UN PONTE PER ETS sta selezionando un/a Psychiatrist / Mental Health Specialist da inserire nella sua operatività in Siria. Durata 6 mesi. Tipo contratto: Co.co.co. Scadenza candidature 26/06/2026

Position name: PSYCHIATRIST (MENTAL HEALTH SPECIALIST)

Duration: 06 months with possibility of renewal

Tentative Starting Date: 1 July 2026

Duty Station: Hassaka /Amuda with frequent travels to Raqqa and Aleppo

Closing date of the vacancy:  26 June 2026

Context Presentation:

Un Ponte Per (UPP) is an Italian NGO established in 1991.

Since 2015, UPP has been one of the leading INGOs in Syria response. Providing humanitarian aid and capacity building of local actors in Health and Protection as well as environmental health, including waste management. UPP has been able to develop a comprehensive system of health services delivered across the most underserved areas, including mobile units, hospitals, primary health care centres, and an ambulance network. For further information please refer to our website: www.unponteper.it/en/

Overall Scope

Un Ponte Per (UPP) aims to integrate Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) within its primary healthcare interventions to strengthen community-based mental health services in line with WHO’s mhGAP Intervention Guide (mhGAP-IG). Through psychiatric technical leadership, UPP aims to build sustainable capacity within supported Primary Health Care Centres (PHCCs) across three supported governorates in Syria, ensuring early detection, assessment, management, referral, and follow up of priority mental health conditions.

Role and Responsibilities

The Psychiatrist is responsible for providing specialized psychiatric and technical leadership for the implementation establishing of mhGAP service delivery within UPP-supported PHCCs. The role focuses on training, clinical mentorship, supportive supervision and quality assurance, while supporting the integration of mental health services within primary healthcare systems; supporting UPP health teams to develop supervision capacity. The position also contributes to strengthening referral pathways, psychotropic medication management, and coordination across health, protection, program teams, and external MHPSS stakeholders.

Capacity Building & Training

• Lead the design, planning, and delivery of mhGAP-IG training for medical doctors and PHCC staff across targeted governorates
• Conduct refresher trainings, case-based learning sessions, and on-the-job coaching.
• Train UPP Health Department staff to build internal supportive supervision capacity for mhGAP implementation.
• Adapt training materials to local context and ensure alignment with WHO and MoH/DoH guidelines.
• Assess training needs and develop tailored capacity-building plans for each PHCC.
• Support the development of long-term capacity building plans for PHCC staff and UPP personnel to ensure sustainable mhGAP implementation beyond the duration of the project.

Supportive Supervision & Clinical Mentorship

• Conduct regular supportive supervision visits to PHCCs to observe clinical practice, review cases, and provide structured feedback.
• Provide technical guidance and mentorship on the management of severe mental disorders, including psychosis, severe depression, bipolar disorder, epilepsy, substance use disorders, and suicide risk, Mentor PHCC doctors in the assessment, diagnosis, and management of priority mental health conditions using mhGAP IG.
• Support PHCC teams in establishing safe, confidential, and ethical MHPSS practices.
• Strengthen referral pathways between PHCCs, specialized mental health services, and protection actors.
• Document supervision findings and provide recommendations for quality improvement.

Coordination & Collaboration

• Work closely with the MHPSS Specialist in the Protection Department to strengthen referral pathways between community-based psychosocial support services and clinical mental health care, ensuring a continuum of care for individuals with mental health needs.
• Coordinate with the DoH, WHO, and other MHPSS stakeholders to align training and supervision with national strategies.
• Participate in relevant MHPSS Working Groups, technical meetings, and coordination forums.
• Collaborate with Project Managers and Officers to ensure MHPSS activities are implemented according to workplans and donor requirements.
• Provide technical input to program design, proposals, and reporting.
• Support the development and regular updating of service mapping and referral pathways for mental health and psychosocial support services across areas of intervention.
• Represent UPP in relevant Health, MHPSS, and technical coordination forums at national and sub-national level, as delegated by the Health Coordinator.
• Maintain technical liaison with WHO, health authorities, and specialized mental health actors to promote alignment with national and international standards and best practices.

Technical Guidance, clinical advisory and Quality Assurance

• Ensure mhGAP implementation adheres to WHO standards, IASC guidelines, and UPP policies.
• Develop or adapt clinical tools, supervision checklists, and monitoring instruments.
• Support the development of internal protocols for MHPSS integration within PHC.
• Contribute to monitoring and evaluation of MHPSS activities, including data analysis and reporting.
• Provide technical advice on complex clinical cases when needed.

Supply Chain & Psychotropic Medication Management

• Ensure adequate availability of essential psychotropic medications required for mhGAP implementation across supported PHCCs. Lead and support forecasting of psychotropic drug needs based on caseload trends, mhGAP priority conditions, and consumption patterns.
• Coordinate with the Pharmaceutical team, logistics teams, to ensure timely procurement of psychotropic medications.
• Oversee proper storage, handling, and inventory management of psychotropic drugs in line with WHO and national pharmaceutical standards.
• Support PHCC pharmacy staff to ensure accurate dispensing, documentation, and rational use of psychotropic medications.
• Monitor stock levels, prevent stockouts or overstocking, and ensure compliance with controlled-substance regulations.
• Provide technical guidance on pharmaceutical stewardship, including safe storage and prescribing practices and monitoring of side effects.

Internal Capacity Strengthening

• Train and mentor UPP health team members (e.g., Health Specialists/Officers) to independently conduct mhGAP supervision.
• Build a sustainable internal system for ongoing quality assurance and clinical support.
• Support cross-departmental collaboration and learning between Health and Protection teams to strengthen integrated MHPSS programming.

ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS:

• Medical Doctor with specialization in Psychiatry (board-certified or equivalent).
• Additional training in MHPSS, public health, or humanitarian health is an asset.
• Minimum 3–5 years of clinical experience in psychiatry.
• Proven experience delivering mhGAP-IG training, and clinical  supportive supervision for healthcare providers.
• Experience working in humanitarian, conflict-affected, or low-resource settings is strongly preferred.
• Experience collaborating with the Ministry of Health, WHO, or MHPSS coordination bodies.
• Strong knowledge of WHO mhGAP-IG and IASC MHPSS guidelines.
• Excellent training, facilitation, and adult-learning skills.
• Strong clinical decision-making and case management skills.
• Ability to work collaboratively across departments and with external stakeholders.
• Strong communication, reporting, and organizational skills.
• Sensitivity to cultural and contextual factors in mental health.
• Fluency in English and Arabic (written and spoken).
• Frequent travel to PHCCs across multiple governorates in Syria for training, supportive supervision, stakeholder engagement, and quality assurance activities.
• Ensure ethical and safe MHPSS practices in all activities.

UPP requires criminal background check certificate (released max 3 months before the date of job offer) to confirm a job offer. We are aware that in some countries the release of criminal background certificate by the competent authorities might require several weeks. However, UPP runs selections to deploy staff in emergency programs and time-lapse between job offer and field deployment is often very short. Thus, we kindly ask all candidates to get prepared on time and be able to submit their certificate promptly in case of success in the selection.

OTHER REQUIREMENTS:

Un Ponte Per is an International NGO committed to diversity and inclusion within its teams, in line with the principle of non-discrimination. UPP encourages all candidates irrespective of gender, religion and ethnicity including persons with disabilities to apply and become part of the organization.

Ethical Conduct

UPP upholds all the minimum standards in terms of Ethical Conduct and strives to increase its standards over the minimum. Zero tolerance is reserved to Sexual Abuse and Exploitation and to Child Abuse, Violence, Harm, Injury and Negligence. UPP participates in the Inter Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme, therefore, any candidate assures that s/he has never breached any standard in terms of SEA and Child Safeguarding and that s/he will not in the future. UPP will conduct extensive reference check and vetting on shortlisted candidates that might compromise candidates’ privacy. Shortlisted candidates shall promptly provide an up-to-date criminal background check. By submitting an application, the job applicant confirms his/her understanding of these recruitment procedures.

HOW TO APPLY: Interested candidates are invited to apply at the following link: MH Specialist by submiting a detailed CV (PDF format)with the authorization to use and process data on the base of the EU Regulation 2016/679 - GDPR and a brief cover letter (PDF format) that includes the contact information for three Professional References (relevant and recent). 

Be informed that UPP screens prospective colleagues through anti-terrorism/anti-money-laundering/anti-corruption/anti-fraud sanctions lists before job offer. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.