Roving PSS Specialist

Introduction

The Danish Refugee Council assists refugees and internally displaced persons across the globe: we provide emergency aid, fight for their rights, and strengthen their opportunity for a brighter future. We work in conflict-affected areas, along the displacement routes, and in the countries where refugees settle. In cooperation with local communities, we strive for responsible and sustainable solutions. We work toward successful integration and – whenever possible – for the fulfillment of the wish to return home.

The Danish Refugee Council was founded in Denmark in 1956 and has since grown to become an international humanitarian organization with more than 7,000 staff and 8,000 volunteers. Based in Copenhagen (Denmark) and present in forty countries, the Danish Refugee Council is a non-profitmaking, politically independent, non-governmental and non-denominational relief organization.

Our vision is a dignified life for all displaced. All our efforts are based on our value compass: humanity, respect, independence and neutrality, participation, and honesty and transparency.

Background

Danish Refugee Council (DRC), and its safety unit, has had an operational presence in Nigeria since 2015. DRC Nigeria is the largest DRC country mission in the West Africa region and one of the largest DRC country missions globally. Currently, DRC delivers life-saving assistance and protection to vulnerable, conflict-affected populations including internally displaced persons, returnees, and host communities in the areas of armed violence reduction, humanitarian mine action, livelihoods, nutrition and food security, protection, shelter and non-food items (NFI) and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in 30+ Local Government Areas (LGAs) across Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states in northeast Nigeria and in Sokoto and Zamfara states in Northwest Nigeria.

Purpose/objective of the position:

This position will support the PSS team in putting in place curricula/adjusting tools and SOPs and conducting supervision and coaching visits to PSS TL and partners. He/She will support technical working group related to MHPSS in NE/NW and will advise local partners on their implementation of MHPSS activities. He/She will also support CM teams in and collaborate with the CM/GBV Specialist to distinguish the two forms of case management and advise partners when/how to refer cases from CM to MHPSS. He/She will also support any technical working groups related to PSS/CP Coordination fora at national and area level in the Northeast and Northwest. Will need to explore curricula to support youth/elderlies and people with disability. Will be the focal point for the disability working group /MHPSS WG. The PSS Specialist will advise on programme design and implementation, innovative approaches, staff training and capacity building, with the aim of building a cohesive, well-coordinated and high-quality protection work in their area of specialization across multiple locations.

The PSS Specialist will rove across all states and LGA covered by DRC programming and into partners’ location to deliver the various trainings and seminars and will ensure to visit some of the safe spaces/home visits conducted by DRC local partners and will advise on curricula to be used for different types of PSS/ conduct PFA for further referrals and support standardization of some MHPSS awareness sessions. He/She will also ensure to deliver trainings on minimum standards SOPs on MHPSS as per DRC guidelines and will deliver training on how to use some key MHPSS tools to the partners. He/She will use supervision and coaching to give advice to partners staff and organize a few trainings and workshops on the PSS situation in Sokoto/Zamfara/Borno in particular on targeted communities. He/She will help complementing the questionnaires for protection analysis to highlight the situation and coordinate with the partners on MHPSS service mapping in Northern Nigeria for further referrals and shifting some traditional practices by ensuring further dialogues with more traditional leaders (religious, traditional healers and others) and ensuring accountability. He/She is also the lead of PSS accountability.

Within the scope of DRC’s Protection projects, as the successful post holder, you will play a crucial role in development of the PSS tools for DRC Nigeria, contributing to technical development, strategic direction, and quality assurance of key modalities: ensuring to help the roll out of the PSS SOPs, working closely with Case Management Specialist for developing SOPs for the pilot of general protection case management, trainings PSS team, and contributing to giving local protection partners guidance on setting up PSS especially mixed with the graduation approach and the social safety nets. The PSS Specialist is expected to actively participate in contextualization of PSS documents developed in Nigeria including SOPs and trainings as well as development of further PSS related technical documents, trainings on SOPs and guidelines including different scopes of the implementation from planning to information management according to the standards of data protection. In addition to that, s/he will ensure the implementation of PSS services are well aligned with the PSS WG in country and at area level in the North of Nigeria and work closely with Borno protection team leader and country level protection manager with a great understanding of the identified needs and risks in the area.

DRC is therefore seeking an experienced, analytical, results-oriented colleague to support efforts to standardized guidance on different PSS approaches, ensuring incorporation of PSS tools/guidelines in accordance to global PSS strategies, engaging DRC Nigeria to have standardized toolkits on PSS for onboarding new staff, defining tools for differing contexts, and facilitating a structured roll out with PSS Teams and Protection Manager.

Duties and Responsibilities:

The PSS Specialist oversees the technical support and consistent follow-up (quality assurance) of DRC’s PSS activities, including direct service provision and reinforcing referral pathways. This involves coaching and supervising PSS team members etc where applicable. Oversees the development and adaptation of technical material aiming to build the capacity of the DRC staff and partners through face-to-face or remote training and coaching and uses supervision and coaching tools to give advice and visit different safe spaces to ensure compliance with the standards. He/She will also carry field visits and develop questionnaires to understand the psychosocial needs of the population and give clear recommendations and contribute to both PSS at field level in safe spaces/through mobile teams and PSS at home with the most vulnerable families.

Job Purpose

What you will do

• Supporting the Protection Manager (CO level) in the development of protection PSS strategies and implementation plans in participating in providing strategic advice, technical support and capacity building support to designated Area Offices on PSS and setting up case management.
• Develop trainings/tools to be used in the future and assess current ones and organize trainings to field teams in PSS
• Work in close collaboration with PSS and country level Protection Manager to contribute to innovation and development of PSS approaches, including piloting and learning from experiences for further sharing learning/experiences
• Creation of a learning agenda for operationalization PSS SOPs and support DRC Nigeria to set up PSS practices and curricula to align with global toolkits and DRC Global strategies/tools
• Contribute to development and delivery of induction and training provision of Adamawa/Borno/Sokoto/Zamfara DRC and partners staff in relation to PSS.  Will provide some technical supervision to technical staff in Area Offices of DRC Nigeria in safe spaces for spotchecks/supervision/coaching and of protection local partners of DRC.
• Identification, development and maintenance of relationships with relevant stakeholders of PSS in different areas offices
• Support DRC Nigeria collaboration on further developing and piloting PSS M&E systems and setting up CM/PSS platforms and close collaboration with the PIM and CM/GBV specialist on dashboards to use etc
• Revise existing protection PSS guidelines in line with lessons learned, including adaptations suitable for hard-to-reach environments and integrated case management/PSS approaches including remote modalities due to camp closures/relocation of populations.
• Ensure that best practices within PSS area are identified, documented and disseminated.

The responsibilities listed in the JD are not exhaustive and may be readjusted according to operational needs but will remain in line with the overall purpose of the role.

Education and professional experience:

• Degree in Psychology, PSS, or Social work/ Social Sciences or any other related field (Master’s degree would be advantageous).
• Minimum 5 years of experience in a senior level project implementation role in a humanitarian/recovery context, managerial experience with documented technical protection PSS
• Experience with PSS Tools and platforms as well as monitoring and evaluation and institutional learning experience on PSS
• Experience working with multi-agency tools and approaches as well as global and local protection case management/PSS WG is desirable including GBV/CP AoR and general protection case management
• Psychosocial analysis skills in conflict areas is necessary for this position
• Excellent level of English required
• Any knowledge of any of the languages spoken in Northern Nigeria would be an advantage (Fulani, Hausa etc)
• Working with PSS curricula such as ‘My Safety, My Well-Being’, ‘Emotional awareness for caregivers’ etc is mandatory for this role
• Experience delivering trainings on PSS is required for this position
• Psychological/psychosocial research on impact of PSS in conflict area is an added advantage
• Experience in safety, security and  well-being including provision of psychological first aid  for very vulnerable families is mandatory
• Experience in psychosocial support in social safety nets programming would be a distinct advantage.

Behavioural competencies:

• Planning and delivering results
• Working with people
• Analysing
• Communicating with impact and respect
• IT skills: Good knowledge of Office software: Excel, Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, Data collection and analysis software. 
• Proficient in PSS Programming  
• Highly self-driven while striving for perfection under minimum supervision. 

General Regulations

• The employee shall follow DRC instructions on safety, confidentiality, and ethical guidelines, including the Code of Conduct and the Humanitarian Accountability Framework.
• Employee should not engage in any other paid activity during the DRC contract period without prior authorization.
• Employee should not engage in any activity that could harm DRC or the implementation of any project during the DRC contract period.
• Employee should not give interviews to the media or publish project-related photos or other material without prior authorization.
• Employee shall return all borrowed equipment for the project to DRC after the end of the contract period or upon request.

Application Process

A cover letter (1 page max) outlining motivation and suitability.

An updated CV (max 4 pages).

Subject line – The position you are applying and the location

Deadline: Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Any submission after 30th May 2025 will not be considered.

DRC is committed to diversity, inclusion, and equal opportunity.