Title: Director MHPSS Employee Working Location: Partially Virtual / Hybrid (Ottawa, ON) Employment Status: Permanent Full-time The Canadian Red Cross (Red Cross) – an inspirational not for profit organization, helps people and communities in Canada and around the world in times of need and supports them in strengthening their resilience. As a Canada’s Best Employers 2026, we are committed to having an accessible, diverse, inclusive, and barrier-free work environment. Why this role matters: Mental health and psychosocial support are increasingly central to effective humanitarian action and community resilience. This role offers the opportunity to strengthen how MHPSS quality is defined and sustained, accelerate learning and innovation, and build partnerships that expand access to culturally safe, evidence‑informed psychosocial supports—keeping the experience and needs of people and communities at the centre, especially in times of crisis. This is a senior technical leadership role shaping how mental health and psychosocial support is integrated across humanitarian services—before, during, and after crises. The Director, MHPSS provides strategic leadership, technical direction, and oversight for community‑based approaches across emergency and non‑emergency contexts, building coherent, evidence‑informed, and scalable systems and mobilizing the partnerships needed to strengthen stability, resilience, and recovery. This role is focused on systems‑level impact—strengthening programs, partnerships, referral pathways, workforce supports, and enabling conditions so that MHPSS is accessible, coordinated, and responsive, especially in emergencies, displacement, disasters, and compounding social stressors. It is a role for a leader who combines deep technical expertise in MHPSS with the ability to design practical systems, influence across sectors, and translate complex needs into community‑centred humanitarian solutions—while staying current with emerging practice and innovation. In this role, you will : Lead planning and workplans for MHPSS, translating strategy into annual priorities, deliverables, timelines, and performance measures. Manage budgets and resources for MHPSS, including budget development, forecasting, variance management, and capacity planning (team, consultants, and partners) to deliver results. Set the technical direction for a systems‑oriented MHPSS portfolio, in collaboration with internal stakeholders and partners, including defining models, standards, tools, and quality expectations that can be applied consistently across preparedness, response, and recovery. Provide internal technical advice, consultation, and capacity‑building to teams across Humanitarian Services and beyond, supporting consistent, high‑quality MHPSS practice and shared learning. Collaborate across teams to embed psychosocial considerations into program design, ensuring MHPSS is integrated early, appropriately, and in ways that strengthen outcomes across programs and services. Strengthen partnerships and coordination with health systems, community organizations, governments, and humanitarian actors—bringing humility and a learning mindset—to improve access, continuity, and sustainability of psychosocial supports, and to build new collaborations with external agencies, networks, and academic or practice partners. Ensure approaches are evidence‑informed and context‑appropriate, integrating learning, research, and emerging practices into service design. Guide measurement, learning, and accountability for MHPSS outcomes, including setting indicators, monitoring impact, and supporting adaptive management. Lead and mentor senior specialists and managers, building internal technical capacity and fostering a strong community of practice. Provide expert advice to senior leadership on emerging issues, risks, and opportunities related to mental health and psychosocial support in humanitarian contexts. Advance innovation and thought leadership in MHPSS by staying current with emerging evidence and practice trends, and by translating relevant global guidance (including IFRC approaches) into context‑appropriate solutions that improve impact in Canada. Represent the organization externally, as appropriate—convening and contributing to national and international dialogue, partnerships, and communities of practice on MHPSS in emergencies and community settings to strengthen collaboration, shared learning, and impact. What we are looking for : Advanced university degree in psychology, social work, public health, mental health, humanitarian studies, or a related field; or equivalent combination of education and experience. 10+ years of progressively senior experience in mental health and psychosocial support within humanitarian, emergency, public health, or community‑based systems. Demonstrated deep technical expertise in MHPSS, including community‑based and systems‑level approaches. Experience designing, building, and scaling service models or systems that support mental health and psychosocial wellbeing. Strong understanding of how mental health intersects with emergencies, displacement, disasters, and social vulnerability. Proven ability to operate at a strategic and systems level, influencing across organizations, sectors, and disciplines. Experience leading multidisciplinary teams and complex portfolios in matrixed environments. Demonstrated experience with business planning, workplan management, budgeting, and financial stewardship for complex programs or portfolios. Strong skills in strategy development, stakeholder engagement, technical governance, and organizational leadership. Working Conditions: As we work with and support people (managers, colleagues, beneficiaries/customers, volunteers, donors and external partners) and communities in Canada and around the world, applicants whose first language is not English may be required to perform the responsibilities of the role in English. 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. The Canadian Red Cross has an established process to conduct pre-employment background checks and reference checks. Most work will be completed in an office environment, with some field visits and field-based work required. The work may involve exposure to situations that are complex or emotionally demanding, and operating environments that can be high pressure.
