Counsellor (Wits Vida)

**Main purpose of the job**:

- To provide psycho-social support and counselling to research participants and community members (such as grieving parents)
- To assist with facilitating community engagement activities and events

**Location**:

- **Wits VIDA, Nurses Residence, Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital, Soweto - Johannesburg**

**Key performance areas**:

- Counselling_
- Provide counselling to research participants and community members requiring support (for example, in the case of grieving parents who have just lost their children) This includes liaising with the field and MITS teams to act quickly and efficiently to provide support where need is identified, providing initial or first-stage counselling and then assessing progress
- Refer participants for further support if required i.e.Lifeline or applicable service providers contracted by the organisation or other relevant community support organisations such as Childline)
- Create and maintain a list of available support resources for research participants and community members and refer them where reasonable or applicable. Support can include (but is not limited to) grief, domestic violence, substance abuse, and other trauma. Note that this role serves in support primarily of research cluster participants and families of or children involved in unit research, and is designed as a basic support function, not a primary care function.
- Prepare and present reports on counselling activities, insights and trends.
- Community Engagement_
- Through effective sustainable community and stakeholder relationships, build and maintain a link between the community and the organisation to ensure the flow of important information (for example, about maternal and child health issues that affect community members). Such information may inform formative research or projects that may have meaningful community-level impact. Such relationships may be built through meetings and active presence at important community events
- Provide ad hoc feedback on community issues/concerns and propose or facilitate resolution where applicable, reasonable and relevant
- Assist in facilitating community engagement workshops and training and conduct informal interviews with community members and leaders as required
- Write and present reports on community engagement activities as required
- Build and maintain relationships with a network of community stakeholders such as councillors, social workers, Community Policing Forum members, Non-Profit Organisations, Faith-Based Organisations, Community-Based Organisations and other relevant stakeholders to support research interests and community members
- Support facilitation of stakeholder meetings and engagements or problem-solving as required
- In conjunction with the various Community Advisory Boards help to organise and conduct community outreach events to create awareness and educate the community
- Assist with resolving community conflicts, rumours and misunderstandings around research studies and programmes
- Support the community engagement team with educational and advocacy material/content and activities
- Research support and administration_
- Assist with administration, logistics and facilitation as needed for social science research activities such as interviews, focus group discussions, impact assessments, monitoring and evaluation
- Professionally and timeously affect all unit-required tasks e.g., interviews, administration, report writing
- Create and maintain a tracker for all activities including counselling sessions
- Customer Service_
- Provide the necessary stakeholders with feedback timeously as required
- Build and maintain authentic relationships with both internal and external stakeholders ensuring a high level of customer centricity
- Build and maintain authentic relationships with all stakeholders ensuring that all interactions are professional
- Effectively manage work processes to maintain high levels of productivity
- Effective self-management_
- Actively and consistently maintain high standards of professionalism in all aspects of personal presentation and delivery
- Follow through to ensure that productivity standards are consistently and accurately maintained
- Provide appropriate resolution for tasks or deadlines not met.
- Support and drive the organisation’s core values
- Maintain a positive attitude
- Respond openly to feedback
- Take ownership of driving your own career development

**Required minimum education and training**:

- **Graduate Degree in Social Sciences**:

- **Background in Psychology/Social work**:

- **Must possess sound knowledge of research and report writing**

**Required minimum work experience**:

- **5 Years’ experience working with people who are grief-stricken and dealing with psycho-social challenges**

**Desirable additional education, work experience and personal abilities**:

- Ability to work under pressure
- Willingness to work extended hours
- Willingness to t