Psychosocial Coordinator

Location: Kyiv, Ukraine (50% travel to project locations in Eastern and Southern Ukraine)

Reporting line manager:  Protection Advisor

Duration: 12 months with possibility of extension  

Conditions: Employment contract, gross monthly salary will start from €2,857.00 + Risk Allowance + Moving Allowance 

Starting date: ASAP

CARE INTERNATIONAL

CARE International (CI) is among the world’s largest international non-governmental humanitarian relief and development confederations. Drawing on more than 75 years of experience, through its 21 Members, as both a practitioner and thought leader, CI’s work reaches over 100 countries worldwide to save lives, defeat poverty and achieve social justice.

CARE’s vision is to seek a world of hope, inclusion, and social justice; where poverty has been overcome and people live in dignity and security. CARE focuses heavily on women and girls, and the areas of gender equality, diversity, and inclusion are at the center of our work because we know that we cannot overcome poverty and social injustice until all people have equal rights and opportunities. We recognize that power relations between people and within systems and structures are unequal and that these are entrenched in our broader systems, structures, and institutions.

At the core of the CI Confederation is a globally distributed Secretariat, which provides coordination and support to its members in areas including governance, strategic planning, communications, membership development and accountability, advocacy, humanitarian response, and program development. In addition, the Secretariat represents the CI Confederation at the United Nations and the European Union, and with other external stakeholders.

CARE UKRAINE

 As a new actor in Ukraine, CARE prioritizes a locally led response and is partnering primarily with Civil-Society Organizations (CSOs), National NGOs, local authorities, and INGOs with a longstanding presence in the country and access to hard-to-reach areas. CARE Ukraine deliberately and strategically prioritizes partnerships with local and national Women Led and Women Rights organizations (WLO’s/ WRO’s), further strengthening the Gender in Emergencies (GiE) principle and the Women Lead in Emergencies (WLiE) approach.

 In the first few weeks after the escalation of the war, virtually all humanitarian aid inside Ukraine was organized and implemented by local actors. These groups (together with local authorities) remain the principal aid providers but are quickly being exhausted of funds, fuel, and physical energy. Thereby, a considerable proportion of CARE’s resources is dedicated to strengthening and supporting the capacities of local partners. 

 As of May 2023, CARE Ukraine has established partnerships with more than 20 national organizations (incl. four WLO’s/WRO’s) and five international NGOs. From the more than 45 million that have been raised for Ukraine thus far, around 70% is allocated to local/national partners. Through the activities that have been implemented so far, CARE Ukraine has been able to reach 759 651 people, including IDPs and affected populations in hard-to-reach areas. CARE with its partners providing protection, GBV, Sexual Reproductive Health, WASH, Shelter and Multi-purpose Cash Assistance related support. 

Role Objectives

The Psychosocial Support Coordinator will be responsible for the technical oversight of CARE’s Psychosocial Support programming in Ukraine, through direct implementation and partner capacity building and monitoring. Under the supervision of the Protection Advisor, the incumbent will be responsible for ensuring high quality, effective psychosocial support programming connected with case management and broader GBV (Gender Based Violence) and Protection activities. The incumbent will be responsible for building capacity of CARE Ukraine and our implementing partners in psychosocial support and psychological first aid. S/he will be responsible for providing technical guidance and support to the implementing partners, local authorities, and other service providers, when needed. The position holder will also support representation, project planning, coordination, conducting/supporting assessments, support fundraising, recruitment, and procurement. The role is expected to assess, monitor, and document gaps in existing services and innovate ways to strengthen psychosocial support within the case management system as part of the wider social protection scheme within the targeted locations, and to support capacity strengthening for local actors.

We are looking for a candidate that has experience in psychosocial support as well as GBV and General Protection case management, has strong experience in capacity building, and good facilitation and coordination skills.  We also welcome applicants with lived experience of accessing PSS and case management services.

The main responsibilities include: 

Ensure quality of psychosocial support services 

• Contribute to the improvement of protection sector strategy with a focus of psychosocial program activities, psychological first aid and case management in Ukraine, covering geographical and technical areas of focus informed by the presence and activities of the other protection components and other sectors of CARE. 
• Conduct protection/GBV assessments to identify protection/GBV needs and maximize available information and opportunities for program development and coordination.
• Oversee the implementation of psychosocial support program, monitor effectiveness, and take actions to improve the quality of the case management and psychosocial services.
• Assess the needs and capacity gaps in the current case management and psychosocial support system and in consultation with CARE and partner team, take necessary actions to address the gaps
• Incorporate the protection/GBV services in a holistic case management and psychosocial support system, including recreational activities and outreach activities 
• Ensure that all case management and psychosocial interventions follow CARE’s protection strategy, GiE framework, international law and protection standards and national policies 
• Identify appropriate locations and orientation for services, including Women and Girls Safe Spaces (WGSSs) and community centers where case management and PSS services will be provided
• Ensure that program is driven by women, girls and most vulnerable people and planned with community stakeholders 
• Support the preparation of timely program and donor reports on project activities for CARE’s direct implementation and review partners reports 
• Support Country Office (CO) in development of high-quality proposals and associated budgets related to case management and PSS program

 Capacity building of CARE and partner team in PFA and psychosocial programming 

• Develop and deliver a capacity building plan (individual and organizational) to address the learning needs for CARE and partner staff
• Build capacity of CARE staff and partners in psychosocial support and psychological first aid
• Provide technical guidance to CARE and partner staff to the case management and supervision, Case Workers, as well as direct psychosocial counselling to beneficiaries with complicated cases
• Conduct ToT, training, workshops on case management, PSS, PFA and other identified leaning needs and gaps in collaboration with GBV and Protection Coordinators
• Collaborate with GBV Coordinator to organize regular coordination meetings, case conference and supervision with CARE and partner team to identify the challenges, opportunities and needs related to case management and psychosocial support 
• Develop/review/contextualize/update the case management and PSS tools, guidelines, SoPs, checklists and other supporting materials
• Coordinate and collaborate with other protection/GBV partners and conduct joint capacity building initiatives 

 Support Management of GBVIMS and PIMS and Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL):

• Support GBV and Protection Coordinators to manage the GBVIMS and PIMS, ensuring timely and quality reporting and all data protection mechanisms are in place both at the field level and digitally. 
• Provide 1:1 and group support to response team including Case Workers in close coordination with GBV Coordinator and implementing partners in accurately populating case management files 
• Attend all GBVIMS, PIMS and Case Management Task Force, MHPSS working group coordination meetings at national and sub-national level with GBV Coordinator and Protection Coordinator 
• Review monitoring and evaluation systems for case management interventions in collaboration with the MEAL team 
• Contribute to development and analysis of protection and multi-sectoral need assessments done internally withing CARE and externally through Clusters. Ensure the assessment findings inform CARE’s and partner’s case management, IPA and psychosocial support interventions 
• Support the preparation of timely program and donor reports on case management and PSS project activities 
• Support MEAL team to gather lessons learned for the project(s) and program as a whole, and to put together case studies to inform future programming and strategic directions 
• Lead regular program monitoring and apply learning for continuous improvement of case management, psychosocial support and overall protection/GBV programming
• Integrate case management including PSS system and monitoring and evaluation system to strengthen accountability.  

Self-care and staff support sessions 

• Conduct “self-care” assessment with all Protection and GBV team staff 
• Develop “self-care” monthly/quarter event calendar and roll out any initiatives with support from GBV Coordinator and Protection Coordinator 

Coordination, Representation and Advocacy

• Develop, maintain and improve constructive coordination, including referral pathways, with various stakeholders and service providers at the national level, including the Government, UN and (I) NGOs, and support field teams to maintain coordination with the local level stakeholders
• Represent CARE and take a proactive role in the respective clusters and their working groups related to PSS
• Participate in CARE International’s global and regional coordination platforms 
• Support coordination efforts with other service providers to establish and strengthen referral pathways 
• Support CARE’s visibility within the relevant coordination forums and working groups

 Additional Responsibilities: 

• The duties and responsibilities as set out above are not exhaustive and the post holder may be required to carry out additional duties assigned by the Protection Adviser within reasonableness of their level of skills and experience.

Key Internal Contacts

• GBV Coordinator
• Protection Coordinator
• Gender in Emergencies Team
• Women Voice and Leadership in Emergencies (WVLiE) team
• Sexual Reproductive Health team
• Area Programme Managers and Project staff in designated area
• MEAL team
• Emergency Response Team

Key External Contacts

• Protection Cluster and GBV AoR and technical working groups
• MHPSS Technical Working Group
• Local authorities
• Protection/GBV actors

Requirements

Essential criteria

• Bachelor's degree in social work, counselling, psychology or a social science related field OR equivalent experience.
• Min of 3 years' relevant work experience in social work, GBV/Protection case management, psychology, PSS or related field.
• Experience in designing and facilitating training and capacity building focused on case management, PSS and/or PFA.
• Excellent understanding of protection/GBV issues in emergency situations and strong knowledge of humanitarian principles, guidelines and laws.
• Ability to identify the case management and PSS gaps in the given context to inform a holistic response.
• Fluency in both Ukrainian and Russian; with a strong level of written and spoken English.
• Strong communication and report writing skills.
• Excellent attention to detail, organizational skills and discretion with confidential information.
• Excellent interpersonal skills, with proven experience of successfully working in a team. 

Desirable criteria

• Experience of implementing projects through implementing partners.
• Experience in building relationships, fostering interagency coordination and representing an organization to external stakeholders.
• Excellent computer skills, including experience of Microsoft Office (Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint and Word).
• Demonstrated commitment to gender equality, empowerment of WROs/WLOs, and feminist principles.
• Experience of and commitment to working through systems of community participation and accountability.
• Ability to work independently and proactively, manage a complex and diverse workload and to work to tight deadlines. 

Accountability: 

A commitment to CARE values and CARE’s integrity framework is critical to working with CARE. Any candidate offered a job with CARE will be expected to adhere to the following key areas of accountability:

• Comply with CARE’s policies and procedures with respect to safeguarding, code of conduct, health and safety, confidentiality, do no harm principles and unacceptable behaviour protocols.
• Report any concerns about the welfare of a child or vulnerable adult or any wrongdoings within our programming area.
• Report any concerns about inappropriate behaviour of a CARE staff or partner.

Safeguarding:

Children and vulnerable adults who come into contact with CARE as a result of CARE activities must be safeguarded to the maximum possible extent from deliberate or inadvertent actions and failings that place them at risk of abuse, sexual exploitation, injury, and any other harm. One of the ways that CARE shows this on-going commitment to safeguarding is to include rigorous background and reference checks in the selection process for all candidates.

Gender equality:

CARE is committed to meeting the standards of the CARE International Gender Policy (2019). Through this policy, CARE seeks to promote the equal realization of dignity and human rights for girls, women, boys and men in all diversities, and the elimination of poverty and injustice. Specifically, this policy seeks to improve the explicit incorporation of gender in programmatic and organizational practices.

How to Apply:

 CARE values equal opportunities and diversity. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, colour, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status or disability.

Please send your CV (in pdf format max. 4 pages) and a cover letter in English to < Відправити резюме >, by the latest 14 June 2024. Please name your documents Surname_CV, Surname_Cover Letter. Put PSS Coordinator as the subject title of your email.

Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.  References will only be contacted after the interview.  Interviews will be held in English.