Mental Health & Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) Specialist – Gaza At Save the Children

The Opportunity – Mental Health & Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) Specialist (For Nationals Only)

Post location: Gaza Field Office

Contract Duration and Level of Effort: 12 months with possible extension

ROLE PURPOSE:

Provide high-level technical assistance to MHPSS programme staff with technical support from the oPt CO MHPSS TA, lead the setting up and delivery of Gaza MHPSS programs for children, adolescents and youths, and contribute to high quality of proposals and reporting.

SCOPE OF ROLE:

Reports to: Mental Health & Psychosocial Support Technical Adviser

Dotted Line Reporting: CP/MHPSS Program Manager

Staff directly reporting to this post: No staff reporting but consequent coordination with other specialists, field managers and programme managers.

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:

• Support MHPSS TA with ensuring that MHPSS activities across Child Protection and other sectors in Gaza have sufficient resources and expertise at hand to build capacity, monitor, quality-assure, capture evidence and learning, and develop further in their ability to provide quality and needs-based MHPSS interventions.
• Be a focal point for SC oPt Gaza Programme for MHPSS related activities across sectors and represent SCI in relevant groups and fora, including MHPSS TWG and other relevant interagency coordination platforms, as well as relevant donor meetings as required.
• Under the guidance of the MHPSS TA, lead the continuous participatory assessment of MHPSS needs of children, adolescents, youths, and families in Gaza, and ensure that these are appropriately reflected in oPt CO CP/MHPSS programme strategy and proposals.
• Identify training needs of SCI and partners’ MHPSS teams across sectors in Gaza, and assist the –contextualization of training modules, MHPSS implementation tools and awareness raising activities for staff, volunteers, key community members and partners’ staff on various topics.
• Lead the scale up of the PSS programme including assessment of new areas, recruitment of human resources and identification of MHPSS staff.
• Invest in building positive relationships with the communities, raising awareness of MHPSS work.
• Support the formulation and implementation of quarterly and monthly action plans for the main MHPSS activities.
• Coordinate with Child Protection and Other Specialists
• Under the guidance of the MHPSS TA, ensure that adequate mechanisms for safe identification and referral of MHPSS needs are in place in SCI and partners’ operations in Gaza, and provide the relevant technical support and capacity building to staff as required.
• Perform other functions relative to Child Protection activities and initiatives that may be assigned by the direct supervisor.
• 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.

Monitoring, Evaluation and Accountability

• Work with the-MHPSS TA and MEAL team to develop 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 _MHPSS TA and MEAL team, ensure appropriate, timely and accurate data collection at all PSS staffing levels against agreed indicators to enable both internal and external reporting
• Work with the Regional MHPSS TA and MEAL team to identify and incorporate project suitable accountability mechanisms.

Staff Management, Mentorship, and Development

• Support in ensuring appropriate staffing within the operations component of the project team, within budget parameters.
• In consultation with the MHPSS TA, ensure all project staff understand and are able to perform their roles, identifying areas of development as noted earlier.

Representation & Advocacy & Organizational Learning

• Under the guidance of the MHPSS TA, Help shape broader sector strategies through influence of and leadership within inter-agency coordination forums, ensuring the specific needs of children are being addressed. This may involve representing Save the Children in inter-agency forums in Gaza.
• Document lessons learnt, best practice and case studies to feed into country strategies and programme approaches and contribute to broader sector learning.
• Pro-actively identify and flag to MHPSS TA and ACCM team advocacy opportunities, case studies and research opportunities which link with wider organizational strategic objectives, and support with turning these opportunities into action as appropriate.

In order to be successful you will bring/have:

QUALIFICATIONS

• Advanced degree in psychology, mental health or another relevant field

EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS

Essential

• Minimum 5 years of experience in MHPSS field
• Sound knowledge of protection in humanitarian aid context
• Proven capacity to supervise, and coach staff in child protection technical skills and project management
• experience of designing and managing major donor projects and understanding of donor compliance
• Ability to analyse information, evaluate options, and think and plan strategically.
• Highly developed interpersonal and communication skills including team leading and influencing.
• Experience in capacity building and training of local communities, and protection stakeholders regarding education programming
• Ability to write clear and well-argued assessment and project reports.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills Arabic and English
• Comfortable with high levels of ambiguity and able to take decisions independently in fluid context.
• Commitment to Save the Children values and Child Safeguarding.

Desirable:

• Previous experience of managing a community centre or similar
• Experience in representing an organisation in the coordination mechanism in emergency contexts.
• Experience in working with refugees and returnees.

We offer a competitive package in the context of the sector**. This role is offered on the basis of** national terms and conditions. Application will be reviewed and selected on a rolling basis.

Save the Children promotes a diverse and inclusive work environment, women and people with different abilities are strongly encouraged to apply.

The Organisation

Save the Children works in development and humanitarian contexts with children and partners to help families, communities, and governments identify and use innovations to ensure all children survive, learn and are protected.

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 realize 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 environment where ambition, creativity, and integrity are highly valued.