Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Consultant
Organizational Context
UNICEF operates in over 190 countries and territories, dedicated to saving children's lives, defending their rights, and helping them fulfill their potential from early childhood through adolescence. We are committed, passionate, and proud of our work, viewing the promotion of every child's rights not just as a job, but as a calling.
Job Purpose
This consultancy aims to provide crucial technical assistance to the Solomon Islands Government (SIG) in developing key Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) tools and guidance materials. These resources will be integrated into education, health, and community/counselling systems to enhance MHPSS service delivery and build workforce capacity. The assignment will focus on creating practical, contextually relevant, and evidence-informed training resources, professional standards, and implementation guidance. Specific outputs include curriculum content for teachers on child development, psychosocial needs, identification and support pathways, and self-care, as well as training and capacity-building resources for health facility-based mental health personnel, including Training of Trainers (ToT) materials.
Responsibilities
The consultant will provide technical leadership and hands-on support to strengthen teacher capacity in MHPSS, integrate MHPSS into teacher professional development programs, and enhance counselling systems within Solomon Islands. This involves developing curriculum content for teachers focusing on children's development, psychosocial needs, identification and support pathways, and the importance of teacher self-care to foster safe and supportive learning environments. Additionally, the consultant will develop training and capacity-building resources for mental health personnel in health facilities, including Training of Trainers (ToT) materials and other workforce development resources. The role requires ensuring that all developed materials are practical, contextually relevant, and evidence-informed, contributing to the overall strengthening of mental health service delivery and workforce capacity across the health, education, and community sectors.
Work Experience
A minimum of 10 years of professional experience in mental health and psychosocial support, counselling, child and adolescent wellbeing, education, or related systems strengthening is required.
Skills
Curriculum development, Teacher professional development, Training material development, Mental health systems strengthening, Psychosocial support systems strengthening, Counselling systems strengthening, Workforce development, Training systems, Supervision frameworks, Professionalization of health or counselling workforces, Working with government, Working with international organizations