Home-based/Denmark: MHPSS Capacity Strengthening Consultant

Job Title: MHPSS Capacity Strengthening Consultant
Department/Section/Team: The MHPSS Collaborative
Work Location (city): Remote, Copenhagen-based an advantage
Employee Responsibility: No
Employment: Consultancy
Duration: Six months, part time (expected average 2 days per week)

1. Background: 

Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) is a critical component of both humanitarian and  development interventions, recognizing the significant impact of mental health and psychosocial well-being on individuals’ and communities’ ability to develop and thrive. Multi-sectoral MHPSS interventions have become a priority globally, aiming to address the psychosocial and emotional needs of individuals affected by crises and promote holistic development.

However, several common challenges persist in the field of MHPSS within both humanitarian and   development settings. The two most critical challenges include limited awareness and understanding of the   importance of addressing mental health and psychosocial needs in humanitarian and development settings, as well as the basic skills and capacity of the workforce to effectively address MHPSS needs. Many staff and   volunteers lack the necessary competencies to provide comprehensive or basic support in MHPSS. Strengthening foundational competencies in MHPSS for various sectors and levels of practitioners is crucial to ensure quality support to affected populations.

The MHPSS Collaborative, hosted by Save the Children Denmark, has been commissioned by the global  Save the Children MHPSS Technical Working Group (TWG) to develop an online e-learning course on foundational competencies for MHPSS. The course will cater to all SC staff globally and be included as part  of the organization’s induction package. The course will in addition be available to all agencies interested, open source and free of charge, through the Humanitarian Leadership Academy’s (HLA) learning platform KayaConnect.org.

2. Scope of the Assignment: 

The objective of this modular e-learning course is to provide Save the Children staff members and interested agencies with a basic understanding of MHPSS and equip them with foundational competencies to effectively understand MHPSS and how it is relevant to their work. The course will focus on building the capacity of participants to enable staff to embed MHPSS-focused knowledge and skills into their daily tasks. This will also contribute to creating a positive and caring working environment.

The course will be delivered through a combination of multimedia content, including for example video, case studies, interactive quizzes and games, practical exercises and adaptive learning, with customised learning paths. The course will be designed with separate learning modules, each module will focus on specific topics, making it easier for learners to digest information.  Learners will have access to an online platform where they can engage with the course materials, interact with fellow learners, and track their progress.

3. Leading Agency: 

The MHPSS Collaborative is a global hub for MHPSS research, innovation, learning and advocacy. We connect key academic and humanitarian actors with local civil society to give children and families in humanitarian settings the possibility to thrive. The MHPSS Collaborative is hosted by Save the Children Denmark and has its own vision, mission, values, strategic framework, and international advisory group to serve children and families’ mental health and wellbeing in an inter-agency fashion.
In our way of working, we convene local and global actors and facilitate partnerships to engage a broad range of stakeholders, to innovate solutions addressing emerging and critical challenges to child, youth and family mental health and wellbeing, and we co-develop and share knowledge, advancing local-to-global learning and evidence for better practice, to influence donors and decision-makers to invest in multisectoral MHPSS as a life-saving measure.

The Collaborative is driven by values of:

• Collective action; we recognise and encourage individuality and diversity in ourselves and partners as we work together towards the shared goals of the organisation, creating greater impact than if we were acting alone.
• Integrity; we strive to adhere to moral and ethical principles, ensuring honesty and transparency in all actions and decisions, thereby fostering trust, credibility and respect.
• Equity; we believe everyone should have access to opportunities and resources based on their needs and circumstances, crucial for creating a world in which everyone can thrive.
• Innovation; we enjoy being creative as we explore novel ideas and new spaces, driven to expand our reach and the effectiveness of MHPSS initiatives.

4. Responsibilities and Tasks: 

Work closely with all key stake holders of the project to coordinate the development and design of the e-learning course and related knowledge checking functions, including but not limited to,

1. The MHPSS Collaborative team, including technical advisors and project support staff
2. The SC MHPSS TWG assigned focal points to the task including national, regional and global MHPSS Advisors,
3. The HLA digital learning specialists
   • Coordinate user-testing and ensure the inclusion of feedback mechanisms.
   • Ensure appropriate levels of technical support are built into the project to enable meaningful engagement of stakeholders from local to global.
   • Ensure that the work undertaken by the Collaborative is of high quality at design, implementation and evaluation phases.
   • Ensure project outcomes are aligned with and supporting the Collaborative’s strategic and thematic objectives as relevant.
   • Ensure any products released by the Collaborative demonstrates best practice in child safeguarding, inclusion and gender mainstreaming.
   • Together with key partners, contribute to advocacy and policy messaging to a broad audience on reducing stigma and strengthening competencies on MHPSS, lifting the global C&F MHPSS agenda.
   • Promote MHPSS learning, innovation, quality, scale and contextualization in any verbal and written communication or publication.

5. Key Deliverables: 

The end product is a set of interlinked modules forming an e-learning course with a duration of approximately 90-120 minutes. It will be designed to accommodate self-paced learning, allowing participants to complete each module at their convenience within a specified time frame. This is particularly effective for on-the-go or just-in-time learning, as learners can access short modules whenever they have a few minutes to spare.

By the end of the e-learning course, participants should be able to:

1. Understand the key principles and concepts of MHPSS, including risk and protective factors, trauma, resilience, coping and Social Emotional Learning.
2. Use the MHPSS intervention pyramid for communication purposes to explain the continuum of care, highlighting the work of existing MHPSS staff.
3. Understand the importance of gender, disability, and age-sensitive MHPSS interventions.
4. Have a basic understanding of Child and Adolescent Development.
5. Recognize the psychosocial needs of children and families in crisis-affected communities.
6. Behave in ways that are respectful, dignified, and supportive of the wellbeing of children and caregivers.
7. Able to identify a child or caregiver in distress.
8. Able to provide immediate comfort to a child or caregiver in distress.
9. Understand where and how to refer a child or caregiver in distress to appropriate support.
10. Able to identify and address key stressors in personal and professional life and understand the importance of self-care and psychosocial support for staff members.
11. Understanding the importance of MHPSS in their job role.
12. Understand where to go to find out more information or receive support related to MHPSS interventions.

6. Professional Skills and Experience: 

• MHPSS professional with a track record of 6-10 years of relevant expertise in MHPSS programming, monitoring and evaluation in fragile and humanitarian settings.
• Proven skills and experience working at the interface of MHPSS with other sectors, and with relevant MHPSS fora and coordination groups.
• Thorough knowledge of MHPSS assessments and learning needs analyses, quality standards, programme design and capacity strengthening.
• Experience in knowledge transfer methodologies and in developing learning solutions e.g., running workshops, seminars, presentations, webinars, creating learning materials (vitual and non-virtual) and writing lessons learned reports.
• Strong networking abilities and talent in fostering and maintaining partnerships, from local to global levels, including youth engagement and mentorship.
• Familiarity with MHPSS advocacy and policy work.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective partnerships and working relationship with donors, researchers, civil society, and interagency and cross-disciplinary partners.
• Understanding of, or previous engagement with, implementation science research a plus (e.g., ability to interpret research findings, understanding of MHPSS operational research).
• Excellent verbal and written English skills, particularly communication, facilitation and presentation skills for diverse audiences.

7. Desirable Personal Qualities: 

• Communicating with impact
  • Actively listens and seeks to understand before being understood
  • Ensures communications are concise and well-structured
  • Shares relevant and timely information with others
  • Prepares effectively for meetings
• Problem solving and decision making
  • Gathers the right information and uses critical thinking to make effective and timely decisions
  • Stays with a problem or challenge until a solution is reached or is no longer reasonably attainable
  • Knows when to involve others in a decision
  • Simplifies processes and procedures wherever possible
• Innovating and adapting
  • Suggests creative improvements and better ways of working
  • Seeks out and applies successful ideas from others to overcome challenges
  • Shifts tasks, roles and priorities to perform effectively under changing or unclear conditions
  • Applies lessons learned to enhance future ways of working
• Delivering results
  • Delivers timely and appropriate results using available resources
  • Plan, prioritizes and performs tasks well without needing direct supervision
  • Creates and applies measures and metrics to track performance
  • Demonstrates financial awareness and a concern for cost effectiveness

How to Apply: 

Applicants are invited to send a cover letter and CV (max. 3 pages) with their daily rates to Karlo Dukic (kadu@redbarnet.dk). Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Short listed candidates will be invited for an interview.

Start Date/Duration: The position will start asap, for six months, at approximately 25% (2 days on average per week).

For further information contact Karlo Dukic, Programmes Officer (kadu@redbarnet.dk) and Victor Ugo, MHPSS & Youth Advisor (vu@redbarnet.dk).