Overview
The MHPSS Associate will support the implementation of mental health and psychosocial services within health inclusion initiatives in Melkadida, ensuring coordinated and holistic MHPSS programming integrated across various sectors.
Key Responsibilities
- Support the implementation of quality Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) interventions integrated within public health and protection programming.
- Support the facilitation and implementation of scalable MHPSS interventions, including mhGAP, Problem Management Plus (PM+), Self-Help Plus (SH+), and community-based sociotherapy approaches.
- Assist in strengthening the capacity of staff, partners, health workers, and community structures through training, mentorship, and technical support on MHPSS-related interventions and referral pathways.
- Support community-based approaches including capacity strengthening initiatives.
- Support the identification, coordination, and implementation of suicide prevention and response activities.
- Support the health facility transition and handover process by working closely with RRS, woreda health offices, and Somali Regional Health Bureau to progressively integrate MHPSS services into government-managed facilities.
- Provide technical support and facilitate capacity transfer to government health staff at facility level, ensuring continuity and quality of MHPSS services during the transition to government-led delivery.
- Contribute to the development and implementation of transition plans, with a focus on strengthening integration of MHPSS into primary health care in line with national standards, and institutionalize referral pathways within government systems.
- Contribute to the assessment, monitoring, and analysis of country-level mental health and psychosocial support programmes to inform evidence-based programming and operational planning.
- Assist in documenting promising practices, operational experiences, lessons learned, and evidence-based approaches to strengthen MHPSS inclusion processes, strategic planning, program quality, and community resilience.
Required Experience
- Minimum 2 years relevant work experience.
- Experience implementing and coordinating MHPSS programmes in humanitarian or refugee settings.
- Proven experience in capacity building, mentoring, and use of technical tools for MHPSS, including training staff, partners, and community groups.
- Ability to integrate MHPSS across health, protection, GBV, child protection, education, and community-based programming.
- Demonstrated experience working with government health systems (woreda/regional), supporting service integration and transition to government-led delivery.
- Strong inter-agency coordination and stakeholder engagement skills, including collaboration with government and partners.
- Experience in facilitating scalable MHPSS interventions (mhGAP, PM+, SH+, sociotherapy).
- Experience in strengthening referral pathways and supporting suicide prevention and response activities.
- Experience in emergency preparedness, evidence-based programming, and documentation of lessons learned and best practices.
- Strong communication, analytical, and problem-solving skills, with commitment to protection principles and community resilience approaches.
- Working knowledge of the implementation of IASC Guidelines for Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings, familiarity with IASC Minimum Service Package (MSP) for MHPSS required.
- Familiarity with the refugee context, refugee coordination model, as well as with humanitarian appeals, humanitarian response plans, and common humanitarian funding mechanisms.
- Hands-on field experience at health facility level, covering service delivery, supervision, and quality improvement.
- Experience supporting health system strengthening, service integration, or transition from humanitarian to government-led service delivery, preferably in refugee or displacement contexts.
- Experience in training and implementing MHPSS tools, including Psychological First Aid (PFA), 4Ws mapping, and preferably mhGAP-HIG.
- Experience with scalable psychological interventions is an asset.
- Good understanding of integration of MHPSS in health, protection and other sectors, and experience in capacity building on the MHPSS Minimum Service Package.
- Previous professional experience working in Ethiopia, and in the forced displacement context is an added advantage.
- Experience with evidence-based mental health and psychosocial support programming, including capacity building, mentoring, and use of technical tools for MHPSS.
- Ability to operate effectively in physically and emotionally challenging contexts and adapt to rapidly changing situations.
- Strong networking and stakeholder management skills for building constructive relationships with humanitarian actors, government counterparts, and community structures.
- Demonstrated ability to facilitate capacity transfer to government health staff and support integration of MHPSS into primary health care and referral systems.
- Ability to serve in a capacity-building role, fostering institutional strengthening and service transition at facility and system levels.
- Ability to work independently and collaboratively with Public Health, Protection, and government teams to advance inclusion and transition objectives.
Qualifications
A bachelor’s degree in Psychiatry, Clinical Psychology, Counselling Psychology, mental health. Master’s degree is an added advantage.
