Location: Imvepi refugee settlement, Uganda (with occasional travel to Kampala and other refugee-hosting areas)
Type of contract: Full-time, one-year contract
Salary: 2 300 000 – 2 500 000 Ugandan Shillings
Open to: Ugandan nationals/ Other nationals with a valid Ugandan work permit
About us
Xavier Project is an International NGO registered in Kenya, Uganda and the UK employing 28 full-time staff members and 30 community workers across the three locations. The main features of our work are the realisation of pioneering interventions that are implemented through the principles of community ownership. Xavier Project´s approach involves building holistic partnerships with refugee-led organisations (RLOs) across East Africa through which we promote community-led learning, community capacity-strengthening and enterprise development. We act as facilitators, supporting the RLOs to deliver education services and scale-out enterprise within their communities. We currently support six RLOs in six different locations in Kenya and Uganda. Through community-led solutions, we aspire to provide more refugee children with access to quality learning, delivered in environments that are safe and inclusive, and foster social, emotional and extra-curricular learning. This is done through various innovative programmes such as tablet-based learning for primary school children, an online-based learning programme for out-of-school youth, or outreach programmes aiming to improve the access of refugee children with disabilities to quality education.
Job description
Xavier Project is looking to recruit for the position of Occupational Therapist in Uganda who will predominantly work with refugee-led organisations to support refugee and host community children with disabilities such as cerebral palsy, autism and Down syndrome. The refugee-led partners aim to provide the identified children and their families with specialised educational support and improve their access to formal and informal learning opportunities. The Occupational Therapist will be based in Imvepi refugee settlement, Uganda.
Main responsibilities
- Participate in the design of work plans for project activities together with refugee-led organisations
- Participate in capacity-strengthening of caregivers, education personnel and refugee-led organisations
- Work with refugee-led organisations to conduct community awareness activities on attitude change towards children with disabilities
- Guide the procurement process of assistive device/learning materials for children
- Design and provide tailor-made training to different target groups such as caregivers, teachers and refugee-led organizations’ personnel
- Conduct accessibility audits in schools located in project areas to support the implementation of barrier-free access for children with disabilities
- Provide guidance to caregivers in enabling their children with disabilities to acquire skills in activities of daily living (ADLs), improve their academic and social and emotional learning, as well as their physical health
- Participate in the development of all documentation, tools and systems necessary for the successful implementation of the project
- Support refugee-led organisations and caregivers to ensure the smooth running of project activities
- Closely work with physiotherapist and special needs teacher in the delivery of specialised interventions targeting children with disabilities
- Network with other organisations to create referral pathways for children with disabilities to access specialised interventions
- Maintain all necessary records and produce reports
- Identify and assess the condition and needs of children with disabilities (Cerebral Palsy, Autism and other disabilities)
- Develop rehabilitation plans and interventions for children with disabilities and their families
- Contribute to designing individualised learning pathways for children with disabilities
- Conduct periodic follow-ups to track the progress of project participants in all locations
- Design and deliver training to program frontline implementers and other team members
Essential requirements
- Diploma/Bachelor degree in Occupational therapy recognized by the Ministry of Education and Sports
- Minimum of 3-year professional experience in occupational therapy/special needs education
- Practical experience in working with children with moderate to severe disabilities
- Extensive practical knowledge on target disabilities – cerebral palsy, autism and Down syndrome in terms of assessment, interventions and progress monitoring
- Experience in management of disabilities/impairments in children
- Experience in the field of disability inclusion and accessibility to services for persons with disabilities
- Experience in planning and delivering training
- Fluency in written and oral English and strong report writing skills
- Experience and a good understanding of working in the disability education sector in Uganda
- Strong interpersonal skills and empathy, particularly with regards to working with vulnerable people
- Willingness to travel within Uganda
- Excellent knowledge of MS Office
- Reliability and self-reliance
- Motivation to cultivate and share knowledge
- Responsible and systematic work approach
- Enthusiasm and self-initiative
Desired requirements
- Strong understanding of the challenges faced by refugees and other marginalised communities in East Africa
- Experience working within community-led solutions
- Experience working in the refugee context
- Experience working with a diverse team of people from different backgrounds
- Fieldwork experience in challenging contexts
What we offer
- Working in an international team of visionary and motivated individuals
- Opportunities for personal and professional growth
- Health insurance
- Participating in extensive national and international networks within the humanitarian aid and development sector
- 25 days of annual leave
- R&R leave
- Provision of accommodation in the job location
- Provision of hardship allowance
How to apply
To apply for this position, please submit your CV and cover letter to jobs@xavierproject.org and use your name and the job title “Occupational Therapist – Imvepi” in the email subject. Please do not send any other documents at this stage. The deadline for submitting your CV and cover letter is 26th November 2021 midnight (EAT). As the selection of applicants will be conducted on a rolling basis, we encourage you to apply as soon as possible. Kindly note that only short-listed candidates will be contacted. For more information about our work please visit www.xavierproject.org.
Please note that if you are also applying for our concurrently running job vacancy “Occupational Therapist in Rwamwanja refugee settlement”, we ask you to apply only once by submitting your CV and cover letter to jobs@xavierproject.org and using your name and the job title “Occupational Therapist – Imvepi/Rwamwanja” in the email subject.
Xavier Project is an equal opportunity employer and therefore does not discriminate on the basis of religion, race, colour, origin, gender, sexual orientation or disability.
