JOB DESCRIPTION: 
Action Against Hunger is seeking a Mental Health Psycho-social Support Consultant (MHPSS) for a period of approximately 5 months to work with the programme teams across the consortium. MHPSS aims to protect or promote psychosocial well-being and to prevent or treat mental health issues. It covers a wide range of actions, from clinical care to family and community programme, as well as basic services and security. The Consultant is to provide leadership and technical/ expert support in building internal and external capacity on MHPSS, which includes the reinforcement of childcare practices and of the parent-child relationship, promoting the child’s physical and mental progress. The Consultant will ensure that MHPSS services are implemented responding to the beneficiaries’ needs to improve psychosocial well-being and increase resilience.
RESPONSIBILITIES: 
Under the supervision of the Program Manager and in cooperation with local partners, the Consultant will work to support the consortium team in scaling up its child protection response. Specifically, the following tasks and responsibilities are expected to be accomplished over the consultancy period:
- Provide technical expertise and support for the implementation of the MHPSS components of child protection programme;
- Support and guide the partner organizations to deliver activities to the highest standards and ensure quality assurance;
- Monitor the implementation of the MHPSS interventions in line with the comprehensive multi-sectorial MHPSS response plan;
- Assess capacity building needs of partner programme staff and areas for improvement;
- Strengthen pre-existing community networks to provide psychosocial support, set-up a detection and referral system on psychosocial support;
- Raise awareness with community members on the early symptoms of psychosocial distress in both children and adults and of the strategies to deal with these;
- Ensure that partners understand and adhere to best practices and standards of Interagency Standing Committee (IASC) psychosocial recommendations in emergencies;
- Develop pre-post knowledge increase tests to measure impact of programming;
- Maintain strong awareness of the emergency response context in the MHPSS field and continuously explore information on needs, issues and constraints;
- Liaise and cooperate with the appropriate government bodies, NGOs, the UN Protection Working Group, MHPSS technical reference group and other relevant coordination structures;
- Comply with Action Against Hunger’s policies and practice with respect to integrity, code of conduct, health and safety, equal opportunities and other relevant policies and procedures;
- Perform other responsibilities as agreed with the Program Manager.
Expected Outputs
- A group-based psychosocial support program designed for caregivers of young children, incorporating psychosocial stimulation and parenting techniques to improve mental health outcomes and optimal caregiving behaviours (# of sessions TBD in collaboration with the consultant) using already existing MHPSS curriculum and evidence-based interventions;
- Psychosocial needs to be assessed and relevant psychological support and counselling to be provided;
- Early recovery and re-integration of conflict-affected people to be supported through resilience strengthening and capacity building;
- Quality of child-caregiver interactions improved, so that caregivers can better respond to their children’s needs;
- Capacity building, supervision and follow-up support provided to psychologists in Child Friendly Space facilities;
- Case management to be supported;
- Partners’ clearly understand and adhere to best practices and standards in MHPSS programming.
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS: 
- Master’s degree or PhD in Clinical Psychology, Counselling Psychology, Developmental Psychology or Clinical Social Work;
- At least 5 years of relevant MHPSS work experience;
- Demonstrated experience in designing and implementing MHPSS interventions, including training MHPSS front-line staff both in conflict or crisis contexts and in development context;
- Excellent interpersonal, communication and writing skills;
- Exceptional understanding of core MHPSS interventions utilized in emergency settings;
- Cultural, gender, religion, race, ethnicity, and age sensitivity and adaptability;
- Experience of programmes focused on preventing and responding to child and caregivers’ depression is highly desirable;
- Ability to travel across Armenia, especially in border regions and communities;
- Excellent interpersonal, communication and writing skills;
- Fluency in written and spoken English and Armenian languages;
- Commitment to upholding Action Against Hunger’s principles of do no harm and confidentiality.
- Understanding of and commitment to Action Against Hunger’s aims, values and principles, including rights-based approaches.
APPLICATION PROCEDURES: 
Interested candidates are welcome to submit applications to: ********@**.********.*** with the subject line heading “MHPSS Consultant” by the deadline. The applications should comprise:
- A curriculum vitae showing how the consultant meets the required qualifications, experience and related assignments conducted in the past. This should include contact details of organizations where the assignments were conducted;
- A cover letter explaining the applicants’ interest and motivation in applying for this specific position;
- A technical proposal of not more than 6 pages, highlighting how the applicant’s previous experience in this kind of work, understanding of ToR and how he/ she will address each of the objectives;
- The application should include the proposed gross daily rate of remuneration (in AMD). Please, note that the Consultant will not be paid per diem when staying overnight on the working assignment. All travel and accommodation costs will be covered by Action Against Hunger.
Please clearly mention in your application letter that you learned of this announcement through Career Center and mention the URL of its website - www.careercenter.am. Thanks.
REMUNERATION/ SALARY: 
The total amount for consultancy fee to be negotiated based on the proposition and experience of the Consultant. Consultancy fee to be paid on a monthly basis upon the completion and approval of consultancy timesheet.
OPEN TO/ ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: 
All interested candidates
ADDITIONAL NOTES: 
The position is located in Yerevan, with frequent travel to provinces.
ATTACHMENTS:
ToR MHPSS Consultant - SC-YER-00067_TOR_MHPSS Consultant.doc