Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) Manager

Job Description

Background/IRC Summary:

The Syria crisis is often described as the worst humanitarian catastrophe since the end of the Cold War. Today, 13.4 million people in Syria - more than half of the country's population - are in need of humanitarian assistance with needs increasingly being exacerbated by economic decline. Of these, 6.8 million are refugees and asylum-seekers who have fled the country. This is no short-term humanitarian episode. The devastating human consequences to huge numbers of people will endure for decades. The destruction of relationships, communities, livelihoods, homes and infrastructure will take years to repair.

IRC is offering a robust humanitarian response to the Syria crisis a rapidly expanding portfolio, supported by more than 1000+ staff in Syria Country Program. IRC is undertaking programs in Syria and the neighboring countries of Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan in the fields of health, child protection, early childhood development, education, women’s protection and empowerment, non-food items and food distribution, cash assistance, water and sanitation, protection and rule of law, and livelihood programming. Our work in these challenging settings gives rise to some of the most pressing issues facing contemporary humanitarian action, including questions of access, security, funding and coordination.

Job Overview/Summary

The mental health and psychosocial support manager will be responsible for the overall technical oversight of MHPSS services for the IRC Northwest Syria/Turkey-based MHPSS programs. The MHPSS Manager will provide technical support to IRC-supported MHPSS programs in Syria and Turkey on clinical management of mental health conditions and coordinate the integration of MHPSS within health programs using the WHO/ UNHCR Mental Health Gap Action Program (mhGAP) training and guidelines. This position is key to ensuring quality MHPSS services provided by the IRC in Northwest Syria and Turkey.

Responsibilities:

Technical Program Management:

- Provide strategic direction, leadership, and overall management to Mental Health and psychosocial program in Northwest Syria/Turkey. - Build the capacity of the MHPSS team through providing context-specific training in line with WHO/UNHCR mhGAP intervention guidelines, and ongoing mentorship and supportive supervision. - In coordination and collaboration with the field staff set up a system to monitor the day-to-day MHPSS activities. - Review monthly mental health reports. - Set up a mechanism for capturing and sharing standard methodologies and lessons learnt among MHPSS health teams. - Provide MHPSS technical support to mental health, community health teams as well as IRC partner organizations. - Provide remote training, mentorship, and monitoring and evaluation assistance to psychologists providing psychological interventions, working inside the IRC-supported health facilities. - Coordinate with the mental health providers to ensure standardized data collection tools are used across mental health teams; with a special focus on tracking referrals and follow-up. - Collaborate with local partners to set up and coordinate community-based non-specialized MHPSS activities.

General Project & Grant Management

- Collaborate with the partnership team to support the growth of the partner strategy and transition of facilities. - Coordinate the collection and management of the Mh-GAP information management system. - Proactively engage the Health and M&E Teams to ensure efficient workflow and coordination to provide high-quality care to patients. - Set up mechanisms that ensure efficient mental health information management including information privacy and security and retrieval. - Work with local partner organizations and IRC teams to conduct regular analysis of MHPSS data collected from field teams in order to note trends and inform the program accordingly, as well as share information via reports as needed. - Coordinate timely information sharing between IRC teams and other implementing partners regarding challenges and needs at the field level. - Represent IRC in internal and external forums as needed, MHPSS sub-working technical group. - Participate in the regular MHPSS service mapping in coordination with the health cluster and MHPSS technical working group. - Other tasks as requested by supervisor.

Qualifications

- Advanced degree in psychology or counseling with psychotherapy, and clinical work experience. - Minimum of 4 years of relevant work experience in psychosocial support/psychology, in clinical and/or direct practice settings. - Knowledgeable in and has used the IASC MHPSS guidelines and standard methodologies as part of their previous work experience. - Strong experience in clinical supervision, training, and or coaching others. Experience in assessment, program design, evaluation, and technical training and supervision using WHO’s mental health gap action program (Mh-GAP). - Experience in working with partners to implement programs. - Solid understanding of case management and survivor-centered care in humanitarian settings and familiarity with both NWS and Turkey contexts. - Strong understanding of humanitarian principles and standards. - Strong interpersonal skills demonstrating the ability to collaborate closely with partner organizations, strong written and oral communication skills, with the ability to communicate effectively with different types of people, including representation and liaison with external parties. - The ability to work under pressure with competing priorities and deadlines. - Full professional competency in Microsoft Office Suite, especially Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint.

Demonstrated Skills and Competencies:

- A commitment to IRC’s mission, vision, values, and IRC Way – Professional Code of Conduct. - Credible written, presentation, and verbal communication skills; ability to convey information effectively and solid experience providing training and staff development. - Validated a sense of professional discretion, integrity, and ability to handle complex situations diplomatically and to effective resolution. - Excellent management and interpersonal skills and a solid ability to promote harmonious/cohesive teamwork, in a cross-cultural context. - Validated ability to plan long-term, organize priorities and work under administrative and programmatic pressures with detail orientation and professional patience. - Highly collaborative and resourceful; ability to establish positive working relationships with senior level management and all other partners to maximize cooperation and productivity. - Curiosity, a desire to continually learn and develop and a sense of humor is a must. - Analytical ability in creating effective solutions to complex matters while adhering to labor laws and internal policies.

Language/Travel:

- Fluency in English is required. Arabic and Turkish are assets. - Travel: Up to 15% to field sites in NWS and across Turkey as well as attending regional and global workshops and meetings.

Key Working Relationships:

- Position Reports to Health Coordinator. - Position directly supervises Senior MHPSS officer. - Key Internal Contacts: Country Program: Technical MHPSS advisor, Health Coordinator, Senior Health Manager, Health Manager, Community Health Manager, Senior Health Officer, IM officer, Pharma Specialist, Field Management, and Humanitarian Access and Security Manager in Syria. - Key External Contacts: IRC’s partner organizations, health clinics, and other NGOs

Applications will be received till Monday June 26th,2023.

Professional Standards: IRC staff must adhere to the values and principles outlined in IRC Way – Global Standards for Professional Conduct. These are Integrity, Service, Accountability and Equality. In accordance with these values, IRC operates and carries out policies on Beneficiary Protection from Exploitation and Abuse, Child Safeguarding, Anti-Workplace Harassment, Respect at Work Fiscal Integrity, and Anti-Retaliation.

Returning National Candidates: We strongly encourage national or returning national candidates to apply for this position. If you are a citizen of the Country in which this position is based and are currently located outside of your home country and possess over two years of international work experience, the Middle East Region has introduced an attractive remuneration package. The package includes competitive compensation, return flight to post, shipping allowance, temporary housing and a relocation allowance. Certain restrictions may apply. IRC strives to attract, motivate and retain qualified national staff in our programs.

Accountability to Clients: IRC staff must adhere to the commitment of contributing to the sustainability and development of its (CR) Client Responsiveness Mechanisms, preserving the culture of prioritizing the needs of our clients and affected communities by systematically listening to their perspectives and using their feedback to make programmatic decisions and give them greater influence over program design and delivery.

Gender Equality: IRC is committed to narrowing the gender gap in leadership positions. We offer benefits that provide an enabling environment for women to participate in our workforce including parental leave, gender-sensitive security protocols and other supportive benefits and allowances.

Diversity and Inclusion: at IRC MENA, we are passionate about creating an inclusive workplace that promotes and values diversity. Organizations that are diverse in age, gender identity, race, sexual orientation, physical or mental ability, ethnicity, nationality, and perspective are validated to be better organizations. More importantly, creating a safe workspace environment where everyone, from any background, can do their best is the right thing to do. So, bring your whole self to work.

IRC is committed to creating a diverse, inclusive, respectful and safe work environment where all persons are treated fairly, with dignity and respect. In keeping with our core values of Integrity, Service, Accountability and Equality, IRC strives to maintain a work environment built on mutual respect in which all individuals treat each other professionally, and free of bias, prejudice, and harassment. IRC expressly prohibits and will not tolerate discrimination, harassment, retaliation, or bullying of IRC Persons in any work setting. All IRC staff, wherever they are located, are accountable for creating an environment free of discrimination, harassment, bullying, and retaliation