Job Title: Cluster MHPSS Senior Specialist (Youth Mental Health + EASE)
Organisation: War Child Alliance
Duty Station: Kampala, Uganda
About Organisation:
The War Child Alliance is an international non-governmental organization committed to providing psychosocial support, child protection, youth empowerment programming and quality education to the children affected by armed conflict. We implement evidence-based interventions to empower key stakeholders—including governments, educators, caregivers, and communities—to foster children’s wellbeing, education, and self-determination. War Child has a presence in 19 countries: Jordan, Lebanon, the occupied Palestinian territory, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Afghanistan, Colombia, Burundi, DR Congo, the Central African Republic, South Sudan, Uganda, Ukraine, Germany, Sweden, The Netherlands, United Kingdom and the United States of America.
Job Summary: The MHPSS Senior Specialist ensures the effective coordination, coherence and consistent implementation of a specific portfolio of War Child’s Evidence-Based Methods (EBMs)in a thematic area across an assigned cluster of partners and countries. The role is responsible for translating strategies, standards and methodologies into contextually relevant thematic/EBM support to partners, ensuring that EBM implementation within a cluster is feasible and achieves high quality and impact. The MHPSS Senior Specialist oversees EBM quality assurance, partner onboarding, thematic guidance, and adaptive learning within a cluster, connecting thematic and EBM strategy to practice by guiding, aligning and line managing The MHPSS Senior Specialist supporting countries and partners in that cluster. Where relevant, the MHPSS Senior Specialist might also be assigned to directly support a country and/or partner.
Key Duties and Responsibilities:
Core Responsibilities
- Maintain cluster-level oversight of thematic quality assurance for EBM integration, implementation, and scaling by partners, ensuring high-quality delivery of EBMs.
- Coordinate thematic support provided by Specialists within a cluster, ensuring prioritization and advising on resource allocation.
- Ensure operationalization of thematic and EBM guidance and standards to guarantee contextual relevance to tailored support to countries and partners.
- Lead and/or facilitate adaptive learning cycles for EBMs at the cluster level, ensuring learning agendas are developed and executed, lessons learned are documented, and findings inform practice and strategic direction.
- Strengthen organisational and partner capacity in MHPSS EBMs through training, mentoring, and scalable learning approaches.
- Represent and build up the profile and reputation of War Child’s EBM Care System Portfolio and thematic expertise externally in the appropriate fora, strengthening sector engagement, inter-agency collaboration, and organisational credibility, and contributing to shaping policy and sector discourse.
- Contribute to the learning agenda for EBMs within your portfolio, including gathering and sharing learnings on partner experiences and feedback.
Role-Specific or Context Responsibilities
- Acts as primary internal and external thematic focal point for an assigned cluster.
- Oversee thematic components of partnership engagement within a cluster, liaising with partnership colleagues and with other cluster Coordinators where relevant.
- Collaborate effectively with the Partnership Department, ensuring appropriate matrix management of Specialists and complementary responsibilities.
- Contribute to the development of EBMs Partnership Packages and other relevant resources.
- Contribute to the strengthening and evolution of the MHPSS EBM Care System portfolio, including through compiling knowledge and lessons learned from countries and partners in the cluster.
- Coordinate and contribute to learning activities, task teams, working groups, and Communities of Practice related to their thematic area and EBMs.
- Support scalable learning approaches (e.g., blended learning, training pools, ToT/ToF models), including by compiling cluster-level inputs to training content and learning materials.
- Coordinate support to MEAL processes within a cluster, including compliance with Quality of Care indicators.
- Provide thematic/EBM surge support in emergencies or priority contexts where needed.
- Contribute with thematic inputs into organizational processes such as development and delivery of strategies, annual plans, etc., at team, departmental, and organisational levels, leading on cluster-level inputs where relevant.
- Lead cluster-level reporting organisation-wide reporting processes related to the EBMs in their portfolio and contribute to grant/project reporting processes where relevant.
- Collaborate closely with teams in their department (MEAL and Humanitarian) and with other relevant departments such as R&D, Partnerships, Engagement, and Operations.
- Act as a back-stop for Specialists where necessary.
Qualifications, Skills and Experience:
Education
- Relevant academic background or a closely related field.
Experience
- Relevant experience in the thematic area, including in humanitarian or post-conflict contexts.
- Experience working with partners on co-creation and delivery of programmes.
- Demonstrated experience in programme design, needs assessment, learning cycles, and quality assurance.
- Experience developing methods, tools, guidelines, training, and learning materials.
- Experience facilitating trainings, workshops, and virtual learning.
- Programme or grant management experience is an asset.
Languages
- Fluency in English is required for this role.
- Additional languages may be useful depending on stakeholder groups and organisational context, for example, Arabic, Dari, French, Spanish, or Ukrainian.
(Technical) Knowledge
- Strong understanding of quality standards, evidence-based programming, and MEAL integration.
- Knowledge of cross-sectoral integration (Education, Child Protection, MHPSS).
- Understanding of localisation, accountability, and participation principles.
- Familiarity with digital collaboration and learning tools (e.g., Mural, Miro, SharePoint, MS Teams).
How to Apply:
All suitably qualified and Interested applicants should apply online at the link below.
NB: Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
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Level of Education: bachelor degree
Work Hours: 8
Experience in Months: 60