International Digital Industry Advisor at Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF)

POSITION BACKGROUND

• In 2022, the MSF representative platforms of all Directors of Fundraising and Communications tasked the International Office to create an International Digital Engagement Unit to consolidate expert support to the digital engagement community within MSF.
• In the last few years, MSF is increasingly relying on social media platforms and digital engagement companies to achieve different institutional objectives including communications, recruitment and fundraising objectives. The demand for support with managing relationships with the corresponding technological companies continues to grow across MSF’s highly decentralised movement.
• There is a need for greater global coordination to develop and maintain strong relationships with corresponding companies and stakeholders in a digitalised world.

PLACE IN THE ORGANISATION

• The International Digital Industry Advisor will be a member of the International Digital Engagement Unit, which is a part of MSF International.
• This team reports directly to the International Communications Coordinator and functionally to the International Fundraising Coordinator. The unit is made up of 6 people working in different areas of digital expertise and based in different MSF offices.
• The International Digital Engagement Unit works closely with different working groups and task forces within MSF’s digital community to support communications and fundraising.
• The International Digital Industry Advisor will report to the Head of the International Digital Engagement Unit.

OBJECTIVES OF THE POSITION

• The International Digital Industry Advisor coordinates collective efforts to strengthen and maintain MSF’s relationships with the main international digital players in close coordination with different taskforces and working groups. S/he will liaise with “Big Tech companies” on behalf of the whole organisation to gain leverage, find solutions to common problems, and coordinate for common opportunities and contracts while advising them on products and services that best fit their needs.

MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES
Strategic coordination 

• Develop and lead a global engagement strategy with main international digital players
• Map and consolidate existing contacts across the MSF movement with the main international digital companies and build new reliable ones on behalf of the whole organisation by connecting with internal stakeholders
• Engage closely with MSF international working groups and a wide range of stakeholders to build a system to identify, collect, and prioritise common needs within the organisation (fundraising, communication, advocacy, operational security, health promotion, mis/disinformation, fraud, branding, data protection)
• Identify and inform internally about common opportunities such as new products, marketing and fundraising features, in-kind donations, and pro bono support
• Facilitate interactions between MSF leaders and senior managers within the digital tech companies
• Oversee the development of movement-wide contracts with these companies, in close consultation with the international and market-based buyers and procurement teams
• On an ad-hoc basis, manage longer-term initiatives involving MSF’'s links with digital companies
• Exchange and coordinate with other like-minded organisations and groups to build synergies

Strategic guidance

• Stay abreast of the release of new features and new tools and provide regular information across the organisation
• Deliver expert advice to internal stakeholders across the organisation and act as technical focal point for integration of emerging new features on platforms already used by MSF
• Create a clear intersectional system to contact the main digital tech company to ask for direct support in emergency and disinformation situations
• Act as focal point when needed to report and resolve critical cases involving security and reputational issues including misinformation / disinformation
• Liaise with other relevant internal stakeholders, such as security focal points or humanitarian affairs advisors to contribute to a more integrated approach towards global digital players
• Encourage and contribute to ethical conversations about our use of specific platforms
• On occasion convey MSF concerns related to recurrent issues identified on digital platforms to relevant players

Innovation Advisor

• Act as the innovation focal point especially for the Fundraising digital community
• Participate in internal MSF and industry-wide conversations regarding cryptocurrencies, meta verse engagement, social CMS, gaming, and artificial intelligence to advise digital teams on the best use of these technologies
• Actively contribute to innovation culture in MSF’s digital community

Lead on training and capacity building

• Coordinate knowledge sharing and learning opportunities for a wide range of internal stakeholders (communications, fundraising, operations, etc) on digital tech topics according to new product release, need and internal stakeholders’ requests
• Partner with tech companies to organise information sessions and training

Other

• Potentially contribute to the out of hours team on-call rotation for social media listening or publishing to website and social media
• On occasion, take on other responsibilities in agreement with supervisor

Job requirements

•  Genuine interest in, and commitment to, the humanitarian principles of MSF.
•  At least a bachelor degree in relevant fields (international affairs, communication, marketing, digital transformation) or any other relevant field of expertise
•  At least 10 years of proven experience in a digital engagement domain, or equivalent combination of education and experience
•  Excellent knowledge about digital engagement and its functioning
•  Able to interact effectively at all levels in a complex international organisation
•  Strong interpersonal skills, including representation skills and negotiation abilities
•  Excellent oral and written communication skills, organisation, and attention to detail
•  Ability to work with a minimum of supervision and under pressure
•  Ability to transfer knowledge effectively to train users on new systems/solutions
•  Excellent team working capacity
•  Coordination, and information management skills
•  Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
•  Fluent in English (oral and written)
•  Enthusiasm, self-motivation, initiative, and resilience

Deadline to apply: 16 July 2023