£100 ph | Consultancy | Fully remote | EAP + coaching benefits
Background
People and communities around the world have the solutions to social injustice, authoritarianism, and the climate crisis. But repressive governments, corrupt corporations, and armed groups use violence and oppression to try and silence them.
By building resistance and resilience among those challenging unaccountable power, Open Briefing supports a shared vision for a world where communities and ecosystems can thrive.
As a mission-driven nonprofit, we join forces with grassroots activists, community groups, and social movements at risk. Working together, we strengthen their physical safety, digital resilience, and collective wellbeing. As a social impact consultancy, we help high-profile nonprofits and foundations navigate risk and support the people and partnerships that make change possible. This dual approach allows us to work at every level of civil society, from the grassroots to the global.
We have scaled to meet a 66% surge in demand for our support over the past two years, with our international team now responding to 11 new cases every week. Last year, we:
- Answered 575 calls for assistance across 100 countries.
- Delivered over 6,000 hours of mentoring and accompaniment.
- Trained over 1,000 activists in 112 holistic security workshops.
Whoever we partner with, we start with questions, not answers. Listening before speaking, understanding before acting. Together, we defend those who speak out.
We are expanding our diverse, inspired, and purpose-driven team. Will you join us as one of our US-based psychologists and counsellors?
Role description
You will play a key role in helping to build psychological and emotional resilience among activists and in strengthening the collective wellbeing of organisations based in the United States. You will directly support US-based activists and organisations by helping them resist and recover from the threats to their wellbeing that they face at this time.
Depending on your skills and experience, your primary responsibilities will include providing the following to human rights defenders and other activists at risk based in the United States and elsewhere who have been referred through our pro bono responsive assistance programme or are employees of our nonprofit and foundation clients:
- Wellbeing and psychosocial needs assessments.
- Remote counselling and psychological support (including Psychological First Aid).
- Group sessions and remote training or webinars on wellbeing management, and other key wellbeing concerns and strategies.
- Staff care and organisational wellbeing consultancy and advisory.
- Individual wellbeing and resilience plans.
Person specification
Essential
- You will be a qualified, experienced, accredited, and insured mental health professional.
- You will be registered in the United States.
- You will be familiar with the data protection requirements of your professional body.
- You will have a proven track record of working in wellbeing and mental health roles.
- You will have a track record of working with activists or nonprofits.
- You will usually be available to take on new assignments by agreement within 2-3 working days.
- You will be sensitive to the progressive and rights-based missions and diverse profiles of our clients and other stakeholders.
- You will have excellent written and spoken English.
Desirable
- You may have experience in other aspects of wellbeing, such as digital wellbeing or collective care.
- You may be registered in California or a PSYPACT-participating state.
- You may have proficiency in Spanish or other additional languages.
Terms and remuneration
We are a remote-first organisation, and this is a home-working, freelance role. We are looking for professionals who want to become part of our close-knit team and develop a long-term working relationship with us and our clients.
It is a challenging and rewarding role. It requires consultants to work across various communities and rights and justice issues. You will be appropriately onboarded and continually supported by empowering leaders and highly experienced colleagues.
We welcome applications from established consultants with various backgrounds, experiences, and profiles and from anywhere in the world but registered to practise in the United States. The hours can vary from month to month, depending on demand and your availability, and the role may require occasional remote meetings outside of regular office hours, depending on your location. Please note that this role is not suitable for those in full-time employment or currently searching for full-time employment.
You will receive £100 per hour for counselling or consultancy, ongoing mentoring and training, and a package of wellbeing and mental health support, including an Employee Assistance Programme and professional coaching support. You will need to have or obtain professional indemnity insurance, including cover for remote work worldwide.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion
Open Briefing values diversity. We are committed to being equitable and inclusive, and to being a place where all can be their authentic selves. We therefore encourage applications from all who may meet the person specification and particularly from candidates who are from racialised communities and others who are underrecognised in our team, including Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour. Please read our diversity, equity, and inclusion policy for more information.
Open Briefing is neuroinclusive, positive about mental health, and a Disability Confident Employer. We welcome applications from all candidates who meet the person specification. We will share the interview questions with you in advance and make closed captions available during interviews. Beyond that, please let us know how we can be the recruiter and employer that you need us to be.
We follow the gender pay gap reporting guidance from the UK government. We have checked the text of this advert using the Gender Decoder tool.
Safeguarding
Open Briefing is dedicated to upholding the highest safeguarding standards, ensuring a culture of respect and protection for both our internal and external stakeholders. Our approach encompasses preventative measures and a strong response mechanism to any safeguarding concerns, guided by a survivor/victim-centred ethos. We enforce a strict no-tolerance policy towards any violations of safeguarding policies, ensuring that all concerns are addressed promptly and appropriately. Our safeguarding policy is available here.
As part of our duty of care, it is our policy to identify and communicate any risks associated with specific roles and set out how we mitigate them. We have identified the following risks associated with this role: vicarious trauma, burnout, compassion fatigue. Our wellbeing policy and procedure set out the mechanisms and resources we have put in place to manage these risks, including effective line management, counselling support, wellbeing check-ins, and psycho-education.
How to apply
To apply, please submit your application through this form here.
We will conduct interviews on a rolling basis until we recruit suitable candidates. If you are interested in this role, please submit your application as early as possible.