The Role

Mental Health Project Manager

Fixed term and Full-Time contract until December 2026 with a possibility of extension.

Reports to:

The Mental Health Project Manager will report to the Regional Mental Health Advisor, Africa and the CBM Global Mental Health Director.

Job Overview And Core Purpose

The Mental Health Project Manager will manage the day-to-day work of CBM Global’s overall contribution to the Africa Mental Health Leadership programme (AMHLP). This will include the coordination of project activities, supervision and support of the two regional coordinators (for West and Southern Africa), collaboration with key stakeholders, and liaison with the back donor, fund manager and sub-contractor (the Mental Health Innovation Network).

The Africa Mental Health Leadership programme is funded by Wellcome Trust and implemented by the Africa Centres for Disease Control (CDC) and CBM Global. It is administered on behalf of Africa CDC by the African Field Epidemiology Network. It will run for three years, from 2024 to 2026. The goal of the programme is to build a new generation of mental health leaders in health systems and civil society (including organisations of people with lived experience). It will also contribute towards strengthening civil society organisation’s capacity to advocate for appropriate and effective mental health care provision, and to hold mental health service providers and policy-makers to account. The programme offers training and networking opportunities for mental health professionals and advocates, including policy makers and people with lived experience. This is mainly through building public mental health streams into established training in Africa, including the Kofi Annan Public Health Leadership programme, the African Field Epidemiology Training Programme, and regional short mental health leadership courses. In addition, it invests in building networks of professionals and strengthening civil society organisations that represent people with lived experience of mental health conditions and psychosocial disabilities.

CBM Global’s role in the project is to work with civil society organisations (CSOs) and networks and people with lived experience. We ensure that people with lived experience and the organisations that represent them are fully and effectively involved in the programme at all stages. This is critically important to ensure that programme is relevant, effective and accountable. We support institutional strengthening of individual civil society organisations representing people with mental health conditions and psychosocial disabilities and offer opportunities for them to build their advocacy skills further. We facilitate connections for peer learning and support. We also link the graduates of the programme’s training courses and the civil society organisations to existing and emerging mental health networks and initiatives. These networks are helping to strengthen connections across countries and the African continent as a whole.

The expected results of CBM Global’s pillar of the project are as follows:

• Trained graduates in all levels of the AMHLP are connected through peer networks, able to access resources online, as well as meet and share in regular webinars.
• CSOs working in mental health in Africa are mapped – including organisations of persons with psychosocial disabilities – and their needs, priorities and aims understood.
• Mental health-focused CSOs and service user organisations are strengthened in organisational capacity, evidence-based knowledge and in advocacy skills. This includes bolstering existing networks for mutual learning and coordinated advocacy.
• Accountability to civil society and people with lived experience is embedded in the AMHLP and strengthened at national and continental levels.

Based:

We welcome applications from those with the right to work in Nairobi, Kenya with occasional travel to other countries, mainly within Africa. Applicants without the right to reside and work in Kenya will not be considered. Remote working is possible

Hours:

Full-time.

Salary range:

The salary offered will be competitive, dependent on skills and experience. We offer a local contract.

Responsibilities and Duties

Development of peer networks for leadership course graduates

• Oversee the work being undertaken by the Mental Health Innovation Network (MHIN) to build peer networks at regional level in Africa for graduates from the fellowships and courses offered by Africa CDC, the African Field Epidemiology Network (AFENET) and other partners in this programme. These peer networks will offer news sharing, regular webinars, gathering and sharing of useful resources, and promotion of collaboration.

Promoting understanding of the needs of civil society working in mental health in Africa, including organisations of persons with psychosocial disabilities.

• Oversee the work of MHIN in mapping relevant CSOs across Africa, to understand CSO’s needs, priorities and aims. MHIN will promote the work of these organisations on their platform.

Strengthening mental health-focused CSOs

• Support institutional strengthening and governance of CSOs through development and implementation of capacity strengthening and advocacy plans, with a particular focus on support to the Pan African Association of Persons with Psychosocial Disabilities (PANPPD).
• In consultation with relevant stakeholders, design criteria for awarding of capacity strengthening grants to ten mental health-focused CSOs. Coordinate the selection process for the grants. Oversee the administration of the grants. Monitor the activities, expenditure and impact of these grants.
• Support CSOs to find channels to inform African mental health care provision.
• Link user organization’s to the Pan-African Network of People with Psychosocial Disabilities (PANPPD) and the Global Mental Health Peer Network (GMHPN).

Improving accountability to civil society and people with lived experience

• Ensure engagement of people with lived experience by facilitating dialogue with representative organizations and organizing consultations. This will include working closely with PANPPD and GMHPN to facilitate a bottom-up process that captures input from the membership of these organisations to inform the AMHLP Governance structures , so that the perspectives of people with lived experience across the range of mental health needs, and geography, are captured and presented.
• Find routes to link people with lived experience with the overall AMHLP. programme, to help ensure that the programme is accountable to, and informed by, people with lived experience of mental health conditions and psychosocial disabilities.
• In collaboration with PANPPD, contribute to the strengthening of accountability to people with lived experience at regional and continental levels.
• Organise the provision of logistical support and reasonable accommodation as needed to persons with lived experience so that they can be represented in all aspects of the programme, including attending the Programme Steering Committee, Project Management Committee and all the other Technical Working Group meetings.

Strengthen continental networks for advocacy

• Contribute to the better integration of representative and advocacy networks across countries and disciplines working in close collaboration with other project partners
• With Africa CDC and AFENET, work to connect the regional networks (which include graduates from each aspect of the AMLP) with civil society and existing initiatives inside and outside the public health systems to create opportunities of wider collaboration across countries and between healthcare and lay activists.

Programme management

• Manage the team, implementation of activities and stakeholder relationships.
• Collect the necessary information and produce the quarterly narrative and financial progress reports.
• Monitor the programme’s expenditure against budget on a quarterly basis, flagging up significant under or over-spends, and preparing budget adjustment requests as necessary. With support from the finance staff on the project, collect all supporting information required by the donor for financial transactions and present this with the quarterly financial reports.
• Coordinate effectively with key stakeholders, including Africa CDC, AFENET, Wellcome Trust, MHIN, PANPPD and the GMHPN.
• Organise meetings and workshops, including the annual in-person CSO and lived experience workshops and the regular online Technical Working Group meetings.
• Identify reasonable accommodation needs in all activities. Draw up written guidance on provision of reasonable accommodation in the project, and effect the procurement and implementation processes for this.
• Coordinate the collection of learning and evidence across all activities of the programme.

Safeguarding responsibilities

Knowledge : Understand what safeguarding means for the team. Understand power imbalances and ways in which team culture may be reinforcing negative stereotypes and biases, and the impact of these dynamics on the vulnerable and marginalised.

Skills : Lead the team to develop the necessary skills and expertise to undertake their roles and responsibilities for safeguarding. Lead on embedding safeguarding in the team’s work and processes. Create mechanisms which strengthen accountability to project participants and donors on safeguarding.

Behaviours : Hold the team accountable for delivering on safeguarding standards. Articulate and promote the strategic importance of safeguarding in all aspects of the organisation’s work. Demonstrate leadership in ensuring that staff, programmes and operations are safe for all programme participants, staff and volunteers.

Key outcomes expected from this role.

1. The expected results of the project are achieved, through effective management of the team, budget, implementation of activities and stakeholder relationships.
2. Coordination with key stakeholders is carried out well, leading to stronger and more effective working relationships.
3. Learning and evidence collected from the project contribute to the future development and impacts of mental health policy and services across Africa.

Person Specification

All of the following requirements are essential, unless marked with a * when they are desirable, and will be assessed from a combination of information provided from the application form and interview process.

CBM Global welcomes applicants from diverse backgrounds and people with lived experience of disability.

Note: Persons with disabilities with relevant qualifications are encouraged to apply Both CBM Global and PANPPD are committed to fostering an inclusive workplace and strongly encourage applications from individuals with diverse backgrounds, including persons with disabilities.

Experience And Knowledge

• Experience of project management, including management of a team
• Experience of advocacy work
• Knowledge and understanding of disability rights, community mental health and inclusive development
• Previous experience in a regional role*

Skills/competencies/personal qualities

• Strong commitment to the importance of working with civil society organisations and people with lived experience
• Readiness to uphold the values of CBM Global, which are championing inclusion, striving for justice, embracing partnership, pursuing excellence and living with integrity.

Qualifications, Training And Education

• Bachelor’s degree in development work, law, social work, public health, or any other related field.
• Master’s degree public health, human rights or in any other related field .
• Completion of the WHO QualityRights online course

Employee Benefits.

• We offer flexibility and working from home arrangements.
• As part of our commitment with inclusion, CBM Global aims to encourage applications from people with disabilities and those with health conditions. We have a comprehensive equality and diversity policy.

Shortlisting and Interviews

CBM Global is an equal opportunities employer, committed to ensuring all applications are treated fairly.

All applications are subject to our shortlisting process; if you are shortlisted we will contact you and invite you to attend an online interview. You will also be advised at this point if there will be any skills tasks to complete as part of the recruitment process.

Diversity Policy Statement

Everyone has the right to be treated with consideration and respect. CBM Global is committed to achieving a truly inclusive environment for all, by developing better working relationships that release the full potential, creativity and productivity of each individual. CBM Global aims to ensure that all staff, volunteers, donors, partners, contractors, and the general public are treated fairly. This will be regardless of sex, sexual orientation, gender re-assignment, marital or civil partnership status, race (including colour, nationality, ethnicity, or national origin), disability, medical status, age, religion or belief, political opinion, social or economic status.

Employment Checks

CBM Global is committed to the safety and best interest of all children and vulnerable adults accessing CBM Global supported services and programmes. Relevant background checks including working with children, police and reference checks will be completed prior to the preferred candidate’s employment being confirmed.

All applicants must have the right to work in the relevant country. All offers of employment are made subject to the following criteria: Proof of eligibility and satisfactory employment screening, and three references satisfactory to CBM Global.