Mental Health Psychiatrist Referent

ABOUT THE COMPANY

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an international, independent, medical humanitarian organisation that delivers emergency aid to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, natural disasters and exclusion from healthcare. MSF offers assistance to people based on need, irrespective of race, religion, gender or political affiliation.

JOB SUMMARY

As Mental Health Psychiatrist referent, you support the quality improvement of MSF-OCB projects by Providing technical and programmatic support throughout the whole project cycle (situation analysis, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, supporting the capture of lessons learned) when dealing with mental health components or psychosocial-related issues.Reporting to the Medical Technical Manager based in Brussels, you achieve this by working within the MSF OCB Medical Department in close collaboration with headquarters, MHPSS colleagues, and all other stakeholders. The MHPSS team in OCB consists of two full-time advisor positions (a psychologist and a psychiatrist - this position). In addition, investment is underway in regional MH implementation support positions, which are under functional management of the MHPSS advisor team. Both advisors generally share the portfolio of countries among them but keep each other informed to facilitate back-up during absence. As psychiatrist, you will support – beyond your assigned countries/projects – also for specific psychiatry questions coming from the other countries/projects.REQUIREMENTSEducation & ExperienceMedical DegreeSpecialization in psychiatryPost graduated training in psychological therapies is a strong assetMinimum five years of clinical experience as a clinical psychiatristMinimum two years of experience working in a humanitarian context, either with MSF or another relevant medical organizationExperience in advising on mental health strategiesExperience in providing technical advice in humanitarian contexts.Experience in writing of guidelines, protocols, and toolsExperience in delivering trainings and facilitating professional development of teamsLeadership position in mental health services is an assetCompetenciesGood team player with flexibility, creativity, and management skillsGood communication skills: active listener, clear and effective communication, sense of diplomacy and pedagogyAbility to establish and retain positive working relationships (internally and externally)Driven to improve quality of care and support innovationCapacity to work within agreed timeline and ability to prioritize activities/tasks and respond to urgent requestsStrong cross-cultural awareness and adaptabilityUse of excel, word and PowerPointHumanitarian interest and motivation, especially towards MSFLanguagesFluent in English and French (spoken and written)Working knowledge of Arabic, Portuguese or Spanish is an asset

RESPONSIBILITIES

Provide quality and timely support to colleagues, project and country staff concerning the implementation of MHPSS services throughout the entire project cycle, ensuring quality and continuity of care and supporting that activities are based on the best available evidenceTechnical focus:Respond to technical queries, discuss cases, provide feedback on context adaptation of protocols and other tools to support quality, continuity of care including the use of Telemedicine to ensure that MH activities are based on best available evidenceProvide strategic and technical advice on clinical management with a particular focus on complex cases and severe mental health conditionsConduct site visits to enhance the quality of mental health and psychosocial interventions and enable prioritization and sustainability of MH activities (30%)Ensure the technical briefing & debriefing of MH professionals, medical and project coordinators as well as the respective headquarter counterpartsContribute to the staff development by:Identifying training needs and facilitating access to remote learning, communities of practice and through trainings, webinars and workshops. This includes one-on-one sessions, joint meetings, and co-facilitation of internal trainings such as MHPSS, Survivors of Violence (including gender-based violence), Health Promotion trainingsSupporting and facilitating mhGAP (mental Health Gap Action Programme) and training to strengthen multi-disciplinary interventions that meet the needs of people with mental health conditions in Primary Health Care (PHC) and community-based health careSupporting effective information knowledge managementIdentifying needs and promotion of relevant external resources and trainingFacilitating exchange at project and coordination level to support peer-learningSupport innovation and participate in the development of relevant operational research following the established framework and Support presentation and publication of operational research resultsStay updated on new developments and research in psychiatry and relevance for MSF settingsStrategic and programmatic focus:Collaborate with the project and country medical and operational managers, headquarters and medical department referents to provide strategic guidance to projects. Participate in strategic meetings e.g., annual review of operations (ARO)Provide expert advice regarding MHPSS components of the program: assessment, design, implementation, monitoring of MHPSS services within the project. This includes objectives, population target, and relevant activitiesEnsure appropriate choice and use of monitoring and evaluation methodologies at project levelAdvise country and project teams on different MHPSS Human resources mobilisation and the potential for task shiftingSupport strategies at project, country and international levels through data analysis, identification of problems or needs and technical advice in terms of proposed solutionsParticipate to the active monitoring of mental health projects and their activities through visits, debriefings, report-reading, etc., and regularly share this analysis with the relevant stakeholdersIn cooperation with MHPSS colleagues, co-lead the development and implementation of mental health policy and strategy in MSF-OCB operationsIdentify and evaluate new developments (evidence, approaches, techniques and tools), to ensure:MHPSS policy and strategy are in line with new developments in the mental health/psycho-social/psychiatry fieldMHPSS activities are adapted to incorporate best-practiceThe development/revision of essential documents (policies, guidelines, protocols, tools, and other strategic papers) of other disciplines, incorporating relevant MHPSS componentsParticipate in interdisciplinary working groups (e.g. migration circle, violence, palliative care) when required/relevantIdentify major gaps or concerns in mental health care provision at project level and recommend strategies to address these at global levelContribute to the writing of the mental health activities chapter in the annual medical report and participate, promote organisational learning through project experienceEnsure good collaboration and representation within and outside MSFParticipate actively in the MH intersectional Working group in the development of guidelines, trainings and clinical guidance and in the implementation of the action plan with a particular focus on psychiatric careCollaborate with other referents in the medical and operations department on subjects of common interest: health promotion, anthropologists, intercultural mediators, sexual and reproductive health, paediatrics, nutrition, non-communicable disease, researchers, health information system, etc.Participate in the medical meetings, OCB working groups ("circles"), as required and other MSF OCB gathering or eventsSupport the communication and analysis departments as requiredCollaborate and coordinate regularly with the human resources department in the management of MH staff, including recruitment, skills assessment, matching and evaluationContribute to the building of a relevant network of experts in mental health issues and in humanitarian aid around mental health to foster exchange, influence, and partnership possibilitiesParticipate in workshops, international expert groups organized by WHO, academic institutions or other validated initiatives, when relevant

REQUIRED SKILLS

Project management, Strategizing, Collaboration, Training program planning, Communication

REQUIRED EDUCATION

Bachelor's degree