Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) Technical Advisor

TITLE: Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) Technical Advisor

TEAM/PROGRAMME: 

Programme Development and Quality

LOCATION: 

Amman, Jordan; with up to 50% of travel to Turkiye and Syria. Work from home with travels to Syria, Turkiye and Jordan negotiable.

GRADE: Grade 4

National candidates will be prioritized

CONTRACT LENGTH:

12 months

CHILD SAFEGUARDING: 

Level 3:  the role holder will have contact with children and/or young people either frequently (e.g. once a week or more) or intensively (e.g. four days in one month or more or overnight) because they work in country programs; or are visiting country programs; or because they are responsible for implementing the police checking/vetting process staff.

ROLE PURPOSE: 

The purpose of the MHPSS Technical Advisor is to promote access among children and families affected by conflict in Syria to high quality,well-coordinated and context-relevant MHPSS programming in line with global standards and the latest research. This builds on a growing and increasingly well-documented recognition of the critical MHPSS needs in Syria, and of the scarcity  of available national and local services, NGO responses, referral mechanisms and documentation for this constantly growing challenge. More specifically, the purpose of the  MHPSS Technical Advisor is to lead the setting up and delivery of Syria Response Office MHPSS programs for children, adolescents, youths and caregivers, to follow up the quality of implementation and to contribute to high quality of proposals and reporting.

SCOPE OF ROLE: 

The main purpose of this role is to provide strong technical leadership in the SC Syria Response Office (SRO) on mental health and psychosocial support. The aim is to enhance the quality of MHPSS work delivered by SCI and its Partners, bringing immediate and lasting changes in the lives of children. 

Focus of the role will be on technical capacity building, programme quality assurance on MHPSS interventions and ensuring MHPSS is properly integrated across the sectors in a technically sound fashion.

Reports to: Senior Child Protection TA 

Dimensions: 

Staff directly reporting to this post:No direct reports but technical support and coordination of in-country relevant staff including MHPSS specialists and CP specialists based in the Area Offices

Other stakeholders: SRO Education Technical Advisor, SRO Health and Nutrition Technical Advisor, Cash and Market Technical Advisor, Gender and Inclusion Technical Advisor, regional  MHPSS Technical Advisor, Head of Programs in Area Offices.

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:

Contribution to project cycle 

• Lead continuous assessment of MHPSS needs of children, adolescents, youths and families and ensure that MHPSS needs identified by SC or other stakeholders  are appropriately reflected in Syria Response programme strategy and proposals.
• Ensure that MHPSS is integrated in the project proposals in  a way that responds to the needs, is technically relevant and can be implemented safely and with quality
• Contribute to the proposals design and writing
• Contribute to technical kick-off meetings of the new projects and technical follow-up meetings
• Review and reviseproject reports

Technical Assistance to Country Offices

• Be a focal point for SC Syria Response Programme for MHPSS related activities and represent SRO in relevant groups and fora, including relevant donor meetings as required.
• Supervise and support the field staff in the project sites in the planning, implementation and monitoring of MHPSS activities.
• Organize regular meetings with the MHPSS focal points in each intervention location
• Support regular participatory activities with different groups of children, adolescents and youths to identify issues affecting children in their communities, and assist the teams to develop appropriate responses;
• Ensure the technical relevance and quality of MHPSS awareness raising materials that are used in the projects
• Lead the scale up of the MHPSS programme for women and girls, including for children deprived of liberty and for children with disabilities
• When relevant and possible in terms of  available resources, lead safe and technically sound implementation of individual MHPSS services (IASC level 3) 
• Ensure that the MHPSS activities are implemented according to SC and international standards.
• Ensure coordination/ collaboration with other organizations implementing MHPSS
• Ensure proper and safe implementation of the suicide risk management protocols and be a member of the suicide risk management focal points
• Continue integration of MHPSS to nutrition and education services

Monitoring, Evaluation and Accountability

• Work with the MEAL manager  and MEAL team to develop monitoring and evaluation (M&E) and indicator tracking plans for all grants, inputting into the development of additional M&E tools as necessary to monitor project progress
• With the MEAL team, ensure appropriate, timely and accurate data collection at all MHPSS staffing levels against agreed indicators to enable both internal and external reporting
• Review and revise evaluation inception reports, tools and evaluation reports from MHPSS point of view

Staff Management, Mentorship, and Development

• Support in ensuring appropriate staffing within the operations component of the project team, within budget parameters.
• Contribute to, follow up and oversee the implementation of the capacity building plan of the MHPSS staff 
• Conduct capacity building needs assessments regarding staff who implements MHPSS activities across sectors 
• Contribute to and oversee development of needed training modules
• Ensure that the staff of different levels and across sectors implementing MHPSS activities receive sufficient technical supportive supervision
• Provide technical supportive supervision to MHPSS officers in SRO North East Syria office, including also in-person supervision
• Ensure technical support to recruitment of MHPSS staff of different levels
• Ensure proper induction of new MHPSS staff

Safe Guarding 

• Ensure full compliance of Child Safeguarding Policy at field level and especially with SC engaged personnel.
• Respond to all Child Safeguarding Policy concerns expressed or discovered appropriately and effectively.
• Encourage and facilitate quality assurance of MHPSS tools and approaches in close collaboration with the CPI. 
• Other
• Stay updated on the international and local research relevant to MHPSS in humanitarian / development contexts
• Stay updated on the international developments of MHPSS tools for humanitarian / development contexts
• Welcome regular supervision from the regional MHPSS technical advisor
• Participate SC internal compulsory trainings as requested
• Any other task requested by the line manager that falls in the technical capacities of the role holder

SKILLS AND BEHAVIOURS (our Values in Practice)

Accountability: 

• Holds self-accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving results together with children and role modelling Save the Children values
• Holds the team and partners accountable to deliver on their responsibilities – giving them the freedom to deliver in the best way they see fit, providing the necessary development to improve performance and applying appropriate consequences when results are not achieved
• Creates a managerial environment in-country to lead, enable and maintain our culture of child safeguarding

Ambition:

• Sets ambitious and challenging goals for self and team, takes responsibility for own personal development and encourages team to do the same
• Widely shares personal vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates others
• Future oriented, thinks strategically and on a global scale

Collaboration:

• Builds and maintains effective relationships, with own team, colleagues, members, donors and partners
• Values diversity, sees it as a source of competitive strength
• Approachable, good listener, easy to talk to

Creativity:

• Develops and encourages new and innovative solutions
• Willing to take disciplined risks

Integrity:

• Honest, encourages openness and transparency
• Always acts in the best interests of children

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE:

Essential

• Education to Masters Level within the field of mental health, such as psychology, psychotherapy or other relevant area. 
• Significant knowledge and experience from the field of MHPSS, including work with children, child trauma, resilience & recovery, child development, work with parents & caregivers.
• Excellent knowledge and experience in using key tools and approaches, including the IASC Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergencies and The Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Minimum Service Package (MHPSS MSP) .
• Significant experience working in emergency response, protracted crises or fragile state contexts (experience from the Middle East region is a strong advantage)
• Strong experience with learning exercises, including management of assessments and evaluations
• Proven capacity to technically support, train and coach staff, including remote support
• Ability to write clear and effective assessment, project proposals and reports
• Experience of contributing to successful funding proposals for donors
• Excellent communication and influencing skills with experience in advocacy
• Politically and culturally sensitive with qualities of patience, tact and diplomacy
• A high level of written and spoken English.  
• The capacity and willingness to be extremely flexible and accommodating in difficult and sometimes insecure working circumstances.
• Experience of representation and ability to represent Save the Children effectively in external forums.
• Commitment to the aims and principles of Save the Children. In particular, a good understanding of the Save the Children mandate and child focus and an ability to ensure this continues to underpin our support

Desirable

• Language skills in Arabic or Kurdish 
• Experience of working and living in relevant regions/contexts

The Organization
We employ approximately 25,000 people across the globe and work on the ground in over 100 countries to help children affected by crises, or those that need better healthcare, education and child protection. We also campaign and advocate at the highest levels to realise the right of children and to ensure their voices are heard. We are working towards three breakthroughs in how the world treats children by 2030:
· No child dies from preventable causes before their 5th birthday
· All children learn from a quality basic education and that,
· Violence against children is no longer tolerated
We know that great people make a great organization, and that our employees play a crucial role in helping us achieve our ambitions for children.We value our people and offer a meaningful and rewarding career, along with a collaborative and inclusive workplace where ambition, creativity, and integrity are highly valued.
Application Information:
Please apply using a cover letter and up-to-date CV as a single document. Please also include details of your current remuneration and salary expectations. A copy of the full role profile can be found at www.savethechildren.net/jobs We need to keep children safe so our selection process reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.