Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) Technical Advisor

TITLE: Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) Technical Advisor
TEAM/PROGRAMME: Programme Development and Quality
LOCATION: Damascus
GRADE: Grade 3
CONTRACT LENGTH:12 months

CHILD SAFEGUARDING:
Level 3: the role 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 in country programs; or are visiting country programs; or because they are responsible for implementing the police checking/vetting process staff.
ROLE PURPOSE:
The MHPSS Technical Advisor provides overall technical leadership for Mental Health and Psychosocial Support programming across the Syria Country Office (SCO), ensuring that MHPSS programmes are high quality, evidence-informed, -systematically integrated across sectors and aligned with Save the Children and international standards.

A key part of the role is to lead and quality-assure MHPSS inputs into programme design, concept notes and proposals, ensuring that technical approaches, activities, indicators and budgets are coherent, realistic and responsive to identified needs.

The Advisor also supports the integration of MHPSS across existing thematic programmes, particularly Child Protection, Education, Health, Nutrition and other relevant sectors, so that MHPSS is embedded within programme design and implementation rather than delivered only as a stand-alone intervention.

The role further leads technical quality assurance, harmonisation of MHPSS approaches and tools, capacity strengthening of staff and partners, technical guidance to field teams, and contributes to assessments, learning, reporting and programme development. The Advisor represents Save the Children in relevant MHPSS coordination mechanisms, technical forums and strategic partnerships and supports identification of opportunities for future programme development and funding.
SCOPE OF ROLE:
The main purpose of this role is to provide strong technical leadership in the SCI Syria response Office on Mental health & Psychosocial Support. The aim is to enhance the breadth and quality of MHPSS work delivered by SCI and its Partners, bringing immediate and lasting changes in the lives of children.

Focus of the role will be on technical capacity building, programme quality assurance on MHPSS intervention and ensuring MHPSS is properly integrated across the sectors in a technically sound fashion.

Reports to: Director Programme Development and Quality

Dimensions:
Staff directly reporting to this post: No direct reports. Coordination with other Tas CP TA, Edu TA, Ops staff in AOs, Global MHPSS TAs
KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:
Technical Leadership & Strategy
• Provide overall technical leadership and strategic direction for MHPSS programming across the Syria Country Office (SCO), ensuring alignment with Save the Children standards, IASC guidance, the MHPSS Minimum Service Package and relevant evidence-based approaches.
• Lead on developing country strategy for MHPSS as part of CSP process
• Lead the - formulation and continuous improvement of the SCO MHPSS strategic approach, ensuring alignment with SC’s overarching strategic priorities, as well as coherence across projects, field locations and implementing partners.
• Advise SCO senior management, Programme Development and Quality, Operations and Area Offices on MHPSS priorities, technical risks, emerging needs and strategic opportunities.
• Lead and support ongoing analysis of MHPSS needs, service gaps and contextual developments, ensuring findings inform SCO strategy, programme priorities, proposals and technical decision-making.
• Promote appropriate integration of MHPSS across Child Protection, Education, Health, Nutrition, FSL and other relevant sectors.
• Support the selection, contextualisation and institutionalisation of scalable, replicable and contextually appropriate MHPSS models for children, adolescents, caregivers and other priority groups including IDPs and returnees
1. Programme Quality & Technical Standards
• Establish and maintain minimum technical standards for MHPSS programming across SCO-supported projects and partners.
• Provide technical oversight and quality assurance for MHPSS interventions, including review and approval of technical approaches, implementation tools, guidance materials and intervention adaptations.
• Ensure MHPSS activities are implemented in line with approved technical models, safeguarding requirements and relevant international standards.
• Lead the harmonisation of MHPSS approaches, tools and implementation standards across field locations and partners to strengthen consistency and quality.
• Support Area Offices and programme teams to identify implementation gaps and introduce appropriate corrective actions, adaptations or additional technical support.
• Facilitate documentation of learning, good practice and technical lessons to support continuous programme improvement across the SCO.
2. Capacity Strengthening & Supervision
• Lead assessment of MHPSS technical capacity needs among SCO staff, implementing partners and relevant frontline personnel.
• Develop and oversee structured capacity-strengthening plans, including training, coaching, mentoring, technical supervision and follow-up support.
• Support the development and adaptation of MHPSS training packages, implementation tools, facilitator materials and technical guidance for staff and partners.
• Support the establishment or continuation of a technical supervision and coaching structure for all staff engaged in providing MHPS supports to children and caregivers; directly Provide - technical supervision and coaching for the MHPSS officers MHPSS focal points, and ensure that psychosocial workers, case workers, community-based staff and other relevant personnel have access to technical support and supervision as required while maintaining clear distinction between technical supervision and line management.
• Strengthen competency-based approaches to MHPSS capacity development, moving beyond training attendance toward demonstrated knowledge, skills, safe practice and appropriate use of supervision.
• Work with Area Offices and partners to identify performance or quality gaps and determine whether these relate to competency, supervision, tools, systems or implementation conditions.
• Promote sustainable partner capacity and progressively strengthen local ownership of high-quality MHPSS programming.
3. Programme Design, Evidence & MEAL
• Provide technical leadership and inputs to the design of new MHPSS programmes, concept notes, proposals, budgets and donor submissions across the SCO.
• Ensure programme design is informed by needs assessments, contextual analysis, evidence, participant perspectives and recognised MHPSS standards.
• Work closely with the MEAL team to - harmonise MHPSS indicators, monitoring frameworks, quality-assurance tools and appropriate outcome measures, ensuring alignment with SC’s global MHPSS M&E architecture.
• Strengthen monitoring of intervention quality, fidelity, reach, inclusion, referral completion and participant outcomes, rather than relying solely on activity-level reporting.
• Support the design and technical review of assessments, evaluations, learning exercises and research related to MHPSS.
• Promote systematic use of programme evidence and learning to adapt interventions, inform future design and strengthen SCO-level technical decision-making.
• Ensure MHPSS evidence and learning are captured and translated into practical recommendations, technical guidance and programme improvements.
4. Coordination, Representation & Partnerships
• Serve as the SCO technical focal point for MHPSS and represent Save the Children in relevant national, sub-national and inter-agency MHPSS coordination mechanisms, technical working groups and task forces.
• Represent SCO in relevant donor, partner and technical discussions on MHPSS, as required.
• Build and maintain strong technical relationships with national and local partners, UN agencies, NGOs, government counterparts and other relevant stakeholders.
• Coordinate closely with SCO Technical Advisers, Programme Development and Quality, Operations, Area Offices, regional and global MHPSS colleagues to ensure coherent technical support and integrated programming.
• Identify and develop strategic partnerships that strengthen the quality, reach and sustainability of child- and family-focused MHPSS programming.
• Contribute technical perspectives to advocacy, coordination and resource-mobilisation discussions relevant to MHPSS.
• Promote learning and exchange across SCO field locations and external partners, ensuring emerging good practice and technical challenges are shared and addressed collectively.

Safeguarding
• 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.
• Encourage and facilitate quality assurance of MHPSS tools and approaches in close collaboration with the CPI.

SKILLS AND BEHAVIOURS (our Values in Practice)
Accountability:
• Holds self-accountable for making decisions, managing resources efficiently, achieving results together with children 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
• Creates a managerial environment in-country to lead, enable and maintain our culture of child safeguarding

Ambition:
• Sets ambitious and challenging goals for self and team, takes responsibility for own personal development and encourages team to do the same
• Widely shares personal vision for Save the Children, engages and motivates others
• Future oriented, thinks strategically and on a global scale

Collaboration:
• Builds and maintains effective relationships, with own team, colleagues, members, donors and partners
• 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
• Always acts in the best interests of children

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE:
Essential
•Master’s degree in psychology, mental health, or relevant field, with at least 5 years of progressively responsible professional experience in MHPSS; or
•Significant professional experience providing technical leadership for MHPSS programming in humanitarian, protracted-crisis or fragile settings, preferably including the Syria or wider Middle East context.
•Strong technical knowledge of community-based MHPSS, child and adolescent MHPSS, scalable psychological and psychosocial interventions, and relevant global standards, including the IASC MHPSS Guidelines and MHPSS Minimum Service Package.
•Demonstrated experience in programme quality assurance, including development/adaptation of technical guidance and tools, monitoring implementation quality, technical supervision and strengthening staff and partner competency.
•Strong experience in programme design and proposal development, including translating assessed MHPSS needs into technically sound approaches, activities, indicators, budgets and donor proposals.
•Demonstrated ability to integrate MHPSS across sectors, particularly Child Protection, Education, Health and Nutrition, while maintaining appropriate technical standards, roles and referral pathways.
•Proven experience in capacity strengthening of national and local partners, including capacity assessment, training, coaching, technical supervision and longer-term organisational strengthening.
•Experience working with MEAL teams on MHPSS assessments, indicators, monitoring frameworks, learning and evidence generation, and using findings to improve programme quality.
•Strong coordination, communication and influencing skills, with the ability to work effectively with field teams, technical colleagues, partners, UN agencies, donors and relevant authorities across complex and sensitive operating environments.
•Strong analytical and writing skills, including the ability to produce high-quality technical guidance, assessments, proposals, reports and strategic recommendations.
•Fluency in Arabic and English, written and spoken.

Desirable
•Direct experience working in Syria and strong understanding of the operational, cultural and MHPSS service environment across different areas of the country.
•Experience supporting localisation and transition of technical capacity to national and local organisations and systems.
•Experience representing an organisation in MHPSS coordination mechanisms, technical working groups and donor discussions.
•Knowledge of Kurdish or other languages relevant to the Syria context is an asset.

“Save the Children does not charge any fees or request any form of payment at any stage of the recruitment process”