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.

1. Capacity Building & Training
2. Lead the design, planning, and delivery of mhGAP‑IG training for medical doctors and PHCC staff across targeted governorates
3. Conduct refresher trainings, case‑based learning sessions, and on‑the‑job coaching.
4. Train UPP Health Department staff to build internal supportive supervision capacity for mhGAP implementation.
5. Adapt training materials to local context and ensure alignment with WHO and MoH/DoH guidelines.
6. Assess training needs and develop tailored capacity‑building plans for each PHCC.
7. 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.

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.

Position: Country Admin Syria
Monthly Range salary: 2.500 €-3.000 €
Duration: 12 months with possibility of renewal
Starting from: June 2026
Duty Station (s): Amuda/Damascus/Aleppo
Closing date: 10-06-2026

(This position is being re-advertised. Please consider that if you had previously applied)

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/

MAIN TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES 

Un Ponte Per is looking for one Country Administrator that will be responsible of the following major tasks:

• Coordination and financial supervision of the UPP General cash and accounts (project, office and mission) in Syria;
• Ensure and enforce together with the Country Representatives (CR) compliance with UPP’s Anti-Fraud, Anti-Terrorism, Anti-Corruption policies and the in-country financial laws and provisions.
• Support UPP Head of Administrative Department at HQ in preparing country’s yearly financial forecast of Syria Mission offices and the entire mission (staff, running, shared and indirect costs) and regularly monitor related allocations and coverage, in coordination with field Admin and Log Coordinator and Admin Desks.
• Support CR in elaborating and consolidating the annual accounting for the mission and the report to the relevant authorities. 
• Support external and internal audits and micro-assessments preparation, in accordance and cooperation with the field Admin and Log Coordinator and the Administrative Desks designated to projects administered in Syria Mission.
• Support the logistics of projects, offices and mission, also by the way of developing appropriate templates and working processes/chains in coordination with the field Admin and Log Coordinator and the Logistic Desk;
• Monitoring the overall financial and logistical management of Syria Mission’s offices in coordination with the Logistic Manager, taking measures agreed with the Country Representative to ensure an efficient and on-standards and function-chart of UPP;
• Identify and promptly flagging of financial shortfalls or overspent in the office/mission financial management  and propose corrective measures to the all posts involved; 
• Organize regular meetings with relevant staff members in coordination with CR , with a view to resume and monitor the overall financial performance and identify gaps and cross-cutting issues;
• In coordination with the Syria Mission  Admin and Log Coordinator and the designated Administrative Desks, with the view to ensure compliance with general principles for accounting and project financial management and, also for the enforcement of anti-fraud, anti-corruption and anti-terrorism, providing training, orientation and tutoring for finance and logistics staff of UPP and those of partners where necessary and/or requested;
• Propose profiles in response to compelling or strategical need in the finance and logistics sector of UPP mission in Syria Mission, and s/he supports in recruiting and supervising administrative staff in Syria Mission, also for the capacities development and the evaluation of the performance.
• Facilitate and support the mission structure by capacitating and training existing local staff.
• Strengthening the mission with its dedicated offices, establishing new operational modalities where required.

ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS:

• University degree in administration or equivalent working experience
• At least 5 years’ professional work experience in finance in NGOs
• Experience of financial reporting and grant management with a range of external donors using Excel and administrative software.
• Experience of reporting and monitoring to tight deadlines.
• Effective financial management skills and knowledge of finance systems and procedures.
• Experience in main donors funded project (EU, UN, USAID, AICS, CDCS etc.).
• Experience in working in coordination with local partners and into a consortium program.
• Excellent organizational skills with the ability to coordinate activities.
• Good literacy, numeracy and IT skills including Excel.
• Ability to demonstrate initiative, be proactive and offer a solution-oriented approach.
• Determined and committed to high quality standards.
• Ability to establish effective working relationships at all levels internally and externally.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to prioritize work, meet deadlines and work calmly under pressure, while maintaining flexibility and professional approach.
• Excellent oral and written English and Italian.
• Ability to travel in the Middle East.

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.

DESIRABLE REQUIREMENTS:

• Experience in Emergency projects management.
• Knowledge of the Middle East context and relevant local actors.
• Knowledge of Arabic is an asset.

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.