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Save the Children

Global independent charity improving children's lives

Psychosocial Support Specialist

Case Management & AdvocacyPosted on Nov 12
Full-timeNo salary listedIn-person

About the Job

Requirements

  • Bachelor's degree in Psychology or Mental Health.
  • At least three years of experience working with community groups and facilitating participatory processes, preferably in humanitarian or development contexts.
  • Demonstrated experience providing mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) and accompanying vulnerable populations.
  • Ability to facilitate training and capacity-strengthening processes for community actors and frontline personnel.
  • Strong organizational, planning, and task-prioritization skills in emergency contexts.
  • Interpersonal and communication skills, including ability to work in multicultural environments.
  • Knowledge and experience in community-network engagement and interinstitutional coordination.
  • Ability to operate two- and four-wheel vehicles and hold a valid driver's license.
  • Ability to work in a team and adapt to dynamic contexts.
  • Proficiency with computer tools, including Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
  • Demonstrated experience providing MHPSS accompaniment and support to children and adolescents in vulnerable contexts.
  • Strong knowledge and experience in gender equity and prevention of and response to gender-based violence.
  • Knowledge of child-protection regulatory frameworks and legislation.
  • Demonstrated experience in human rights and children's rights, with ability to develop rights-based institutional responses for vulnerable populations.
  • Knowledge of the context and circumstances of children and adolescents in emergencies.
  • At least three years of experience implementing social-development and/or humanitarian-action projects.
  • Applicants must be over 18 years old.
  • Candidates must provide an updated CV, copies of both sides of their DPI, an updated RENAS certificate, and updated criminal and police records; the documents must be combined into one PDF, with the CV submitted separately.

Responsibilities

  • Visit prioritized communities regularly as part of the humanitarian response team to identify MHPSS needs among children, adolescents, and caregivers, and provide timely emergency support in coordination with the project's food-assistance and WASH components.
  • Conduct rapid community-level assessments of psychosocial needs, identifying risk factors, available resources, and service gaps to guide project interventions.
  • Provide Psychological First Aid and frontline psychosocial support to people affected by emergencies, prioritizing low- and medium-risk cases through brief, safe, person-centered interventions.
  • Prepare and follow up on service records and individual psychosocial support plans, defining needs, short-term actions, and follow-up mechanisms for each case.
  • Coordinate with social workers to manage, follow up on, and close cases, ensuring integrated and coordinated support for children and families.
  • Identify and refer high-risk cases or cases requiring specialized mental-health care to available local services, activate safe and confidential referral pathways, and conduct follow-up.
  • Ensure interventions follow confidentiality, informed-consent, person-centered, and Do No Harm principles.
  • Facilitate community awareness sessions on mental health and psychosocial well-being, including stigma reduction, strengthening support networks, and promoting self-care, in line with the project design.
  • Coordinate with the technical team and contracted designer to develop and adapt visibility materials on protection and psychosocial support, ensuring technical suitability, cultural relevance, and accessibility.
  • Develop and adapt psychosocial content to the local cultural context, particularly for Indigenous populations, using an inclusive and context-sensitive approach.
  • Strengthen the capacity of community actors and frontline personnel through training in Psychological First Aid and basic principles of psychosocial support in emergencies.
  • Contribute to service mapping, work plans, technical reports, and progress reports for the MHPSS component, ensuring information quality and compliance with humanitarian standards; conduct service mapping and needs assessments jointly with the project's social workers.
  • Plan and implement activities according to safe-programming principles and the safeguarding framework, including Child Safeguarding, Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, and the Global Anti-Harassment Policy; assess and mitigate risks in collaboration with team members.
  • Report safeguarding concerns and incidents through the designated channels within 24 hours, maintaining confidentiality and responsible handling of information.
  • Conduct community awareness activities on protection risks in emergencies, including violence against children and gender-based violence, and explain community routes to available support services.
  • Document experiences, lessons learned, and good practices from MHPSS and child-protection interventions to support continuous improvement of the intervention model.
  • Contribute technical inputs that strengthen protection, mental health, and MHPSS approaches within the project.
  • Perform other duties assigned by the immediate supervisor according to project needs and the humanitarian context.
  • In emergencies, adapt to work outside the usual job description and to schedules and tasks required by the situation.

Desired Qualifications

  • Experience working with community groups and facilitating participatory processes in humanitarian or development contexts is preferred.

About the Company

Save the Children

Global independent charity improving children's lives

Save the Children is a global, independent charity that helps children in crisis and everyday life. It works in about 120 countries by running programs and campaigns that aim to keep children alive, protect them, help them develop, and let them participate in society. The organization directly delivers services and also advocates for policy changes, working with local partners and communities. Its approach combines field programs with advocacy and partnerships to reach millions of children—last year more than 55 million were helped through its work. What sets it apart is its large international footprint, its clear focus on children’s rights, and its commitment to transparency, collaboration, and integrity while pursuing concrete, measurable changes. The goal is to ensure every child has the right to survival, protection, development, and participation, and to drive immediate and lasting improvements in children’s lives.

Company size
10,001+
Company stage
Not listed
Total funding
Not listed
Headquarters
Toronto, Canada
Founded
1919

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