Action Against Hunger is currently looking to fill the role of a Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Officer whose primary role is to provide high-quality psychological assessments, interventions, and care to vulnerable populations, including children, adolescents, adults, and families in Sokoto.
Reporting to: MHPSS Programme Manager
Key Responsibilities:
- Conduct psychological assessments and plan the appropriate interventions and follow-up for the beneficiaries.
- Ensure an appropriate, safe, and confidential environment for psychological interventions (framework to discuss highly emotional issues, set up group rules, values, exercises, etc.), in communities, schools, camps, primary health care centres, community-based organizations, and home visits.
- Ensure the high quality of intervention and care is provided to beneficiaries.
- Ensure regular and proper use of psychometric scales.
- Provide individual and group therapeutic sessions and activities for persons in need, including children, adolescents, adults, families, and persons with specific vulnerabilities, following strictly standard ACF protocols.
- Ensure confidentiality and proper documentation of clinical details in the patient file.
- Ensure referrals to specialized services (MHPSS, Health, Protection, etc.) when needed, according to ACF protocols and national standards; Follow-up the quality of care provided by partnering agencies and actors; follow up closely on protection issues.
- Provide staff care to health workers and community helpers, according to ACF protocols and national policies.
- Provide psychological support remotely if needed (in case of no access to the field).
- Prepare (with the program manager) and conduct training for general practitioners, nurses, midwives, health workers, and psychosocial workers in primary health care centers, hospitals, on MHPSS, protection and care practices, according to ACF international standards (like mhGAP, PM+, IPT, Thinking Healthy, child development, basic helping skills, Life skills, Social and Emotional skills, etc).
- Conduct regular on-the-job and group supervision of trained non-specialists, including technical support, case management, patients’ assessments, and counselling skills.
- Assist the ACF psychosocial workers in preparing and conducting training and technical supervision for community-based organizations and stakeholders (conduct training in the absence of psychosocial workers).
- Contribute to the training and supervision of ACF psychosocial workers and ACF teams of other departments (particularly on Psychological First Aid and psychosocial/protection issues and referral).
- Ensure the high-quality standard of capacity building.
- Participate actively in clinical and technical supervision conducted by the Program Manager and HoD MHPSS, proposing monthly case studies.
- Contribute to the design of sectoral guidelines, protocols, SOPs, and methodologies of work for tailored interventions.
- As defined by the project manager, contribute to any other project activity, including multi-sectoral integrated activities, psychoeducation and awareness sessions and campaigns, needs assessments, gender and protection risks assessments, mapping of actors and services, workshops, selection of beneficiaries, identification of vulnerable groups, planning of activities, etc.;
- Permanently evaluate needs and gaps related to MHPSS and protection, report challenges, suggest project improvements for implementation and propose new interventions.
- Contribute to data collection, monitoring, evaluation, and reporting on a daily, weekly and monthly basis, according to ACF tools and processes; Guarantee and ensure the confidentiality of beneficiaries’ information and data collection at any time, and for any activity.
- Understand and follow the logistic, financial, HR, and security procedures enabling the project implementation.
- Collaborate actively with other ACF departments.
- Contribute to represent ACF at the field level through meetings with implementing partners, INGOs and NGOs, cluster and working group coordination, on request of the program manager and HoD MHPSS.
- Ensure adherence to ACF gender requirements; commit and comply with ACF gender, age, and diversity principles.
- Support the implementation and the promotion of gender, age, and diversity principles at any time during activities.
Additional Responsibilities
- This job description is not intended to be all-inclusive and the employee will also perform other related tasks as required, and be responsible for reporting and communication of progress and achievement of the specific assigned task.
- Maintenance of high technical standards;
- Professionally conduct all duties following ACF Nigeria mission staff regulations, ACF mandate and charter, including promotion of gender equality.
Position Requirements:
- Degree in psychology, counselling (master’s degree and clinical psychology and mental health counselling are assets)
- Minimum of 2 years professional experience in MHPSS, protection and/or care practices, covering psychological assessment, counselling, follow-up, case management and referral
- Experience in a humanitarian context, with vulnerable populations, IDPs, refugees and/or host communities, MHPSS IASC, WHO, and community-based guidelines
- Has experience in training and supervision of health workers and community members
- Good communication skills, including fluency in Hausa and English Languages
- Willingness and ability to travel in remote areas, where services are limited.