Psychosocial Support (PSS) Team Leader

Name of the position: Psychosocial Support (PSS) Team Leader

Starting date : as soon as possible

Duration: until September 15th 2017 (renewable)

Reports to: Project Officer

Number of subordinate employees: Direct:6 Indirect:0

 

 

In 2015 alone 856,723 refugees and migrants arrived in Greece from Turkey through the Aegean Sea flying war, life threatening situation. Arrivals continued in 2016 with 167,600 new arrivals registered in Greece by 061 of October 2016. The situation evolved dramatically following the closure of the Western Balkans Route and the EU-Turkey agreement. This ended the mass arrival pattern observed in 2015 and early 2016 and led to thousands of refugees not being able to continue their journey towards their planned destination.

 

In response to this protracted crisis, the ECHO funded project seeks to deliver integrated services and support to children in Thessaloniki region through alternative care arrangements for unaccompanied children, provisions of case management and psychosocial services to vulnerable refugee children and their families living in urban settings of Thessaloniki region.

 

 

The PSS Team Leader is responsible for the overall supervision and coordination of the psychosocial activities aimed at enhancing the psychosocial well-being of unaccompanied children and vulnerable children and their families living in the urban settings of Thessaloniki region. Responsibilities include the direct management of a team consisting of psychosocial workers, two translators and the coordination with the project’s psychologist. The post holder is also responsible for providing on-going technical support to ensure quality and relevance of the overall psychosocial intervention strategy.

 

 

 

o Conduct an initial assessment of the psychosocial well-being of targeted beneficiaries in all the project’s locations

o Liaise with the UAM Shelter and Apartments team leaders and the partner’s organization focal points for the identification of available spaces to conduct outreach psychosocial activities

o Under the supervision of the line manager and based on the assessment’s findings, design an array of age and gender appropriate psychosocial interventions for children and caregivers using Tdh existing tools and guidelines, including material produced by the verified and reputable sources such as UNICEF, IASC, CPWG and other organizations

o Support the PSS workers to draft a weekly activity schedule and revise it regularly as to make it adaptable to the evolving needs on the ground and according to the logistic needs and constraints

o Ensure a close supervision of daily activities, support the staff in prioritizing interventions when needed, overcoming challenges and seeking synergies with other actors

o Provide daily guidance and support to the staff, suggest changes, updates and improvements of relevant psychosocial activities when needed

o Conduct technical follow-up sessions to provide and receive feedbacks, share impressions aiming at improving quality and effectiveness of interventions

o Ensure that mental health and psychological problems are identified, registered and cared for in timely and quality manner, through referrals where appropriate

o Seek the support of the Case Management Team leader to train PSS workers on basic concepts of case management in order to timely refer cases of children at risk or affected by protection concerns

o Facilitate initiatives aiming at supporting the integration of targeted beneficiaries within urban communities, empowering them to make use of available existing resources and services

o Closely coordinate with partner’s organization focal points to ensure smooth exchange of information and seek synergies to ultimately benefit targeted beneficiaries

o Contribute to the elaboration of any technical tools or documents

o Ensure that project beneficiaries' files are up-to-date, monitoring system documents and tools are well understood and regularly submitted to the line manager

o Carry out all the procedures connected with the accomplishment of the planned activities (administrative and logistical)

o Ensure proper use of equipment and other material resources available to the project

o Submit purchase requests and other logistics team documents according to procedure and authorization level

o Ensure regular communication with the line manager about updates, achievements and challenges through meetings, reports and ad hoc communication upon request and needs

o Design and conduct evaluation process of the project activities for lessons learned exercise and reporting purposes

 

o Promote, and ensure project activities are on line with, child protection principles

o Ensure the project activities are integrated in the Greek child protection system and humanitarian coordination practices and guidelines

o Identify and propose trainings for her/his team related to child protection principles and best practices

o Report serious cases of abuse on children identified by the project team to the management team. Strict confidentiality must be respected

 

o Provide appropriate training, mentoring, coaching and capacity building of the team under her/his responsibility

o Organize team meetings and provide weekly program update and staff planning

o Follow up staff attendances, leaves and provide monthly attendance sheets to her/his manager to facilitate payroll process

o Ensure regular feedback to the staff under her/his responsibility and appraisal process when needed and facilitate good communication within the teams under his/her responsibility

o Support disciplinary measures application if needed

 

o Coordinates with other Tdh sectors to ensure implementation of standardized activities and with other departments (program and support) of Tdh in Greece as necessary.

o Represent Tdh project in forum and meetings held at location or regional level in her/his field of expertise

o Develop a network to facilitate the project acceptance and stake holder’s contribution and ownership

 

o Agree to comply with Tdh Code of Conduct and ensures Child Safeguarding standards are upheld

o Adhere to and ensure the team under her/his responsibility follows Tdh administrative and logistical regulations and procedures

 

The above list of job duties is not exclusive or exhaustive and the person will be required to undertake such tasks as may reasonably be expected within the scope and grading of the position. The job description should be regularly reviewed to ensure it is an accurate representation of the position.

 

 

 

 

Professional diploma or University degree in Psychology, Social work or any related field

At least 2 years’ experience working in PSS

Basic IT knowledge (Microsoft Office, Internet)

Previous experience with Tdh or another child protection organisation is desirable

Previous experience in emergency response is appreciated

Knowledge of key child protection issues and best practices

Knowledge of child protection system in Greece

 

 

This position requires the control of basic personnel, social and leadership skills, as well as technical, organizational and methodological competences.

 

Required qualities: proactive, autonomous, rigorous, organized, good communication and interpersonal skills.

 

To have a valid driving license is an asset.

To have a valid work permit.

 

 

Fluent in English and Greek

Knowledge of Arabic, Farsi or Kurdish is an asset

 

 If you are interested in this position, please send a CV and cover letter in English to: Αυτή η διεύθυνση ηλεκτρονικού ταχυδρομείου προστατεύεται από τους αυτοματισμούς αποστολέων ανεπιθύμητων μηνυμάτων. Χρειάζεται να ενεργοποιήσετε τη JavaScript για να μπορέσετε να τη δείτε.

 

For the application to be considered, the email and cover letter subject should mention:

PSS Team Leader THESS 01

 

Deadline for applications: February 17th 2017.

 

Due to the urgency of the position, Tdh reserves the right to recruit the candidate before the end of the posting.

 

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.