Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) Officer At Americares

About the position:

Americares has been providing emergency funding and technical support to local organizations in Poland and Ukraine supporting children and adults caught in the crisis. The MHPSS Officer is responsible for overall MHPSS coordination in the region, strategic planning, and MHPSS response team supervision and support. This would include oversight of technical advising to determine funding and technical support for Polish, Ukrainian and other neighboring country NGOs who provide psychosocial services, train staff in psychological first aid (PFA) and crisis counselling and hire local staff to support refugees. The MHPSS Officer will also oversee the coordination of our MHPSS work by working in collaboration with local NGO and humanitarian coordinating bodies so that we can accelerate evidence-based, psychosocial services provision to refugees. Due to the nature of the conflict and forced migration dynamics it is critical that Americares and partner NGOs provide safe and protective MHPSS services particularly for vulnerable children and adults.

This position reports to Team Lead for local and operational aspects with reporting for programmatic oversight to the MHPSS Senior Technical Advisor.

Duties and Responsibilities:

The MHPSS Officer will work with the MHPSS Senior Technical Advisor to supervise the overall MHPSS response and programmatic work. Specific activities may include but are not limited to:

Refugee and IDP access to MHPSS resources and services

• Supervise the technical support of identified local NGOs (with government stakeholders and response actors as necessary) and work as a team to determine appropriate response objectives in line with the coordinated response objectives and IASC and Americares related guidelines and ethics
• Ensure that MHPSS technical support, capacity building and other forms of assistance are delivered with quality, professionalism, and adequate follow-up.
• Provide daily updates to the Team Lead and Senior Technical Advisor and assist with organizational updates as requested

MHPSS Collaboration and Coordination

• Work together with the Team Lead and MHPSS Senior Technical Advisor in terms of potential future MHPSS interventions to support the response strategy
• Regular meetings with the MHPSS TA on technical, strategy and programmatic issues (discussing proposed new direction with the Team Lead)
• Coordinate work done by MHPSS Leads to update assessments to support the strategy, program development and coordinated response. Assessment to include analysis of pre- and post-crisis public and civil society MHPSS capacities and systems for host and refugee communities
• Work with Monitoring and Evaluation staff and Ukraine and Poland MHPSS Leads to ensure timely evaluation of capacity building efforts including using quantitative and participatory methods.
• Coordinate with all MHPSS Ukraine Response staff who attend humanitarian and MHPSS working groups and coordinating bodies.

MHPSS Supervision of Direct Service Provision

• Provide clinical supervision of MHPSS staff providing debriefing and crisis stabilization for local NGO workers as needed
• Oversee all aspects of capacity building for local NGOs in PFA / PSS, staff care, trauma-informed care and related training

Protection

• Coordinate any protection related MHPSS work with the MHPSS TA, Director of Safeguarding and Protection and Safeguarding and Protection Officer (if deployed) to support protection mainstreaming efforts.
• Oversee collaborative work with the Safeguarding and Protection Officer (if deployed) to strengthen safeguarding and protection capacities of local partners.

Key Requirements and Competencies:

• Advanced degree in psychology or related discipline, with coursework in mental health and psychosocial programming in humanitarian or emergency settings
• Minimum of 7 years’ experience in mental health and psychosocial programming with significant experience in disaster/humanitarian crisis contexts
• Proposal development and review experience preferred
• Proven track record in developing strategies, designing programs, and conducting training and providing technical assistance in MHPSS
• Experience in clinical supervision and team leadership
• Experience in humanitarian coordination from an MHPSS background
• Experience with IASC and UN Guidelines, community-based psychosocial support initiatives, and MHPSS Capacity Building (ie. Psychological First Aid)
• Fluency in English required, proficiency in Polish and Ukrainian is an advantage
• Willingness to travel and work in remote areas
• Able to work collaboratively across multiple teams and stakeholders
• Able to operate independently and as part of a team

About Americares:

Americares is a health-focused relief and development organization that responds to people affected by poverty or disaster with life-changing health programs, medicine and medical supplies. Each year, Americares reaches more than 90 countries and all 50 U.S. states with over $600 million in innovative health programs and quality medical aid. Americares is the world’s leading non-profit provider of donated medicine and medical supplies.

Americares global health programs seek to confront crisis and create change by creating pathways to health and opportunity. We aspire to support individuals, families and their communities to realize improved health outcomes that lead to years of good health, so they can reach their full potential.

In response to the war in Ukraine, Americares has Emergency Response Teams on the ground in Poland, assessing health needs and coordinating shipments of medicine and supplies for Ukraine. Americares response is focused on delivering medicine and medical supplies, supporting health services, and supporting local organizations who provide mental health and psychosocial support for refugees and survivors who have experienced trauma.

As a global health organization, we are committed to ensuring a safe environment for our staff, partners, and visitors. All Americares staff and visitors who are on-site at any of our locations or will be traveling for work are required to be fully vaccinated (which includes a booster, when eligible) against COVID-19 unless an exemption required by law is applicable.

Americares is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender expression, pregnancy or pregnancy-related condition, age, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, genetic information, marital status, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

To request a disability accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, please contact us at talentcenter@americares.org.