Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) Officer - Katsina at Save The Children

ROLE PURPOSE: 

The MHPSS Officer will be responsible for the planning, implementation, and monitoring of MHPSS activities under the education and child protection project targeting conflict and climate affected children in Northwest Nigeria. The Officer will ensure integration of MHPSS into education interventions, strengthen the capacity of teachers and school staff, and support safe learning environments that promote children's emotional wellbeing and learning outcomes. The officer will also assist in providing clinical intervention children in distress and is required to travel to field sites regularly. 

KEY AREAS OF ACCOUNTABILITY:

Information Management - Child Protection Program

Technical Quality 

• Lead the design and implementation of MHPSS interventions integrated into education programming.
• Ensure the provision of age-appropriate, culturally relevant psychosocial support activities in schools and learning spaces.
• Conduct and support structured group and individual PSS activities with children, adolescents and caregivers.
• Work with teachers, school aunts, and school fathers to identify children with protection and psychosocial concerns and refer appropriately

Capacity Building & Supervision:

• Train and mentor teachers, school counsellors, education and PSS facilitators, school aunts and fathers on basic MHPSS principles, Psychological First Aid (PFA), and classroom-based psychosocial support.
• Establish and build the capacity of school aunts and fathers to provide nurturing, gender-sensitive, and responsive care to children, especially those showing signs of distress.
• Develop and adapt MHPSS training materials and tools for non-specialists in the school environment.

Coordination and Representation:

• Work closely with education, and child protection teams to ensure holistic support for children.
• Engage community and school-based support structures, including school aunts/fathers, in strengthening the MHPSS referral pathways.
• Participate in local coordination forums, including education and protection sub-sectors.
• Maintain effective communication with stakeholders including local authorities, schools, and community-based structures.

Monitoring, Evaluation, and Reporting:

• Develop tools to monitor MHPSS interventions within the education and child protection program.
• Contribute to regular reporting, success stories, and documentation of lessons learned.
• Support in needs assessments and baseline surveys focused on children and caregivers’ psychosocial wellbeing.

Safeguarding 

• Assess Safeguarding activities during field visits. 
• Assess the mainstreaming of safeguarding in programme operations

Other

• To carry out any other reasonable duties and responsibilities within the overall function of MHPSS as and when requested by the supervisor.
• To be proactive in developing actions that will improve the activities they engage in while in schools and communities

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

• Bachelor’s degree in psychology, Social Work, Education, Child Development, or related field
• Minimum of 3 years experience in implementing MHPSS or Child Protection programs in humanitarian or development contexts.
• Demonstrated experience in integrating MHPSS into education programming.
• Experience working with children and adolescents in emergency or conflict-affected contexts.
• Knowledge of Psychological First Aid, community-based psychosocial support, and child protection principles.
• Fluent in English; knowledge of Hausa or local languages in Northwest Nigeria is a strong asset.
• Good report writing skills
• Willingness and capacity to be flexible and accommodating when faced with difficult and frustrating working conditions
• Commitment to Save the Children’s Child Protection Policy.

Skills and Competencies:

• Strong facilitation and interpersonal communication skills.
• Ability to work effectively with diverse teams and communities.
• Proven ability to build staff and community caregiver capacity.
• Demonstrated commitment to child safeguarding and protection principles.
• Ability to adapt to changing contexts and work under pressure.