Vacancy

 

Terms of Reference

 

JOB TITLE GUIDANCE COUNSELLOR (GC) in Lezha
Programme / project: Your Job
Reporting to: Director of diocesan Caritas Lezha and the National Programme Coordinator (NPC) of Caritas Albania
Supervises: Local project staff (in AL, BiH, XS, RS and Austrian dioceses)
Starting: Within July 2019
Background:

Your Job is a programme developed by a consortium of Caritas member organisations (Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy, Kosovo and Serbia). During a 12 months design phase, including a pilot phase, the programme has been tailored to respond to prevailing high rate of unemployment of young vulnerable women/men in the targeted regions in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Serbia. At the same time, companies are in need for qualified workers. In schools, no system of vocational orientation is being offered; pupils leave schools with a skills gap. Young people do not have opportunities to collect short term working experience as there is no internship system and they are missing contacts and networks to find a job or to create their own start-up. First funding will now be provided by the Austrian Development Agency.

Role / Job Summary:

Guidance counsellors (GCs) play a crucial role in the implantation process of the programme as it is foreseen that all participating youth undergoes counselling in a first step. GCs are in very close contact with the target group and are their focal point for counselling, guidance and support. GCs actively inform young people in schools and publicly, provide career guidance and job / personal orientation sessions and refer young people to training providers and companies for internships. Additionally, they have an understanding of social entrepreneurship and are able to support the development of innovative ideas. GCs are employed locally at Caritas diocesan or parish levels.

Responsibilities:

  1. Qualitative implementation of programme all activities
  2. Close cooperation with diocesan Caritas organisations and national programme coordinators
  3. Building links between youth and companies
  4. Coordination with municipality representatives and schools
  5. Ensures data collection for reporting and documentation
Main duties / tasks:

Ad: 1. Programme implementation

·        Carry out school visits to inform the target group about programme activities and the labour market

·        Conduct personal competence assessments of young people

·        Provide career guidance and job orientation sessions (e.g. curriculum writing).

·        Organises and provides soft skills trainings (punctuality, behaviour at workplace, behaviour in conflicts …)

·        Close individual accompaniment of youth.

·        Establishes contact with companies, support companies to find mentors for interns

·        Establishes contact with training providers

·        Refers youth to companies and training providers (e.g. support getting internship)

·        Discovering entrepreneurial skills of youth and referral to social business hub

·        Exchange and collaboration with municipal representatives, local economic chambers, employment offices etc.

·        Provides awareness sessions for potential employers

·        Assists national programme coordinator and local diocesan / parish Caritas offices in reporting and documentation and in impact evaluation

·        Ensures that all programme activities are carried out in compliance with national law.

·        Ensure quality standards are met (related to e.g. gender, inclusion)

·        Participation in Kick-off meeting and mid-term regional meeting, and in meetings with the national programme coordinator (NPC) and the GCs from other places

·        Active participation in trainings offered through the programme

 

Ad: 2. Coordination and Reporting

·        Constant exchange with the local diocesan / parish Caritas and the national programme coordinators and regular standardised reporting on developments in the implementation.

·        Collecting data on target group and support measures for progress reporting and quality assurance (Ospoweb)

·        Regular reporting to director of local diocesan / parish Caritas and NPC on deviations relevant changes and/or problems in programme implementation or the environment, e.g. policy change. The PM is obliged to inform the programme coordinator at Caritas Austria immediately if any of this occurs.

·        Regular meetings with NPC and directors of (other) diocesan / parish Caritas organisations to work on improved methodologies, accountability, report on outcomes and challenges etc.

·        Prepares information on target group from the field to make sure it can be fed into quality assurance systems, such as M&E, OSPOWEB are established.

·        Attends at national and regional workshops to exchange with other GC and programme coordinators and gives input for quality improvement and programme revisions.

What we expect from applicants:

 

Qualifications and experience

·        Min 3 years of experience in the work in the social sector

·        Experience in counselling of socially vulnerable people / youth

·        Preference for social workers/psychologists or with similar completed education

·        Fluent in English (speaking, writing, understanding) as no translation and interpretation can be provided in the programme

·        Driving licence (category B)

 

Skills

·        Independent working, strong personalities with a strong inclination to working with young people

·        Understanding of labour market inclusion and ability to build up a local network of stakeholders

·        Strong interpersonal skills

·        Willingness to learn and improve

·        Communication skills and ability to build bridges between youth and potential companies

·        Verbal and written communication skills in English

·        Programme Management experience and ability to understand requirements of financial reporting

·        Good knowledge of standard IT software (MS Word, Excel, E-Mail, Internet) and openness to learn how to work with a database (Ospoweb)

·        Willingness to travel and participate in workshops

·        Demonstrates energy, creativity and ability to stimulate and integrate youth into the programme

What we offer:

·        Salary including all allowances (based on a fulltime employment, 40h per week) depending on educational background and experience.

·        Working in an NGO environment and diversified tasks

·        Trainings / extra qualifications on career guidance, entrepreneurial skills, working with vulnerable youth and standards (social inclusion, gender sensitivity)

·        Regional exchange between GCs in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Serbia

 

Please sent your CV and Motivation Letter in English in following mail address:

caritasalbania@caritasalbania.org and j.bici@caritasalbania.org within 10 July 2019.