Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Expert Consultant - Perinatal Mental Health

Position Title: Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Expert Consultant (Perinatal Mental Health)

Department:     Country Office - Liberia       

Location:          Monrovia, Liberia with travel to pilot health facilities in Granda Bassa County 

Reports to:    Country Director, Americares Liberia; with dotted line to Americares MHPSS AEMEA Region technical unit

Assignment Type: Consultancy - Deliverable Based

Length : 7 months (December 2026 – June 2027), with an expected full-time level of effort

Application Requirements: Resume and application questions

About the position:  Americares Liberia, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and partners, is supporting integration of perinatal mental health services within maternal, newborn and community health platforms. Foundational activities including situational analysis, stakeholder engagement, and co-creation of a PMH integration approach have been completed. The consultant will provide technical continuity and implementation leadership during pilot rollout and early scale-up. 

 Key Outcomes: 

Weeks 1–2 Planning and orientation: Implementation plan and risk register agreed with the country team and the MHPSS Technical Unit.

Months 1-2 Training package finalization and readiness: Finalized and validated training package, including facilitator and participant materials, validation findings and agreed revisions; detailed training plan; and documented support to the country team on participant coordination, venue, materials, scheduling and other training logistics.

Months 2–4 Training delivery: Training and/or training-of-trainers sessions conducted or co-facilitated; attendance records, pre- and post-training assessments and participant feedback compiled; and a brief training report with results, lessons and follow-up actions submitted.

Months 4–6 – Supportive supervision: Supervision approach, tools and visit schedule established with the country team; planned supervision visits conducted; and visit reports and action trackers completed to document findings, provider support needs, responsible persons and follow-up timelines.

Months 5–7 – Support with Fidelity assessment and quality improvement: Fidelity assessments completed at pilot sites using agreed tools; findings analyzed and shared with relevant stakeholders; and a fidelity assessment report with corrective actions and recommendations for quality improvement and scale-up submitted.

Final: Final consultancy report, sustainability and transition plan, and complete handover package submitted, including finalized tools, training records, supervision documentation, and outstanding action items

Key Consultant Activities:

• Agree on implementation plan for communication routine with the country team and the MHPSS Technical Unit.

SUPPORT WITH TRAINING PACKAGE FINALIZATION

• Support with finalization of facilitator guides, participant materials, clinical tools, job aids and competency-assessment instruments for the Liberia context;
• Confirm alignment with the agreed PMH approach and relevant national guidance;
• Support with planning and facilitating final technical validation activities with the Ministry of Health, County Health Team, providers and partners; document feedback and decisions;
• Incorporate agreed revisions; and prepare a complete, implementation-ready training package.

TRAINING PLANNING AND LOGISTICS:

• Support with the coordination and development of the training and/or training-of-trainers plan, agenda and facilitation schedule;
• Support the country team to identify and invite appropriate participants and facilitators; clarify participant selection criteria and expected competencies;
• Support with preparation training materials and logistics with country team.

TRAINING DELIVERY AND CAPACITY BUILDING:

• Facilitate or co-facilitate competency-based training and training-of-trainers sessions using participatory methods, demonstrations, role plays and supervised practice;
• Administer and review pre- and post-training assessments; observe participant skills using agreed competency tools; provide targeted coaching and remediation; compile attendance and participant feedback; and identify providers requiring additional mentoring or follow-up support.

PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION:

• Support country team with coordination of pilot start-up with the country team and participating facilities;
• orient facility leadership and providers on the PMH service-delivery model;
• conduct routine field visits to identify and resolve implementation bottlenecks;
• support integration of PMH screening, assessment, risk management protocols and follow-ups, brief intervention, referral and follow-up within maternal, newborn and community health workflows;
• strengthen referral and counter-referral pathways between facilities, communities and specialized services.

SUPPORTIVE SUPERVISION AND MENTORING:

• Establish a supportive-supervision approach in collaboration with the country team, including supervision standards, tools, roles, frequency and a facility visit schedule;
• Conduct joint supervision and mentoring visits; observe service delivery and documentation practices

STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT AND COORDINATION:

• Serve as a technical focal point for coordination with the Ministry of Health, County Health Team, facility leadership, community structures and implementing partners;
• convene or support regular review meetings; provide concise implementation updates
• promote alignment of pilot activities with RMNCAH priorities.

MONITORING, DOCUMENTATION AND LEARNING:

• Support with reviewing routine program data for completeness, quality and use; track progress against the implementation plan and agreed indicators;
• Synthesize training, supervision and fidelity findings; document challenges, adaptations, promising practices and lessons learned; prepare concise activity and progress reports;
• Help with assessing adherence and fidelity to the intended PMH model, including screening, intervention delivery, referral, documentation and follow-up;
• Share findings with relevant stakeholders; and contribute evidence-based recommendations for sustainability, transition and potential scale-up.

Support integration of PMH indicators into routine facility registers and HMIS reporting, so that data collection continues beyond the consultancy.

Degrees and/or experience required for the role:

• Master’s degree in psychology, Psychiatry, Psychiatric Nursing, Social Work, Counseling, Public Health, or a related field, with a minimum of 5 years of relevant experience; OR
• Bachelor's degree in a relevant discipline with a minimum of 7 years of progressively responsible experience in mental health, psychosocial support, maternal health, reproductive health, community health, or health systems strengthening.

These competencies are required for the role:

• Minimum five years of experience implementing mental health or psychosocial support (MHPSS) programs.
• Demonstrated experience training, mentoring, and supervising health workers.
• Experience working with maternal, newborn, reproductive, or community health programs.
• Strong stakeholder coordination and facilitation skills.
• Works well with others and promotes teamwork, comfortable in a multi-cultural environment, flexible and able to handle pressure well, possesses excellent coordination and problem-solving skills;
• Excellent written and oral communication skills (English; knowledge of Bassa or other Liberian languages an asset), especially with report writing and computers.
• Good computer skills in MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint; Commitment to accuracy and meeting deadlines;
• Must be experienced and comfortable traveling from Monrovia to county facilities regularly

Work authorization in this country is required for this role.

These competencies would be great to have, but are not required:

• Demonstrated experience implementing or supervising evidence-based perinatal mental health interventions such as Thinking Healthy Programme (THP) and/or the Integrated Mothers and Babies Course.
• Experience with WHO mhGAP.
• Experience working with Ministries of Health and implementing partners in Liberia
• Experience managing a program or team, including workplans and budgets.
• Experience working in or supporting Ministries of Health and County Health Teams.
• Experience writing reports or proposals for donors or government partners.

Additionally, our core competencies as an organization are: 

• Ownership and results 
• Communication 
• Problem solving 
• Equity and inclusion 
• Teamwork and conflict resolution 
• Leadership 
• Prioritization 
• Management 
• Strategy and planning 
• Decision making 

What you can expect, if you move forward in the steps of the recruitment process:

1. Interview with People and Talent (30mins) 
2. Interview with team (1 hour)
3. Reference check 
4. Offer! 
5. Background check and onboarding