverables
Deadlines
1
Individual, group counselling sessions to allย personnel and their dependentsย when needed.ย Quantitativeย report
withoutย disclosingย theย confidentialย information
Acrossย the contractย period
2
Group discussion/s provided to all UN Womenย personnelย onย stressย management, if requested
Acrossย the contractย period
Inputs
UNย Womenย willย provide the Consultantย withย backgroundย materialsย relatedย toย theย assignment. Theย consultantย isย expectedย toย workย usingย her/hisย ownย computer. Performanceย evaluation: Contractorโs performance will be evaluated against such criteria as: timeliness, responsibility,ย initiative, communication, accuracy, and quality of the products delivered. The evaluation will be carried ย outย andย clearedย by theย hiringย managerย whichย willย alsoย be theย basisย for paymentย onย aย monthlyย basis. Financialย arrangements: Paymentย willย beย disbursedย onย monthlyย basisย uponย receiptย ofย theย deliverablesย (asย perย aboveย matrix)ย and their certification by UN Women Operations Manager that the services have been satisfactorilyย performed.Competencies :
Core Values:
Integrity; Professionalism; Respect for Diversity.Core Competencies:
Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues; Accountability; Creative Problem Solving; Effective Communication; Inclusive Collaboration; Stakeholder Engagement; Leading by Example.Please visitย this linkย for more information on UN Womenโs Values and Competencies Framework:ย
Functional Competencies:
Stress Counseling Expertise Trauma-Informed Practice Ability to design and delivery of stress-management trainings/webinars Ethics & Confidentiality Strong interpersonal skills with a gender-responsive and culturally sensitive approachRequired Qualifications:
Education and Certification:
Advanced University Degree in clinical psychology or psychiatry. Additional training/certification in a broad range of related fields, such as alcohol/substance abuse, stress management, critical incident stress and cross-cultural communication would be an asset.Experience:
Minimum seven years of professional experience in psychological counseling, training skills, with special emphasis on managing critical incident stress. Experience in a broad range of related fields, such as alcohol/substance abuse, stress management, critical incident stress and cross-cultural communication would be an asset. Experience in United Nations System is desirable.Languages:
Fluency in Ukrainian and English.Statements :
In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. The creation of UN Women came about as part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact. It merges and builds on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system (DAW, OSAGI, INSTRAW and UNIFEM), which focused exclusively on gender equality and women's empowerment.
Diversity and inclusion:
At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates,ย and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age,ย ability, national origin,ย or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.
If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.
UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere toย UN Womenโsย policiesย and proceduresย andย theย standardsย of conduct expected of UN Women personnelย and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (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.)
Note: Applicants must ensure that all sections of the application form, including the sections on education and employment history, are completed. If all sections are not completed the application may be disqualified from the recruitment and selection process.
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