About BEING

BEING is the independent, NSW peak organisation speaking with and for people with lived/living experience of mental health issues and emotional distress. Our primary focus is to ensure the voices of people with mental health issues are heard by decision makers, service providers, and the community, and leads and influences systemic change in services and systems.

BEING is committed to human rights principles of diversity, inclusion, and equity and believes that recovery is possible for all people who live with mental health issues and emotional distress.

With a long standing history of 26 years of operation, BEING is expanding and growing a service provision portfolio, to support people dealing with the day-to-day impacts of mental health issues in their daily living, as well as support the expansion and growth of the lived experience workforce

Primary purpose

The Project officer will support the Manager to coordinate a new Suicide Support and Prevention program at BEING.

The Project Officer will work with people who identify as living with mental health issues and suicidal ideation or attempts to raise the profile of Suicide supports and prevention within our organisation and raise awareness of the stigma associated with suicide.

More specifically, the Project Officer will work closely with the Manager and the broader consumer/survivor community to develop a co-designed, peer led and facilitated, trauma informed support group for people living with mental health issues and suicidality. The program will be a 12 month pilot with the view to further funding pending the research component and efficacy of the pilot program.

The role requires someone who has an understanding of consumer led and co-design initiatives, is passionate about being a part of the change movement in mental health, and is flexible, adaptive, and proactive in their approach to working in new programs and the changes required along the way.

Integral to the role is utilising the personal lived/living experience of mental health issues and suicidal ideation/ attempts.

Essential requirements/Selection Criteria

1. Personal experience of living with mental health issues and suicidal ideation/attempts and demonstrated ability to utilise your own recovery journey to support and inspire hope and recovery for others.
2. Prior experience in working with people who experience mental health issues and suicide ideation/attempts and understanding of the importance of involving community members in a co-design process.
3. Strong administration skills including working with data and data entry processes
4. Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to work with a range of stakeholders
5. Ability to be flexible, adaptive, and proactive, and agile to the changing needs of a new program and the organisation.
6. Demonstrated ability to multitask, adapt to changing agenda’s, and work under pressure and to tight timelines
7. Strong decision making and problem-solving skills
8. Professional level written and verbal communication skills
9. Detailed understanding of the full Microsoft Office system and ability to learn new database systems

Desirable Criteria:

• Knowledge of the mental health and suicide prevention landscape in NSW and Australia.
• Experience in working in a Not For Profit (NFP) or Non-Government Organisation (NGO)

BEING is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. This means we apply affirmative action strategies to the employment of people with personal lived/living experience of mental health issues.

Any questions please submit via email to [email protected], using the subject line: Project Officer -Suicide Support and Prevention enquiry via EthicalJobs.

A position description is attached.