SCI employ approximately 25,000 people across the globe and work on the ground in over 100 countries to help children affected by crises, or those that need better healthcare, education and child protection. We also campaign and advocate at the highest levels to realise the right of children and to ensure their voices are heard.

We are working towards three breakthroughs in how the world treats children by 2030:

• No child dies from preventable causes before their 5th birthday
• All children learn from a quality basic education and that,
• Violence against children is no longer tolerated

We know that great people make a great organization, and that our employees play a crucial role in helping us achieve our ambitions for children. We value our people and offer a meaningful and rewarding career, along with a collaborative and inclusive workplace where ambition, creativity, and integrity are highly valued.

CHILD SAFEGUARDING:

Level 3 – the responsibilities of the post may require the post holder to have regular contact with or access to children or young people.

As part of these responsibilities the post holder will support the establishment of child safeguarding systems, promote a culture of keeping children safe, and ensure that potential harm to children (by our own staff and/or as a result of how we do our work) is identified and addressed on an ongoing basis. The post holder should report and respond to interventions as determined by position related responsibilities identified in the Child Safeguarding Policy.

ROLE PURPOSE: 

Under the overall guidance of the Project Manager and with the technical support of the MHPSS Specialist, the MHPSS and Community Engagement Coordinator will be responsible of coordination monitoring and supervising of the community based activities at the community level and delivery of the PSS activities in our Istanbul based project.  S/he will help to ensure adequate monitoring of the psychosocial programme activities in cooperation and close coordination with the programme manager and Case Management Coordinator. S/he will also lead on the delivery of Save the Children structured PSS activities and will also be the technical backstop to all field staff conducting MH/PSS activities with adolescents and youth. S/he will also help to ensure, in close cooperation and coordination with the programme manager and the MHPSS Specialist, that the programme is implemented according to the technical requirements in the programme and will perform other work-related duties and responsibilities as assigned by the programme.

SCOPE OF ROLE:

Reports to: Project Manager

Staff directly reporting to this post: Community Engagement and PSS Officers

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:

Mental Health and Psychosocial Activities: 

• Technically supervise and support project’s field staff on providing basic psychosocial support for children through material review and approval, trainings, and on site observation and debriefing sessions.
• Conduct group awareness sessions with adolescents and youth attending to project activities or referred from case management officers.
• Mentor committee member workshops to discuss I support my friends approach, leadership skills, gender equality, disability inclusion, social cohesion, child safeguarding, CP and child rights.
• Support the staff with the technical aspects of implementing and monitoring of programme activities.
• Develop a detailed monthly action plan for the main PSS and community engagement activities to be conducted.

Training:

• Technical support and supervision to MHPSS & Community engagement officers in the set-up and implementation of psychosocial and community engagement focused activities to ensure quality service delivery in line with quality benchmarks and standards.

• Technically supervise and support project’s field staff on providing psychosocial services through material review and approval, trainings, and on site observation and debriefing sessions.
• Provide training on CP & MHPSS principles, including best interest of the child, case identification, and communication with children, identification and safe referrals for child protection concerns utilizing SC’s existing methodologies on CP Identification and Referral and Psychological First Aid to ensure the safe, ethical and timely identification and referral of at-risk girls and boys or those experiencing CP concerns to appropriate services.
• Produce child-friendly and accessible materials.

Coordination:

• In coordination with programme manager, participate in coordination meetings of direct relevance to the programme with external partners.
• Refer severe cases to appropriate psychological/psychiatric service providers
• Ensure the continuation of the referral system for children in need of treatment of acute psychological and social distress
• Support in the development of communications materials, participate in their review, and comment on print and electronic media materials including scripts, posters, leaflets, video/audio recordings.
• Ensure strong link with local government and community stakeholders
• Keep records of supervision and actions taken from own activities                    
• Prepare inputs to the quarterly reports on the technical parts in cooperation with the local partner staff.
• In cooperation with the MHPSS & Community engagement officers, maintain and monitor the use of PSS activity materials and ensure these are in accordance with the overall framework of the methods in the programme.

Accountability and Learning:

• Ensure constant and transparent communication and collaboration with relevant stakeholders, including community members, community leaders and families
• Document best practice, case studies and learning
• Share information on field-level successes and challenges with Project Manager and other agencies as appropriate. Ensure that major challenges are flagged early, and addressed in an appropriate way
• Facilitate, collect and report information regarding the overall situation of child protection and psychosocial risks in Save the Children operational areas.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

Required

• Turkish nationality is a requirement for this position
• Degree in, social work, psychology psychological counselling background or other relevant field
• Minimum 2 years of experience in MHPSS work
• Highly developed interpersonal and communication skills including team leading and influencing.
• Extensive experience in delivering trainings.
• Comfortable with high levels of ambiguity and able to take decisions independently in fluid context.
• Politically and culturally sensitive with qualities of patience, tact and diplomacy.
• Able to work independently as well as in team to ensure timely results of high quality.
• Capacity and willingness to be flexible in difficult working circumstances.
• Strong interpersonal skills and ethical sensitivity
• Excellent written and oral communication skills English & Turkish
• Commitment to and understanding of child rights, the aims and principles of Save the Children, and humanitarian standards such as the Sphere Charter and the Code of Conduct.
• Commitment to upholding Save the Children’s Child Safeguarding Policy, as well as principles of do no harm and confidentiality.

Desired

• Advanced degree in Social Work, Psychology, Mental Health or other relevant field
• Experience in working on MHPSS with children and/or adolescents
• Experience in designing and facilitating training sessions
• Proven excellency in delivering capacity building efforts in the field of psychosocial support, including leading trainings, and willingness to dedicate time to staff and partner development.
• Competent spoken Arabic
• Knowledge and understanding of inter-agency standards and guidelines in child protection, including the Minimum Standards for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action
• Experience in monitoring and evaluating child protection and psychosocial interventions, with particular focus on community engagement and management of high risk cases.

The funding confirmation is pending for this position.

Benefits Package provided to National Staff:

• Salary commensurate with the pay-grade of the position.
• Transportation allowance
• Annual leave