Background 

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) translates to Doctors without Borders. We provide medical assistance to people affected by conflict, epidemics, disasters, or exclusion from healthcare. Our teams are made up of tens of thousands of health professionals, logistic and administrative staff - bound together by our charter.  Our actions are guided by medical ethics and the principles of impartiality, independence and neutrality. We are a non-profit, self-governed, member-based organization.

MSF was founded in 1971 in Paris by a group of journalists and doctors. Today, we are a worldwide movement of nearly 63,000 people.

From providing psychological first aid to survivors of natural disasters to counselling HIV patients, our mental health officers play a vital role in our projects. Trauma is often the most painful aspect of surviving a conflict or disaster or living with a disease, and mental healthcare is vital for recovery.

Tasks & Responsibilities

Our mental health officers (MHOs) often head a group of outreach workers and counsellors, providing care in the health facilities but also out in the community. 

It’s a challenging and exciting role and you would be responsible for some or all of the following:

• Doing a community mental health assessment.
• Planning a mental health strategy.
• Managing mental healthcare for an entire hospital/project.
• Providing care for victims of sexual violence.
• Supporting groups of displaced people.
• Identifying and managing protection issues.

Requirements

• Postgraduate education in one of the following: Clinical Psychology or Psychiatry along with 2 years post qualification experience
• Currently licensed to practice one of the above areas with independent licensed clinical practice.
• Experience in managing and training mental health workers.
• Experience in the clinical supervision of others and treating trauma related problems.
• Able to work well as a part of a multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary team.
•  Willing to work in unstable areas and ability to cope in a difficult and unpredictable environment.
• Available for a minimum of nine to twelve months.
• Minimum of three months’ work, volunteering or travelling experience in developing countries.
• Fluency in English is essential.

Desirable

• A second language (preferably French, Arabic, Spanish or Portuguese).
• Experience working in the field of HIV/AIDS, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), sexual violence, Tuberculosis (TB) care.
• Experience with emergency mental health/crisis interventions.

Information

The protection of your personal data is important to MSF. By submitting your application, you consent to MSF using your personal data only for the recruitment process to have all the information and documents necessary to proceed with the recruitment, validation of your application and selection of the most suitable candidate. Your personal data will be treated confidentially. MSF will not use your personal data in any other way not foreseen for purposes of recruitment.

MSF is an equal-opportunity employer and does not charge any application/ recruitment fee. Women and persons with disability are encouraged to apply.