MHPSS Officer

CHILD SAFEGUARDING:
Level 3: the post 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 country programs; or are visiting country programs; or because they are responsible for implementing the police checking/vetting process staff.

ROLE PURPOSE:
Provide high quality individual and group support to children, adolescents, their caregivers and teachers, provide high-level technical assistance to MHPSS program staff, lead the setting up and delivery of Iraq MHPSS programs for children, adolescents, their caregivers and teachers and contribute to high quality of proposals and reporting.

SCOPE OF ROLE:
Reports to: Child Protection Coordinator/MHPSS Manager
Staff reporting to this post: No staff reporting but consequent coordination with other officers, facilitators, community mobilizers and caseworkers.

Budget Responsibilities: None

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:

Under supervision of MHPSS Supervisor and MHPSS Specialist:
* Provide high quality individual and group support to children, adolescents, their caregivers and their teachers, through the use of evidence based MHPSS techniques that build beneficiaries’ coping strategies, trust, resilience and self-confidence in a durable way.
* Conduct MHPSS needs-assessments to identify the MHPSS needs of girls and boys in schools and out of the schools , in addition to the assessments of the capacities of the teachers and wellbeing staff in schools and targeted communities.
* Building the capacities of the parents and caregivers in providing support to the children at homes through training them and equipping them with resources.
* Support Child Protection staff through MHPSS training.
* Support MHPSS team and in coordination with the MHPSS specialist, to identify severe cases to be referred to psychological/psychiatric service providers in the area.
* Conduct MHPSS capacity building for community members & partners
* Support partners in planning and implementing MHPSS activities in their areas and provide all needed trainings to ensure efficient and quality implementation.
* Conduct MHPSS awareness raising events.
* Ensure that MHPSS activities at field level have sufficient resources at hand to build capacity, monitor, quality-assure, capture evidence and learning, and help in developing further in their ability to provide quality and needs-based MHPSS interventions.
* Identify training needs of the MHPSS teams and support the MHPSS specialist in the development and conducting of training modules, MHPSS implementation tools and awareness raising activities for staff, volunteers, key community members and partners’ staff on various topics.
* Lead on 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;
* Support in the continuous assessment of MHPSS needs of children, adolescents, their caregivers and teachers and ensure that these are appropriately reflected in field offices’ contextual strategies.
* Support the designing of children, adolescents and youth and family assessments and M&E tools and supervise their administration.
* Invest in building positive relationships with the communities, with specific focus on caregivers and teachers and raising awareness of MHPSS work;
* Participate in regular national meetings with other MHPSS focal points in each intervention location, in order to provide and receive technical support to MHPSS program staff.
* Work with cultural sensitivity and respect the dignity of refugees and members of the host communities at all times
* Perform other functions relative to Child Protection activities and initiatives that may be assigned by the direct supervisor.
* Respect boundaries of work and technical capacity and do not engage in harmful practice.
* Ensure that in all interventions and support provided, gender equality is guaranteed.
* Set-up of safe mechanisms for responding to the needs of vulnerable children at individual level;
* 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.
* Roll out of SCI common approaches for MHPSS and socializing the common approaches on interagency levels and governmental related entities.
* Maintain appropriate records of activities & input and share data through the MEAL system.

Monitoring, Evaluation and Accountability

* Support the MEAL team and in coordination with the MHPSS Specialist, the MEAL framework, and support in MHPSS assessments.
* Provide technical support to MHPSS staff in terms of technical and/or sensitive assessments and monitoring and evaluation.
* Work with the MHPSS Specialist and MEAL team to identify and incorporate project suitable accountability mechanisms.

BEHAVIOURS (Values in Practice)

Accountability:
* holds self-accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving 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.
Ambition:
* sets ambitious and challenging goals for themselves and their team, takes responsibility for their own personal development and encourages their team to do the same
* widely shares their personal vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates others
* Future orientated, thinks strategically and on a global scale.
Collaboration:
* builds and maintains effective relationships, with their team, colleagues, Members and external partners and supporters
* 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; demonstrates highest levels of integrity
QUALIFICATIONS

Required
* Degree in psychology, mental health, social work, counselling or other relevant field
* Minimum 2 years of experience in MHPSS field
* Sound knowledge of protection in humanitarian aid context specifically in Iraq
* Proven capacity to supervise, and coach staff in child protection technical skills and project management
* Highly developed interpersonal and communication skills including team leading and influencing.
* Experience in capacity building and training of local communities, and protectıon stakeholders regarding education programming
* 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.
* The work is based in (Duhok) and have access to or regular meetings and trainings.
* The applicant may also be required to attend trainings inside or outside Iraq.
* Priority will be given to applicants from program location (Duhok province).

EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS

* Previous experience of managing a community centre MHPSS project or similar
* Experience in working with host communities, refugees and returnees.
* Experience in working with local partners

Additional job responsibilities
The duties and responsibilities as set out above are not exhaustive and the role holder may be required to carry out additional duties within reasonableness of their level of skills and experience.

Equal Opportunities
The role holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with the SCI Equal Opportunities and Diversity policies and procedures.

Child Safeguarding:
We need to keep children safe so our selection process, which includes rigorous background checks, reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.

Safeguarding our Staff:
The post holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with the SCI anti-harassment policy

Health and Safety
The post holder is required to carry out the duties in accordance with SCI Health and Safety policies and procedures.

Female candidates are highly encourage to apply for this position.

The Organisation

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.

We need to keep children safe so our selection process, which includes rigorous background checks, reflects our commitment to the protection of children from abuse.

Save the Children does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process.