Wellness Senior and Diversity Associate

Job description

### ABOUT ALU At the African Leadership University (ALU), we are more than an academic institution; we are a launchpad for Africa’s next generation of leaders. Our mission is bold: to develop ethical, entrepreneurial changemakers who will shape Africa’s future. Through an innovative curriculum, hands-on learning, and a vibrant pan-African community, we equip our students to tackle complex challenges, connect the dots across diverse perspectives, and create solutions that drive lasting impact. We don’t just teach; we nurture adaptable, globally minded problem-solvers ready to thrive in ambiguity, build from scratch, and lead Africa into a prosperous 21st century. ### ABOUT THE TEAM The Student Life team at ALCHE (African Leadership College of Higher Education) owns the residential, wellness, safeguarding, and community experience of every student on campus, from orientation through to graduation. We are a small, hands-on team that works closely together across counselling, diversity and inclusion, residential life, and student conduct, and we hold ourselves to a high bar for both the quality of care students receive and the rigour with which we track and report it. We partner closely with the Dean's office, the Registrar, Academic teams, and institutional bodies such as the Integrity Board and Disciplinary Committee, and we take pride in building programmes and policies that are genuinely responsive to the realities of our student population. ### ABOUT THE ROLE The Wellness and Diversity Senior Associate is ALCHE's lead practitioner for student psychosocial support and the institution's steward for diversity, inclusion, consent, and accessibility. This is a dual-portfolio role: on one side, direct, confidential psychological and educational support to students; on the other, the design, policy ownership, and institutional integration of ALCHE's diversity and inclusion agenda, including advisory to the student-led Integrity Board. The role reports to the Student Life Manager and works closely with peer counsellors and interns, Academic and Registrar teams, and institutional leadership to build a campus culture where every student's wellbeing and sense of belonging are actively supported. ### ROLE RESPONSIBILITIES This role spans two joined portfolios: direct wellness/counselling delivery, and diversity, inclusion, consent, and accessibility programming and policy. **Psychological Support** - Be flexible in implementing relevant and effective psychological theories and psychotherapeutic practices to support students in their mental health journey. - Capture and track data on the progress of students. - Operate within and uphold psychological ethical values to ensure students' psychological safety. - Provide group counselling, mediatory, and restorative justice services to the student population as needed. **Educational Support** - Be proficient in psychometric assessment for barriers to learning. - Interpret assessment data, provide feedback, and give recommendations for supporting learners with barriers to learning. - Design and deliver psychoeducational training to student-facing staff on learning-related concerns from a psychological perspective. - Actively collaborate with existing learning support structures to deliver an optimal learning environment for students. **Programme Design and Project Management** - Design and deliver themed programmes and campaigns that help students understand and own their own wellness narratives. - Manage the end-to-end process of programme design and the logistics needed to deliver them. - Set and manage student expectations through a thorough data collection and analysis process. - Incorporate wellness-related, student-led initiatives. - Curate content of programmes and projects for the resource bank. **Stakeholder Collaboration** - Cultivate relationships internally with student-facing teams to ensure that all messaging is aligned. - Document policies and options for collaborative student support. - Initiate and sustain relationships with external stakeholders to support the mental health journey of students. **Managing Peer Counsellors and Interns** - Manage the end-to-end hiring and training of student interns who provide support to students. - Design and implement the policies and processes that guide student support. **Data Proficiency** - Ensure data collection is up to date for timely reporting. - Incorporate data-informed insights into the delivery of services to students. - Align regularly with the Data Support team to ensure compliance with organisational data practices. **Programming and Training (Diversity, Inclusion, Consent, and Gender Equality)** - Create and manage programmes centred on Diversity, Inclusion, Consent, and Gender Equality, ensuring inclusivity for all genders and perspectives. - Manage the online Consent Course, onboarding 100% of new students and grading work to achieve at least a 90% success rate. - Facilitate regular training sessions on consent, disability, diversity, and accessibility for both staff and students. - Raise awareness on equality and promote change on topics such as LGBTQ+/Pride, Disability, and Refugee Identity. **Policies and Integration** - Own and create policies and procedures related to inclusion, equality, and diversity (including Sexual Misconduct, Integrity Board, and Disability). - Collaborate with various teams to integrate diversity-related policies and procedures across the organisation. - Serve as advisor to the student-led Integrity Board and ensure it delivers on community initiatives, liaising closely with the Disciplinary Committee. **Accessibility** - Oversee digital and physical accessibility audits and work with multiple teams to address barriers. - Ensure compliance with legislation, including reasonable accommodations in line with HEC guidelines. - Collaborate with Academic and Student Life teams, and the Registrar to provide reasonable accommodations. - Periodically meet with supported students to monitor their experience and establish needs. - Perform such other duties in respect of the Company as may be reasonably assigned by your team manager. ### REQUIRED EXPERIENCE - A degree in Psychology, Counselling, Social Work, or a related field; a postgraduate qualification or professional counselling accreditation is non-negotiable. - 2-4 years of experience delivering direct psychological/counselling support in a higher-education, clinical, or community setting. - Demonstrated experience designing or running diversity, inclusion, consent, or gender-equality programming. - Experience managing interns, peer counsellors, or a small team. - Experience working with institutional policy development and cross-functional stakeholder collaboration, ideally within a university or comparable institution. ### REQUIRED COMPETENCIES **Functional Skills** - Apply psychological theory and psychotherapeutic practice to individual and group support. - Design, deliver, and evaluate wellness and diversity programming end-to-end. - Interpret psychometric and other assessment data to inform recommendations. - Develop and integrate institutional policy across diversity, inclusion, consent, and accessibility. - Manage data collection and reporting to a standard suitable for institutional (MANCO/Senate-level) reporting. - Manage and train interns or peer counsellors. **Soft Skills** - High empathy, discretion, and sound judgement in handling sensitive and confidential student matters. - Strong facilitation and training delivery skills across staff and student audiences. - Comfortable holding two distinct portfolios (direct care and systems/policy) and managing competing priorities across them. - Collaborative, with the ability to build trust across student-facing teams, institutional bodies, and external stakeholders. - Culturally responsive and committed to inclusive practice across a pan-African student community.