Title: Advisor, Mental Health & Psychosocial Support
Location: Across Canada
Employment status: Casual
Salary band: $33.26 – $38.81 /hour

The Canadian Red Cross (CRC), an iconic brand and one of the most inspirational not-for-profit organizations on this planet, is seeking an Advisor, Mental Health & Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) to join our Mental Health and Psychosocial Support team.

You have a passion for helping others, and want to work with other dedicated individuals? By applying, you are taking a big first step to be part of an exciting organization.

At the Canadian Red Cross, we are guided by our fundamental principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, voluntary service, unity, and universality. We help people and communities in Canada and around the world in times of need and support them in strengthening their resilience.

Starting with the hiring process, we are committed to having an accessible, diverse, inclusive, and barrier-free work environment where everyone can reach their full potential. We encourage all qualified persons to apply, particularly Indigenous Peoples, persons with disabilities, racialized people, and people with diverse gender identities and sexual orientations, and others who share our values and contribute to fostering an inclusive and diverse workplace.

Placing affected communities at the centre and in partnership, the incumbent seeks to advance the provision of mental health and psychosocial support across operations and programs, primarily to those impacted by emergencies and crises, with a focus on improving access to underserved and under-resourced populations, such as Indigenous communities, remote communities, people experiencing homelessness, migrant workers, and other priority populations.

In this role, you will: 

• Conduct Psychosocial (PSS) Assessment to develop understanding of impacts on affected communities (e.g., demographic and contextual information, mental health and psychosocial needs, vulnerabilities and risks, capacities and resources) and recommendations to meet outstanding needs.
• Complete PSS Field Reports to ensure ongoing assessment and monitoring.
• Advocate within the operation or program to ensure MHPSS and protection considerations and recommendations are integrated into service design and delivery.
• Identify and map relevant community partner organizations based on PSS Assessment gaps analysis, and establish mechanisms to collaborate with them to ensure holistic support for impacted individuals that focuses on developing individual and community capacity and resiliency.
• Provide technical guidance to operational or program personnel on complex MHPSS considerations, including crisis intervention and management, and protection protocols and response as member of the Protection Team.
• Lead capacity-building activities as relevant to the operation or program based on Advisor’s specialized and professional knowledge (e.g., harm reduction approaches, traditional ways of knowing).
• Complete end-of-mission report and debriefing upon demobilization to provide MHPSS National team with feedback and recommendations related to preparedness for and experience in deployment, including evaluating support to personnel and appropriateness of services to meet the needs of impacted individuals.
• Complete training requirements to ensure readiness to deploy, inform CRC of availability to deploy and participate in pre-deployment briefings.

What we are looking for: 

• The incumbent must be a registered professional (in good standing) with a degree in social work, psychology, nursing, or other mental health related field.
• Training and/or experience in Mental Health, in providing Psychological First Aid, in crisis and/or suicide intervention (e.g., ASIST: Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training, Nonviolent Crisis Intervention Training).
• Experience in an emergency environment (e.g., response to disasters, crisis events, humanitarian crises).
• Able to place affected individuals and communities at the center of activities, prioritizing their safety, wellbeing, and mental health.
• Coordinate and foster effective working relationships with various stakeholders (e.g., personnel, management, external and community-based partners).
• Explore and analyze complex issues and prepare written critically and strategically evaluations and recommendations.
• Advocate for and reinforce self-determination and coping mechanisms (i.e., aiding in re-establishment of traditional forms of support and coping found in community).
• Understanding of and experience in working effectively in a complex matrix environment.
• Ability work effectively and professionally in a fast-paced and changing environment.
• Strong written and verbal communication in English is essential. Bilingual French/English is a strong asset and imperative in Quebec.

Working conditions:

• Advisors are deployed based on operational needs within an activation window of 24–48 hours for 2-3 weeks. A casual contract allows you to work when requested by the Red Cross. In times of low activity, it does not guarantee work hours. You must be available for four consecutive weeks a year for this contract type.
• Field missions can involve working in environments that are unstable and unpredictable, requiring non-traditional working hours and strict adherence to security regulations, and may have limited access to basic services; therefore, a demonstrated ability to work in stressful and often ambiguous conditions is required.
• This position requires a satisfactory Criminal Records Check or a satisfactory Enhanced Police Information Check (EPIC).
• If driving for society business, a valid driver’s license is required with a satisfactory drivers’ abstract.
• Full vaccination against COVID-19 is mandatory for this position and operational deployments (the CRC will however adhere to its duty to accommodate those who are unable to be fully vaccinated for a reason related to a human right protected ground).
• Eligibility to work in Canada: At this time, we welcome applications from candidates eligible to work in Canada. If you are not a citizen or permanent resident of Canada, we encourage you to carefully review your visa to find out whether you are eligible to work in the job you are considering applying for. Refer to our FAQ for more information.

If you require accommodation measures during any phase of the hiring process, please notify us as soon as possible. All information received in relation to accommodation requests will be kept confidential.

#COVID19