Thematic Expert - Psychosocial Support Officer (Kenya)

Role Overview

This position embeds a dedicated wellbeing specialist within a field research team operating in Kenya, ensuring that participants and staff remain emotionally safe during sensitive data collection. Day to day, the officer observes interviews and surveys for signs of distress, steps in with immediate support, and equips colleagues to handle difficult disclosures with care. The role matters because it protects the integrity and ethics of the research process while honouring the dignity of every person who shares their story.

Key Responsibilities

• Watch participants closely throughout interviews and group sessions, spotting early indicators of distress, anxiety, or emotional overload.
• Offer on-the-spot calming support, breathing exercises, and grounding techniques so participants can regain composure and a sense of safety before continuing or ending the session.
• Keep all personal narratives, mental health details, and identifying information strictly confidential, following both research ethics and safeguarding standards.
• Train field enumerators and interviewers to notice signs of emotional strain in respondents and in themselves, and to respond with empathy rather than judgement.
• Lead short daily debriefs where team members can reflect on challenging encounters, share reactions, and receive peer or professional reassurance.
• Provide one-on-one supportive conversations for staff experiencing vicarious trauma, burnout, or overwhelm, referring them to appropriate care when needed.
• Enforce agreed safety protocols and ethical boundaries when topics such as displacement, gender-based violence, or poverty are discussed.
• Flag serious concerns or incidents to the lead researcher without delay, and recommend quick adjustments to field plans when new emotional risks are identified.
• Document all incidents, referrals, and mitigation actions, and produce a final report that informs future fieldwork safeguarding approaches.

Requirements & Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in psychology, sociology, social work, gender studies, development studies, community development, or a closely related field from a recognised Kenyan institution; a master’s degree will be an advantage.
• Between 5 and 7 years of hands-on experience in psychosocial support, safeguarding, gender-responsive programming, or inclusive fieldwork within Kenya, ideally with refugees, internally displaced people, women, youth, or persons with disabilities.
• Proven track record of supporting qualitative research or community engagement, with strong active listening skills and a culturally sensitive, trauma-informed approach to diverse populations.
• Solid understanding of Kenyan safeguarding policies, confidentiality requirements, duty of care principles, and local referral pathways, including the ability to respond appropriately to disclosures of harm or abuse.
• Excellent communication and facilitation abilities in English and Kiswahili; proficiency in additional Kenyan local languages or prior work with interpreters is a plus.
• Previous involvement in donor-funded evaluations, field studies, or programme reviews will be considered an added benefit.