Mental Health Europe is looking for a full-time policy officer

About Mental Health Europe

Mental Health Europe is the main independent European non-governmental network organisation committed to the protection of the rights of persons with psychosocial disabilities, the promotion of positive mental health, the prevention of mental distress, and the improvement of mental health care and social inclusion.. More at: www.mentalhealtheurope.org

Purpose of job

We are opening an exciting opportunity for a new Policy Officer to join our team in Brussels to develop our EU policy work and help to further position Mental Health Europe as the thought leader and knowledge broker on mental health in Europe. The Policy Officer will work within the policy team and closely collaborate with the rest of the team and member organisations to develop our policy expertise, build engaging campaign and strategic partnership, ensure visibility and deliver our positions to the relevant stakeholders at EU level.

The Policy Officer will monitor policy developments, draft position papers, seek influencing opportunities, contribute to communications activities and support synergies between our projects, member’s priorities and EU policy developments. They will build strategic relationship with decisions makers and other key actors for the work of Mental Health Europe. The ideal candidate is at ease with public speaking, has strong writing skills and a collaborative approach to work and people.

Mental Health Europe is committed to a diverse and inclusive environment for all our employees. We encourage candidates with diverse backgrounds to apply.

MAIN DUTIES

Policy and advocacy

• Monitor and offer expertise and analysis on policy developments relevant to the work of Mental Health Europe and our membership
• Lead Mental Health Europe’s work on selected thematic areas in line with the priorities defined in MHE’s strategy (including but not limited to social policy, equality, youth & digitalisation)
• Contribute to the development of advocacy and communications strategies and outputs in close cooperation with relevant team members (draft advocacy materials, position papers, briefings, and support communications outputs)
• Build strategic relationships, elicit support from external stakeholders and liaise with relevant institutions and organisations active at the European level
• Represent MHE at meetings and events to publish and promote MHE positions
• Coordinate and take part in coalitions and alliances where Mental Health Europe is leading or contributing to

Knowledge development

• Ensure knowledge flow and mutual learning between project and policy teams to ensure that policy objectives and projects are aligned and complementary
• Work with members and relevant partners to develop new knowledge to inform policy making on mental health
• Conduct and/or supervise policy research, mappings and collection of good practices

Events

• Support the organisation of Mental Health Europe events (EP events, webinar, capacity-building, co-creation in action …)
• Attend external events as Mental Health Europe representative when required
• Undertake occasional travel for events, mainly within the EU

Members and partners

• Build strategic relationships and liaise with members and partners, including coordination of relevant working groups
• Follow and contribute to the work of organisations of which MHE is a member

Mental Health Europe is a small team, the Policy Officer is required to work flexibly alongside other members of the team and to take on reasonable tasks as appropriate over and above those set above.

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE POSITION

Essential

Qualifications/ Experience:

• University level education in a relevant field (European Studies, Human Rights, Law, Health, Psychology, Social Sciences etc)
• Minimum three years of relevant work experience
• Strong understanding of and experience working on EU policy, in particular in areas of relevance for Mental Health Europe in advocacy related roles
• Commitment to Mental Health Europe’s psychosocial approach to mental health.

Skills:

• Exceptional public speaking and writing skills in English, with the ability to communicate effectively to a variety of different audiences
• Excellent networking skills with an ability to liaise with stakeholders from grass-root to institutional level
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills, and attention to detail
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to work in a small, diverse, international team
• Strong organisational skills, initiative and follow-through
• Ability to work quickly, accurately and juggle multiple tasks
• IT literacy: excellent knowledge of Office Suite and readiness to get on board with new tools

Desirable:

• Experience working on mental health, social policies, digitalisation
• Experience working on EU funded projects
• Knowledge of other European languages
• Experience in communications and formulating messages to the general public

What we offer:

• The possibility to contribute to better mental health for all
• Work in a friendly, creative, flexible working environment in a dynamic, open minded and international team
• Permanent contract
• Possibility for partial teleworking arrangement
• Monthly gross salary: 3300- 3500 euros
• Hospitalisation insurance, pension scheme, contribution to public transport, 13th month, teleworking allowance, and lunch vouchers
• Additional holidays: 4 extra-legal holidays and end of year office closure on top of legal holidays

Applications should be submitted to recruitment@mentalhealtheurope.org Please specify in the email subject “Application for MHE Policy Officer”.

All applicants must be qualified, eligible and able to work in Belgium. Mental Health Europe is not in the position to support work permit applications or to provide financial assistance to relocate to Brussels/Belgium.

Applications should include:

• A cover letter (no longer than 1 page) describing how the candidate’s profile matches the different job requirements and what the motivation for the post is.
• A CV, including details of two persons who can be contacted for references, one of whom should be your direct line manager.

Deadline for applications is 1st of June. Interview and written test will take place in Brussels on Friday 6th of June.

We thank you in advance for your interest in our vacancy. However, due to the large number of applications foreseen, we regret that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.