Regional Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Advisor

The Regional Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Advisor provides technical support and supervision to MHPSS staff in West and Central Africa, ensuring quality mental health interventions in humanitarian contexts. The role involves coaching, training, strategy development, rapid assessments, advocacy, and knowledge transfer to improve mental health care quality across MSF projects.

Responsibilities

• Provide technical support and supervision to MHPSS staff in designated MSF projects in West and Central Africa
• Conduct project visits for coaching, training, and quality assurance
• Collaborate with project teams in the development of strategies to ensure alignment with MSF standards, practices and priorities
• Support rapid mental health assessments in emergencies and contribute to response planning
• Collaborate with medical and operational teams to integrate MHPSS into broader health and humanitarian strategies
• Contribute to advocacy and lobbying efforts to promote mental health priorities within regional platforms
• Develop and disseminate context-specific tools, guidelines, best practice examples and training materials
• Nurture and facilitate knowledge and good practice transfer across the different projects through MHPSS peer virtual meet ups, webinars, and online presentations
• Monitor and evaluate the impact and quality of MHPSS interventions
• Represent MHPSS in regional coordination forums and technical working groups
• Collaborate in operational research as required
• Supervise projects in the proper collection and handling of data (monitoring tools, etc) and when needed be responsible for implementation of monitoring tools for MHPSS activities

Requirements

• Master’s degree in psychology or social work or Medical Doctor degree with specialization in psychiatry
• Essential working experience of at least 2 years as psychologist or other similar profession
• Minimum 3 years of international experience with international NGOs as a Mental Health Activity Manager (MHAM) or similar, including at least 1 year as MHAM with MSF
• Experience in different health thematic areas such as HIV, Mpox, “Survivor of Violence”, Ebola, and emergencies
• Strong understanding of regional dynamics, including political, environmental, and cultural factors
• Excellent coaching skills
• Flexibility
• Analytical Thinking & Strategic Vision
• Teamwork and Cooperation
• Results and Quality Orientation
• Initiative and Innovation
• Cross-cultural Awareness
• Proficiency in English and French, both written & spoken is mandatory

Skills

• Psychology
• Social Work
• Psychiatry
• Mental Health Activity Management
• International NGO Experience
• Mental Health Interventions
• HIV Health Programs
• Mpox Health Programs
• Survivor of Violence Support
• Ebola Response
• Emergency Health Response
• Regional Dynamics Analysis
• Coaching
• Training Delivery
• Strategy Development
• Rapid Assessments
• Advocacy
• Knowledge Transfer
• Cultural Awareness
• English Language Proficiency
• French Proficiency

Languages

English, French