Mental Health And Psychosocial Support Officer At Mercy Corps

Program Summary
With funding from USAID's Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA), Mercy Corps' Nawiri Program is leading a consortium of Kenyan and international partners on an eight-year journey to sustainably reduce persistent acute malnutrition in Turkana and Samburu Counties of Kenya. Through a phased approach that emphasizes evidence gap analysis, as well as partnership, learning, and co-creation, the program takes a robust county-centered design with government leadership, active engagement from communities, the private sector, and civil society. Mercy Corps' consortium brings together the global leadership, research capacity, technical expertise, and implementation experience necessary to partner with local institutions to test, adapt, and scale evidence-based solutions. Together we will sustainably reduce persistent acute malnutrition for vulnerable populations in Turkana and Samburu counties.
General Position Summary
The Mental Health and Psycho-Social Support officer will be responsible for integrating and mainstreaming MHPSS dimensions in the Nawiri Program. They will build on an evidence-based, psychosocial, developmental and multi-leveled approach in line with National, Regional and Global standards.
The role will encompass direct support to staff implementing various program interventions and services, alongside capacity building, coaching and supervision of the staff on MHPSS. The MHPSS Officer will act as Focal Point for MHPSS in Samburu and Turkana respectively and will participate in relevant local coordination platforms. They will lead County specific implementation of MHPSS strategies, develop and lead operational planning and implementation roll-out. They will work within tested frameworks including a systems approach, gender lens, adolescent and youth responsiveness, social accountability and evidence-informed frameworks.
They will work collaboratively with other technical teams including the Senior Peace and NRM officer, Health and Nutrition Coordinator, SBC Advisor and the GYSD Coordinator to rationalize the thematic scope of work to drive a community – centered Nawiri activity that meets the MHPSS needs of diverse participants (women, children, adolescents, youth, men, elders and their sub-groups) in their aspirations and motivations to sustainably reduce persistent acute malnutrition.
They will work across sectors of NAWIRI, with consortium team members and counties to build capacity in mainstreaming MHPSS and ensure Do-No-Harm principles are integrated across all program interventions. They will co-lead active learning and rapid adaptations that continuously lead to improved quality design and implementation of MHPSS interventions in the County. They will lead the MHPSS thematic scope's utilization of evidence and data for decision-making, including coordinating thematic-specific assessments and appreciative inquiry. They will support the GYSD lead and Partnership and Capacity Strengthening Manager in the development and implementation of a capacity strengthening plan for county government entities and systems, ensuring contextually appropriate MHPSS dynamics are incorporated into county policies, and making the appropriate connections between evidence, Learning and M&E to ensure results can be tracked, analyzed and reported.
The MHPSS Officer continues to work with other team members to ensure active learning and shaping Nawiri's contextual understanding of the complex causality of persistent acute malnutrition as it relates to the varied needs of children, women, men, girls, and boys. They ensure that MHPSS dimensions of food security, health and resilience are effectively addressed across all activities and components and therefore coordinate closely with partners to fulfill the goals of the program.
Essential Job Functions
Program Management
Contribute to the formulation of MHPSS work plans and ensure the systematic integration of MHPSS priorities and interventions in program delivery
Establish close relationships and patterns of collaborations with key stakeholders in the community around MHPSS priorities
Coordinate and support the implementation of MHPSS or multi-dimensional needs assessments; ensure ongoing assessment/analysis of local context, priorities and needs related to MHPSS
In collaboration with other program teams, contribute to the identification of the most relevant information needed for communities related to MHPSS awareness and knowledge and support the formulation and implementation of relevant community awareness and dialogues.
Conduct/update MHPSS service mappings, provide quality vetting of potential referral options, and establish/maintain referral pathways and mechanisms in collaboration with County mental health focal person
Review and contextualize MHPSS intervention packages, tools, activity plans and key messages, ensuring context relevance and sensitivity
Contribute to developing additional resources and tools if and as required, in line with current evidence
Contribute to developing monitoring plans for the MHPSS portfolio, and support relevant monitoring and reporting activities
Using evidence-based resources, train, coach and support all Nawiri teams in integrating key MHPSS dimensions in their practice – including Basic Helping Skills, PFA, safe identification and referral, paraprofessional counseling etc, in line with the National SOP's and standards of good practice.
Using evidence-based resources, design, plan, coordinate and contribute to implementing mental health promotion and wellbeing activities targeting frontline workers

Team Management
Provide supportive supervision to MHPSS front line volunteers, this includes weekly/bi-weekly individual supervision, monthly group supervision and monthly live/observation supervision following the National and Global standards related to providing supportive supervision.
Assist team members with information, tools and resources to improve performance to attain the objectives.
Create and sustain a work environment of mutual respect where team members strive to achieve excellence.

Influence and Representation
Represent Mercy Corps at government, donor, NGO forums and other relevant events, in close coordination with the Field Director, Deputy Field Director and Purpose lead
Coordinate activities with consortium partners, Local Implementing Partners, local government and other implementers, as well as with other Mercy Corps programs.
Participate in local MHPSS coordination platforms, and other relevant coordination forums

Safeguarding
Actively learns about safeguarding and integrates it into their work, including safeguarding risks and mitigations related to their area of work
Practices the values of Mercy Corps including respecting the dignity and well-being of participants and fellow team members
Encourages openness and communication in their team; encourages team members to submit reports if they have any concerns using reporting mechanisms e.g., Integrity Hotline and other options

Security
Work closely with the County and Country team's security focal points to develop and maintain systems that promote the safety and security of all team members.
Ensure that programs are designed and implemented with a clear analysis and understanding of security.

The MHPSS Officer will not be responsible for providing any counseling or person-focused therapeutic support to staff, this remains the responsibility of the P & C department
Supervisory Responsibility
None

Accountability
Operational and administratively directly report to:Deputy Field Director
Works Directly With:Field Director, Deputy Field Director, NRM and Peace Building team, Systems Strengthening Team, Gender, Youth and Social Dynamics Team, Food security and Livelihoods Team and other thematic officers across the consortium and Local implementers partners.

Accountability to Participants and Stakeholders
Mercy Corps team members are expected to support all efforts toward accountability, specifically to our program participants, community partners, and other stakeholders, and to international standards guiding international relief and development work. We are committed to actively engaging communities as equal partners in the design, monitoring, and evaluation of our field projects.

Minimum Qualification & Transferable Skills
A university degree in psychology, social science, mental health nurse, mental health or relevant degrees
Minimum of 5 years of experience in mental health & psychosocial support (MHPSS) field in the humanitarian context, experience in working in ASAL areas is an asset.
Minimum of 1-year experience providing supportive supervision to MHPSS staff.
Membership with Kenya Counselors & Psychologist Association or any relevant Body
Proficiency in verbal and written English. Understanding of the local language is an asset
Proven capacity to train, supervise, and coach staff in MHPSS technical skills and coordination, based on evidence-based approaches and intervention packages
Comfortable with high levels of ambiguity and able to take decisions independently in fluid context.
Experience working within a development-oriented NGO in environment and pastoralist contexts.
Practical experience in the facilitation of multi-stakeholder MHPSS activities.
Strong communication and analytical skills
Demonstrated interpersonal skills in working within a multidisciplinary team and ability to liaise with government, community leaders, and other stakeholders at all levels including team leading and influencing.
Skills in organizing and facilitating community dialogues, workshops, and training events
Proven ability to conduct him/herself professionally under pressure.
Knowledge on Conflict Sensitivity and Do No Harm approaches.
Qualified female candidates are highly encouraged to apply.

Core Competencies: Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:
Listening: Ability to actively listen (i.e., seeks to understand, asks good questions, paraphrases, and is in tune with speaker's emotional state)
Vulnerability & Courage: Ability to share lack of knowledge, mistakes, or failures; give and receive feedback; and raise difficult questions or concerns
Curiosity: Ability to articulate and explore novel areas of learning that would contribute to greater effectiveness
Systems Thinking: Ability to understand, affect, connect, and leverage various parts of a system while maintaining sight of the whole system
Critical & Reflective Thinking: Ability to analyze and understand situations from a variety of perspectives
Flexibility: Ability to accept the unexpected and adjust to what the situation now requires rather than what was required
Improvement: Ability to recognize and develop personal strengths and areas in need of improvement and adjust style and approach depending on what the situation requires
Decision-Making: Ability to make informed, timely decisions based on a mixture of analysis, evidence, and experience.
Honest Reflexivity: Committed to engaging in and modeling honest reflexivity