War Child flagship Afghanistan program advances social impact in the lives of vulnerable children, women and their families through its Justice, Education and Opportunity programs with child protection and gender across all its programs. The Afghanistan Country Program is currently undergoing an exciting expansion with newly secured long-term funding for programs in eight provinces Kabul, Kandahar, Nangarhar, Balkh, Kundoz, Takhar, Logar and Badakhshan, and will expand its program to other new provinces.

Position summary:

The MHPSS Technical Manager is responsible for the overall and day-to-day management of the MCHCs. She will lead the implementation of MCHC activities in the target communities /locations by overseeing and providing technical support and guidance to the MCHC staff. She will also make sure that the program objectives and expected results are achieved in accordance with the program technical documents.  The position responsibilities include the following three major areas: Program management and technical leadership, Capacity Development, and Monitoring and Reporting

Responsibilities:

Program Management and Technical leadership:

• Support the implementation of the MHPSS program and manage programmatic and technical staff so that the program objectives are achieved in a timely manner.
• Mainstream psychosocial support into all projects; build a resource material for PSS in the project
• Conduct ongoing assessment of MHPSS interventions as well as staff knowledge and skills within Mother Child Health Center (MCHC) and other PSS interventions with attention paid to staff changes and recruitment, and an increase in the number of service delivery sites.
• Develop a plan for PSS (Psychosocial Support) counselor training, mentoring, and supervision, deliver training sessions and maintain intensive follow-up/coaching
• Conduct individual and group supervision sessions/case review meetings with PSS counselors on a regular basis and lead and support ongoing self-care sessions of the front-line staff in collaboration with other project leads.
• Coordinate with UNFPA’s Implementing partners and protection/GBV sub-cluster to strengthen existing referral mechanisms between organization service delivery points and other service providers.
• Represent the organization in MHPSS coordination structures and maintain linkages between the MHPSS Working Group to support information sharing and skills transfer.  
• Contribute to writing proposals, provide inputs in donor reports, and engage in other resource mobilization efforts.
• Ensure the rolling out of SOPs and guidelines shared by donors for Service Delivery Points (SDPs).
• Promote self-care and staff care through a systemic and integrated approach that involves direct support to staff and the provision of orientation sessions on stress management and self-care.

Capacity Development:

• Update the training material tailored to the particular MHPSS intervention designed for the women and girls’ response and prevention intervention and modify as required in collaboration with key cluster specialist.
• Provide orientation and training to all field staff on PSEA policy and code of conduct.
• Support ongoing monitoring of MCHC’s activities to ensure clear guidelines regarding objectives and evaluation.
• Monitor and support the staff to sustain PSS quality through structured supervision and review these mechanisms.
• Contribute to the development of appropriate IEC material to support the training and program implementation for MHPSS interventions and review existing IEC materials to ensure that PSS aspects are included in RH IEC and MHPSS response and prevention messaging.
• Support the ongoing capacity development of the staff to respond to emergency/humanitarian crises with awareness of PSS needs, referral options, and intervention.

Monitoring and Reporting:

• Document training and supervision using tracking tools designed in collaboration with the M&E team
• Conduct a review of MHPSS response and prevention interventions to crisis-affected populations to ensure that all interventions are in line with the Guiding Principles,
• Conduct regular supervision visit to MCHCs (in person and online) and provide the support to the team as needed
• Carry out any other duties as requested by the Program Manager/Coordinator.

Qualification:

Academic Background and Knowledge/ Experience:

• Master’s/ bachelor’s degree with a specialization in psychology, psychosocial implementation, clinical social work, mental health, or any other related field
• Good understanding of international MHPSS programming/ best practices and IASC guidelines.
• Expertise in gender-based violence issues, with a minimum of 4-6 years of progressive humanitarian experience, at least 2 of which should be field-based or in an emergency context.
• Knowledge of multi-sectoral support and survivor-centered approach.
• Proven relevant experience in developing training curriculums, modules, and materials on data management, and MHPSS case management including Psychosocial (PSS) interventions, and Psychosocial First Aid/ MHPSS multi-sectoral services/ PSS prevention and response.
• Demonstrated understanding of issues related to confidentiality, data safety, and other ethical concerns related to the sharing of sensitive data between humanitarian agencies.
• Demonstrated capacity to analyze data/statistics for humanitarian operations.

  Skills:

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills: the ability to successfully and effectively liaise with people in a wide range of functions in a multicultural environment.
• Excellent Computer skills: MS Word, Excel, Access, and database software, including in-depth knowledge of pivot table/chart analysis.
• Possess group facilitation skills.
• Flexibility and willingness to change work practices and hours.
• Ability to work under pressure.
• Culturally sensitive and keep confidentiality 

Interested applicants are invited to send their resume and an accompanying cover letter electronically to:  kabulhr@wcc-afg.org 

War Child is an equal opportunity employer; qualified Afghan women are strongly encouraged to apply.

The closing date is Aug 07, 2024 Please ensure your application email has the subject heading of ‘Mental Health and Psychosocial (MHPSS) Technical Manager (Female) VA# HR/WC-029' Otherwise, your application will not be considered.  Only those applicants selected for Test and an interview will be notified. No phone calls please