Mental Health Technical Advisor

Mental Health Technical Advisor, Global Health

Location:
District of Columbia
United States / Remote-US

Project HOPE is an international NGO of more than 900 engaged employees and hundreds of volunteers who work in more than 25 countries, responding to the world’s most pressing global health challenges. Throughout our 60-year legacy, Project HOPE has treated millions of patients and provided more than $3 billion worth of medicines to local health care organizations around the world. We have helped build hundreds of health programs from the ground up and responded to humanitarian crises worldwide.

Code of Conduct

It is our shared responsibility and obligation to treat each other with respect, take affirmative steps to prevent matters involving Sexual Exploitation & Abuse and Trafficking in Persons, and to disclose all potential and actual violations of our Code of Conduct, which may include Conflicts of Interest, Fraud, Corruption, Discrimination or Harassment. Together we can reinforce a culture of respect, integrity, accountability, and transparency.

POSITION SUMMARY:

The Mental Health Technical Advisor will be responsible for managing and building cohesive, well-coordinated and high-quality psychosocial response for Project HOPE’s global programs, in line with global standards and the latest research. The Technical Advisor will ensure a holistic and integrated approach to addressing the Mental Health and Pschyco-Social Support (MHPSS) needs in both humanitarian assistance of refugees affected by conflict and crisis across multiple country offices who assist refugees, asylum seekers and internally displaced persons (IDPs) as well as global health programs where co-morbidities are becoming a key concern (HIV and Mental Health, HIV and GBV, MNCH and Mental Health and TB and Mental Health etc.).

S/he will provide psychosocial technical direction, leadership and training to ongoing programs and country office staff to ensure that MHPSS are streamlined across regions yet contextualized for regional nuances; and will support capacity building of country office staff (psychologists and non-psychologists) to have sufficient resources and expertise to ensure quality programing to meet the psychological and psychosocial needs of refugees. The Technical Advisor will facilitate communication with field programs to efficiently support field operations.

PRINCIPAL RESPONSIBILITIES:

Thought Leadership and Strategy

• Provides thought leadership and technical expertise and related global mental health needs in Humanitarian Settings and Global Health Development programs; identifies developmental opportunities and shapes the strategic direction.
• Remains informed on current state-of-the-art programs in international mental health interventions, through the review of literature and articles, and maintains links with other international bodies which specialize in this issue.
• Develops guidance, tools, case studies, models, and other materials related to mental health programming to promote learning across country offices.
• Organizes and leads the global mental health related strategic program and project planning and development.

Program Management

• Provides technical assistance and capacity building including support for the design, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation of mental health interventions implemented by Project HOPE and national and local partners.
• Leads development, implementation, and monitoring of the global mental health programs to achieve programmatic goals while ensuring that project resources are utilized by donors and Project HOPE policies and procedures.
• Provides leadership in assessing and improving the interventions and methodology and internal work processes to ensure flexibility and responsiveness to the needs of participating grantees and institutional partners and to achieve programmatic objectives.
• Leads the country teams in implementing new project to achieve organizational goals and objectives.
• Oversees the development and management of project monitoring and evaluation activities, ensuring that quality data is available for documenting and reporting successes, strategic decision-making, and future program development
• Serves as the senior cost center manager for identified program areas. This includes supervising budget development, monitoring and forecasting costs, and spending analysis to enhance programs and ensure appropriate and effective funds utilization.
• Defines and acts on tasks, participates in planning, supports professional development, conducts performance reviews, and motivates staff to improve work performance and employee satisfaction.
• Ensures timely generation of support supervision plans for trainees at the different levels as will be communicated by the MHPSS Specialist.

Business Development and Growth

• Supports the Director of Business Development to design, draft, and edit proposals in the mental health field in new proposal development
• Develops scopes of work, project deliverables and monitoring and evaluation indicators and targets together with the Business Development team for grant and service delivery partners as required.

• Support the Business Development, Development department, Country Directors, RDs, country, and other technical staff to prepare M&E sections, including developing the M&E narrative, indicators, and PITT tables within identified proposals
• Actively represents the Mental Health area, promoting its programs and methodologies and contributing to Project HOPE’s reputation of excellence through peer-to-peer, institutional “twinning,” capacity building, and service to target countries.

Partnerships and Representation

• Serve as a focal point for cross-organizational learning in mental health, assisting with the development of research studies case studies of successes and lessons learned, and other publications to highlight PROJECT HOPE’s niche areas of expertise and value added.
• Oversees establishing and implementing global partnerships, including solicitation and selection, partner orientation, ongoing support and guidance, approval and monitoring of program work plans and budgets, and evaluation.
• Oversees the planning, coordination, and implementation of mental health related country and regional conferences, workshops, and other related activities.
• Serves as liaison to the funding agency, other donor agencies, and the general public regarding Project HOPE’s Mental Health programs.
• As possible, represents PROJECT HOPE and its projects in professional and public settings, and makes presentations at professional meetings and conferences.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

• Master’s degree or higher in mental health, social work, clinical psychology, or related field
• Psychiatrist (highly desirable) or psychologist with a minimum of 10 years of experience working on MHPSS programs in humanitarian settings in global setting
  • refugees, asylum seekers, and other vulnerable immigrant populations.

• Documentation of models, case studies, and/or the development of other written tools and resources for practitioners;
• Knowledge of the IASC MHPSS guidelines in emergency settings

• mh-GAP training and supervision experience strongly preferred
• Capacity building/curriculum development experience in community-based PSS programming.
• 10 years of experience in global mental health programming. Experience must include at least two years of experience in a developing country setting, and/or in planning, development, and implementation of US-based mental health programming for Training staff and implementing partners on the provision of mental health services to marginalized and/or vulnerable populations, including specific intervention methodologies and industry best practices.

• Experience with technical writing for funding proposals strongly preferred
• Excellent oral and written English language communication skills
• Experience in setting up global MHPSS programs in rapid onset disaster/natural disaster settings or working on global health comorbidities
• Management, training and supervision experience required
• Strong organizational and supervisory skills and interpersonal skills with the ability to work within different cultural environments
• Forward and Strategic Thinking– Has an understanding of broad and interconnected systems within which Project HOPE works, and able to articulate intersectionality of technical expertise where others may not see.
  • Able to provide thoughtful contributions to the strategic process.
  • Able to monitor and make recommendations on how to respond to changing conditions.
• Technical Expertise – Develops solutions to new or highly complex problems that cannot be solved using existing methods or approaches.
• Written Communications– Uses audience appropriate business writing style.
• Teamwork and collaboration– Ability to work within a team structure or in isolation, flexible, and can cope with stressful environment with limited resources
  • Promotes and generates cooperation among one’s peers in leadership to achieve a collective outcome; fosters the development of a common vision and fully participates in creating a unified leadership team that get results.
  • Able to leverage relationships across offices or Project HOPE partner companies to broaden teams’ knowledge and understanding of internal resources for collaboration.
• Change Management– Initiates the change process and energizes it on an ongoing basis through facilitating groups or teams to problem-solve and think creatively to develop and implement new approaches or systems. Helps employees to develop a clear understanding of what they will need to do differently, because of changes in the organization. Implements or supports various change management activities (e.g., communications, education, team development, coaching).
• Detail-Oriented or Thoroughness– Identifies the specific information needed to clarify a situation or to decide. Carefully reviews and checks the accuracy of information in work reports (e.g., quarterly or project closure reports, budget proposals and revisions, etc.) provided by management teams, or other individuals and groups.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS AND WORK ENVIRONMENT:

The physical demands and work environment characteristics described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Physical demands:

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee must be mobile in an office environment and able to use standard office equipment.
• Must be able to communicate in verbal and written form and must be able to travel internationally.
• Project HOPE employees may be required to travel or work in countries where working conditions are classified as “hardship.”

Work environment:

• Typical office environment with exposure to a minimal noise level.
• Emergency deployments may be in resource-deprived environments with austere living conditions.
• Travel for extended periods may be by air and/or other modes of transportation.
• While international travel is not a regular part of every job, programmatic needs may require it intermittently.
• Project HOPE employees may be required to travel or work in countries where working conditions are classified as “hardship

Salary range starting at $95,000 USD per year. Compensation for the role is dependent on several factors including a candidate’s qualifications, skills, and experience. Project HOPE offers comprehensive benefits as part of the total compensation package including health, dental, vision and life insurance, 403(b), paid leave, and much more. For more information about our benefits please visit our benefits page.

Due to the substantial number of inquiries, we receive, only candidates who have met the required experience & qualifications for this position will be considered. No phone calls please.

However, since we are active around the world in the field of public health, we may wish to retain your CV in our database for other/future opportunities, unless you direct us otherwise.

Thank you for your interest in Project HOPE.