AR Project Manager at Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF)

• Reporting to: Anti-Racism TIC Project – Steering Committee

TRANFORMATIONAL INVESTMENT CAPACITY (TIC)

The TIC is an exciting new international initiative that will transform how MSF supports people, builds in robust operational processes and technologies and takes MSF to the cutting edge of medical innovation. The TIC will fund large scale projects and smaller incubator ideas that can scale across MSF – with a substantial investment over 3.5 years in improving the way we do our work. Projects and ideas can come from Operating Centres, Partner Sections, and each and every MSFer and will be evaluated by a world-class Selection Committee. The sum of TIC projects and ideas can help MSF better fulfill the present and evolving medical-humanitarian needs of people living in crisis by investing money, intellectual capital and human resources to implement transformational, game-changing and radical initiatives.

CONTEXT

Addressing structural racism has been identified as a priority for MSF, highlighted over the years in La Mancha, the People, People, People document, the People Respect and Value Rome/Dakar workshop, the IB Call for Change and more recently, with movement-wide discussions related to the Black Lives Matter protests (June/July 2020).  According to the various exchanges, discussions, social media posts etc. on various platforms across the movement, there appears to be a widespread lack of knowledge and understanding of racism. There also appears to be internal misalignment on what racism is, and how it manifests in MSF.  Several entities across MSF have recognized a gap in being able to hold conversations on racism, which certainly inhibits MSF’s ability to take action to address racism. Furthermore, discussions at MSF are often anchored in a debate paradigm, an approach that is neither suitable to discussing racism or encouraging anti-racism practices.

The Anti-Racism: Building Awareness and Changing Practices TIC project is articulated around 3 objectives to address the lack of understanding of racism and anti-racism practices in MSF:

1. Facilitate an anti-racism journey to increase anti-racism awareness and change practices
2. Create a conversation space to discuss racism and anti-racism practices
3. Build internal capacity for conversation hosting

The project targets the conscious unskilled (i.e. staff, association members in MSF that have identified a need to better understand racism and address it). The Project Lead will functionally report to the Steering Committee of the TIC Project but will be responsible for taking responsibility to lead the project with limited day-to-day supervision.

POSITION OVERVIEW

• As a Project Lead, your responsibilities are to:
• Provide strategic guidance to ensure the project’s success (i.e. which anti-racism related topic to address next, which key actors to reach next, what partnerships with external experts to establish, etc.)
• Ensure the project is anchored in the reality of MSF, its operations and teams.
• Ensure the project meets its objectives by championing its development, uptake, evaluation, support and scaling across MSF;
• Ensure the project remains nimble, agile and innovative and based on solid anti-racism literature and practice;
• Lead and coordinate efforts of the content team by building strong relationships with the subject-matter experts (SME’s);
• Ensure content produced includes references from various geopolitical and socio-cultural contexts to remain relevant for a wide range of interlocutors;
• Remain up to date on anti-racism theoretical frameworks and able to present them to MSF actors unfamiliar with anti-racism
• Interact closely with relevant partners in addition to the Project Steering Committee (e.g. Full Excom, International Board, project-based staff in specific countries) to promote the project and encourage uptake;
• Represent the project at different MSF events;

Leadership (35%):

• Provide strategic guidance informed by an understanding of anti-racism praxis and organizational change and the idiosyncrasies of MSF global team and operations to define strategic priorities, implementation tactics and performance indicators;
• Interact closely and build strong relationships with the Steering Committee to ensure the level of commitment is maintained;
• Bring forth evidence-based suggestions to the steering committee to increase the project’s relevance and efficiency;
• Interact closely with other relevant actors (Full Excom, International Board, Directors of Operations and any other relevant MSF staff) to promote the Anti-Racism TIC project and encourage uptake

Content Development (25%):

• Review and contribute to the development of anti-racism content (e.g. contribute to the overarching curriculum, review entities’ anti-racism workplans, identify and share references with the rest of the content team)
• Formulate problem statements to ensure anti-racism content is tailored to specific MSF settings’ needs and practices (e.g. provide suggestions to adapt best practices to assignment contexts, geographical and historical specificities, etc.)
• Identify additional SME’s (internal or external) as required and connect them with the content team
• Connect with antiracism “agenda”/entities/academist….in operational hubs to ensure adapted focus/narrative/approaches

Coordination (25%):

• Schedule meetings with the content team, review the material developed and define follow-up tasks
• Develop and review ToRs for external consultants and oversee consultants’ selection process
• Request and allocate required budgets to hire external consultants as needed
• Oversee consultancies and ensure consultancies’ objectives are met
• Oversee implementation of specific sub-projects (e.g. translations, adaptation to different medium/platforms, pilots of conversational spaces, etc.) and report on their efficiency
• Conduct monitoring and evaluation of the project and report against identified indicators
• Track expenses and produce budget reports when needed
• Lead project documentation, files management, progress tracking and archiving

Communication (15%)

• Set project meetings’ agendas and schedule ad-hoc meetings when needed
• Provide update on the project’s progress, challenges, lessons learned and identified needs tailored to project members, MSF entities involved in the project and MSF entities interested in joining the project

BACKGROUND & REQUIREMENTS
The ideal candidate will have:

• Lived experience of racism, oppression or discrimination and be from one of the contexts that MSF serves
• A strong and demonstrated technical background in anti-racism and anti-oppression (AOR), including professional qualifications, training related to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI)
• Experience in the development and implementation of EDI and AOR programs, preferably within a large and complex organization. Experience within the non-profit or humanitarian sectors is a considerable advantage.
• Experience developing and implementing learning and educational strategies using an equity lens and principles.
• Excellent project management skills, including demonstrated knowledge with budget management.
• Experience with change management, including a demonstrated ability to gain cooperation and build trust to influence outcomes.  
• Demonstrated ability to operate as a self-accountable and self-directed team leader and project leader. Ability to work well with minimal supervision.
• Strong analytical skills, with the ability to collect, organize, test, and analyze complex information with attention to detail and accuracy.
• Excellent time management and organization skills.
• Strong presentation and interpersonal skills.
• Experience with monitoring, evaluation, and reporting of qualitative and/or quantitative data.
• Advanced experience with Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint. Experience with e-learning modules and platforms is a strong asset.
• English fluency required. French proficiency is an asset.

Competencies

• Commitment to MSF’s Principles
• Cross-cultural Awareness
• Behavioural Flexibility
• Stress Management
• Analytical Thinking
• Results and Quality Orientation
• Service Orientation
• Planning and Organising
• Teamwork and Cooperation

WORKING CONDITIONS

• Position based in Eastern Africa Section (EA S) office.
• Full time job.
• Duration of contract: 12 months, possible extension if a Phase II of the project is submitted and approved.
• Salary/conditions: Annual salary of KES 5,181,181. Secondary benefits, including relocation allowance package for non-Kenyan residents, based on the EA Office conditions.
• Starting date: ASAP.