Staff Care Specialist

Job Description

Summary: The Staff Care Specialist is responsible for developing and maintaining a comprehensive staff care approach for CRS’s international operations, managing all related programs and vendors/service providers related to pre-deployment training; vetting and deployment-related emergency medical support, psycho-social support, work-life balance, and general wellbeing communications; and post-deployment follow-up.

Specific Duties Include:

Approach

• Developing, maintaining, and communicating a robust, intuitive approach to staff care related to international deployments, including standard business travel, temporary assignments, long-term international postings, and staff transferring between long-term international posts.
• Rigorously managing vendor relationships to ensure maximum relevance, appropriateness, cost-effectiveness and quality of their staff care services.
• Developing, maintaining and communicating policies and procedures related to staff care, including protocols, vetting processes, and escalation procedures for medical emergency and critical incident events.
• Understanding legal liabilities associated with “duty of care” and ensuring CRS compliance with these formal and informal standards.
• Coordinating with HR colleagues to embed CRS’ staff care approach and associated staff expectations into onboarding, supervisor development, and leadership development.
• Identifying/developing and maintaining/implementing appropriate staff learning resources and opportunities related to staff care, wellbeing, stress management, and work-life balance.
• Regularly reviewing CRS’ staff care approach, informed by staff feedback, service utilization data, and recognized guidelines/best practices.

Staff Selection

• Ensuring that long-term assignees are adequately vetted and assessed for their vulnerabilities and strengths related to their prospective operating environment, especially around pre-existing health conditions.
• Coordinating with Talent Acquisition to ensure potential stressors in the workplace and operating are clearly articulated in job postings and discussed during the recruitment process.

Pre-Deployment

• Ensuring that employees being deployed outside of their home country–and their dependents as relevant–are adequately prepared, including knowledge of vaccinations, security issues, health risks, and cultural norms, as well as armed with clear guidance on what to do in case of specific emergencies.
• Ensuring that employees being deployed are provided with adequate level of confidential pre-assignment psycho-social counseling and/or counseling resources, as well as appropriate assessments and tools for promoting personal resilience.
• Ensuring that employees being deployed certify their understanding of key CRS policies including sexual harassment, protection, and fraud prevention
• Ensuring that long-term assignees are adequately vetted, especially around pre-existing health conditions that could prevent a successful international assignment
• Collaborating with CRS Staff Safety and Security to ensure that employees being deployed are adequately trained and prepared from a security standpoint
• Coordinating with HR Benefits to ensure employees being deployed understand general health and welfare benefits, as well as related insurance benefits.

Deployment

• Ensuring deployed employees and dependents have robust and reliable medical referral, emergency medical evacuation, and psycho-social support services, as well as clear guidelines and protocols as to how to access these services and what is / is not covered by CRS and/or these services.
• Developing mechanisms to provide deployed employees with notifications in case of emergency
• Providing deployed employees with pro-active reminders, tips, and resources related to maintaining and improving wellbeing.
• Coordinating services, coverage, and communications to employees with CRS Staff Safety and Security and HR Benefits, as relevant.

Post-Deployment

• Ensuring that employees returning/transferring from extended deployments or temporary assignments in high-stress environments are provided with adequate level of post-assignment psycho-social counseling and/or counseling resources, as well as appropriate assessments and tools for promoting personal resilience.

Agency-wide Competencies (for all CRS Staff):
These are rooted in the mission, values, and guiding principles of CRS and used by each staff member to fulfill his or her responsibilities and achieve the desired results.

• Serves with Integrity
• Models Stewardship
• Cultivates Constructive Relationships
• Promotes Learning

Supervisory Responsibilities: None

Key Working Relationships:
Internal: HR Department, CRS international staff and leadership
External: vendors, partners, and consultants

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a related field, Master’s degree preferred

• Minimum of five years related experience in a comparable international organization, with significant experience in the operations of a robust staff care program.
• Proven experience successfully managing a budget and a suite of vendors providing inter-related staff care services

• Deep knowledge of duty-of-care concepts and their organizational implications
• Excellent oral and written communication skills and proven cultural sensitivity to communicate effectively with staff, consultants and vendors
• Proven ability to work collaboratively with multiple stakeholders, incorporating and balancing complex and sometimes conflicting input
• Proven project management skills with the ability to design and manage a project through to completion

  Disclaimer: This job description is not an exhaustive list of the skill, effort, duties, and responsibilities associated with the position.

  CRS’ talent acquisition procedures reflect our commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults from abuse and exploitation.

  NOTE: All interested applicants must be authorized to work in the U.S. at the time of application.

  EOE/M/F/D/V

About the Organization

Catholic Relief Services carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. Our Catholic identity is at the heart of our mission and operations. We welcome as a part of our staff and as partners people of all faiths and secular traditions who share our values and our commitment to serving those in need.