Position: MHPSS Coordinator
Location: Kirkuk
Reports To: Project Manager/ MHPSS Director
Application Deadline: 09 April 2020
Starting Date: Immediately
About You: A motivated mid-career professional looking to work alongside an inspiring, dynamic team of leading human rights workers. The candidate will have exceptional project management skills and embrace a collaborative, team approach to the work they do. This person has experience living and working in challenging operating environments and is eager to apply that experience working on innovative human rights projects that support survivors of torture, their families as well as families of those who had disappeared.
About Heartland Alliance International: Heartland Alliance International’s (HAI) mission is to secure the rights and well-being of marginalized people and communities. HAI envisions a world in which those whose rights have been violated are safe and empowered to actively engage in their communities and be at the forefront of social change.
The Project: HAI is implementing a protection, legal and PSS project in Kirkuk, Hawija and Tuz Khurmato. The project will ensure that internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the target locations can access basic legal rights and protections under Iraqi and international law and have access to mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) services. HAI will provide direct legal services, including legal consultations and case representations, as well as MHPSS services, child protection (CP) services, and services for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV).
Role of the MHPSS Coordinator:
Under the management of the Project Manager, and as a key member of HAI’s MHPSS Technical Unit, the MHPSS Coordinator will provide technical oversight and leadership to support HAI’s mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) and comprehensive case management services for participants in the area of coverage. The MHPSS Coordinator will develop guidance and protocols, identify capacity-building needs and devise and deliver training accordingly, and provide supervision to psychologists and mental health workers to ensure high standards of service delivery. Although the MHPSS Coordinator will be based in Kirkuk, he/she will be expected to travel frequently to Hawija/Tuz Khurmato, for supervision of Hawija/Tuz Khurmato-based staff. He/she will also travel to Sulaymaniyah and/or Erbil to meet with other program staff.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
- Supervise and guide MHPSS and protection service delivery.
- Provide close technical support and supervision to the service delivery team and partner organizations.
- Collaborate closely with the MHPSS Director - Iraq to ensure that MHPSS components of the program are delivered with a high standard of quality and in line with relevant international best practices and trauma-informed care.
- Provide high quality training and coaching to the service delivery team and partner organizations in identified topics associated with MHPSS, SGBV, and child protection.
- Develop guidance, tools, case studies, models, and other materials related to MHPSS programming to promote learning.
- Support and coordinate the mapping of resources and referral options useful to respond to MHPSS needs at different levels (community, primary, secondary and tertiary level) and in different areas in Kirkuk.
- Through strong planning and monitoring, identify potential obstacles to programmatic success in a timely fashion, and implement corrective actions as needed.
- Provide recommendations, suggest adjustments, and make improvements to the project with a specific attention to community’s resilience mechanisms.
- Regularly monitor psychosocial needs of targeted populations and ensure technical appropriateness of the response.
Communication and monitoring and evaluation
- Collaborate closely with project team to continuously assess status of MHPSS services/components’ implementation against project work plan and implement appropriate steps to ensure project is on track in meeting deliverables.
- Contribute to set-up and implementation of the technical monitoring and evaluation tools for MHPSS components of the project’s activities.
- Ensure monitoring and evaluation activities and reporting meet HAI’s standards, and are completed on schedule.
- Support the technical analysis of the data collected through the project.
- Contribute to finalizing program monthly, quarterly, and annual project reports in English.
Communication and representation
- Foster effective communication and teamwork among HAI service providers and with partner organization staff.
- Represent HAI in professional and public settings, including to NGO partners, government officials, funding sources, other partners, beneficiaries, and at conferences, meetings and other outreach opportunities
Other duties: this Job Description is flexible to respond to additional tasks or changes as identified by the direct line manager.
QUALIFICATIONS:
Essential Criteria:
- Bachelor's degree in social work, psychology, or similar field.
- 3 years+ experience as a social worker, psychologist, or in similar field.
- 1 years+ overseeing case management and MHPSS Programming.
- Demonstrated experience providing training, supervision, and oversight to MHPSS service providers.
- Demonstrated experience with survivors of gender-based violence (GBV) strongly preferred
- Demonstrated experience in child protection (CP) strongly preferred
- Strong commitment to human rights and gender equality.
- Excellent interpersonal skills including ability to gain trust and build relationships; strong diplomatic, negotiation, and persuasion skills; ability to proactively problem-solve.
- Comfortable working in a group, as well as independently.
- A demonstrated commitment to high professional ethical standards and humanitarian values.
- Knowledge and understanding of Monitoring and Evaluation concepts.
- Experience with Windows platform, including Word, PowerPoint, Excel, etc.
- Proven ability to calmly, professionally, and successfully manage multiple priorities.
- Ability to work in a stressful setting and adapt quickly to changing environments.
Languages
Required – Fluent in Arabic.
Proficiency in English (read, write and communicate) is preferred.
Personal Competencies: Collaborative spirit and ability to work independently as well as in a team; commitment to knowledge sharing and teamwork; positive attitude and ability to see through challenges to find solutions; and strong interpersonal skills and an ability to clearly communicate, including complex concepts into layperson language.
Resilience: This project will address sensitive issues. Interested applicants should have a strong commitment to addressing the issues with cultural sensitivity, respect, and confidentiality. Candidates should be flexible, have a sense of humor and patience.
Heartland Alliance makes all hiring and employment decisions without regard to race, creed, color, age, gender, gender identity, marital or parental status, religion, ancestry, national origin, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, sexual identity, immigrant status, political affiliation or belief, ex-offender status (depending on the offense and position to be filled), unfavorable military discharge, membership in an organization whose primary purpose is the protection of civil rights or improvement of living conditions and human relations, or HIV infection, in accordance with the Organization's AIDS Policy Statement of September, 1987. Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodation should contact the Human Resources and Administration Office at (312) 660-1431.