Latest Jobs at Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)

(BASED IN ANY MSF-OCBA HUB)

1. ES
2. Full Time
3. Operations

Médecins Sans Frontières is an international independent medical-humanitarian organization, which offers assistance to populations in distress, to victims of natural or man-made disasters and to victims of armed conflict, without discrimination and irrespective of race, religion, creed or political affiliation.

MSF is a civil society initiative that brings together individuals committed to the assistance of other human beings in crisis. As such MSF is by choice an association. Each individual working with MSF does it out of conviction and is ready to uphold the values and principles of MSF.

The MSF movement is built around five operational directorates supported by MSF’s 21 sections, 24 associations and other offices together worldwide. MSF OCBA is one of those directorates. The operations are implemented by field teams and the mission coordination teams; together with the organizational units based in Barcelona, Athens and decentralised in Nairobi, Dakar and Amman. The field operations are guided and supported by 5 Operational Cells, the Emergency Unit and other departments supporting operations.

JOB OBJECTIVE

The Deputy Director of Operations assists the Director of Operations (DO) in overseeing the implementation of all MSF OCBA activities in the field, setting overall operational ambition and strategy, ensuring respect for humanitarian principles and medical ethic as well as the safety and security of MSF programmes and personnel. S/he ensures active collaboration between the Operations- and support departments.

 

The Deputy-director of Operations, directly reporting to the Operations Director, supports, represents and, when needed, replaces the Operations Director in overall management and direction of the department, ensuring the application of the organisation’s strategic plan as well as its deontological orientations.

POSITION WITHIN THE ORGANIZATION

• Reports to the Director of Operations.
• Line manages the Operations Learning Referent and the Knowledge Management Projects Manager.
• Responsible of interaction with HR and Log departments
• Is a member of the management team and core MT of the section

OBJECTIVES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The Deputy Director, in accordance with his/her competences and complementary attributes towards the Director, has the following main responsibilities. These will be nuanced according to the full structure of the direction of operations team.  

Objective of the position

• To support, advice and/or replace the Director of Operations in executive and delegated tasks regarding OCBA field operations.
• To safeguard, promote and enhance security and crisis management expertise and capacity within OCBA.
• To liaise with other parts/departments of the organisation on matters relevant for Operations (Logistical and Human resources).

Main characteristics

• Prepares decision making in tactical issues regarding operations (e.g. project programs, start and termination of projects, security, and advocacy); judges different alternatives and advises on decisions to take.
• Cooperates in the development of the annual plan: gives input and advice to the DO regarding alternatives, direction and prioritization.
• Conceives and takes up operational projects or dossiers
• Acts as sparring partner for the DO for all issues related to policy development and field operations.
• Participates in and/or leads various internal working groups.
• Ensures alignment and monitors and promotes adequate co-operation between (field) operations and support departments, and operational platforms and head of services of support departments
• Participates in conception, preparation and imparting of training sessions, coordinators week organized by MSF.
• Participates in and helps guide strategic debates within the Organisation.
• Promotes and maintains relations with other MSF sections and Humanitarian Agencies on an operational level, representing MSF OCBA both nationally and internationally.

PROFILE

• We are looking for a candidate with strong operational experience with MSF (or a comparable organisation).
• The candidate will have a strong sense of the MSF mission with an ability to contribute to strategic operational and medical challenges and opportunities, translating these into operational policies and practice.
• S/he demonstrates strong skills in management and leadership and has proven capabilities to lead and direct people of various disciplines and cultural backgrounds across multiple time-zones and locations.
• S/he will be an innovator and a coach who subscribes to a field-driven organisation, has good communication skills and is able to function well in a multifunctional global management team. 
• English is mandatory and fluency in French is highly desirable
• Full adherence and commitment to the principles, values and goals of MSF is required

CONDITIONS & DEMANDS:

• Location: based in any OCBA hub; MSF-Spain offices or Amman, Nairobi, Dakar, Buenos Aires.  
• Full availability to travel at any time to any part of the world.
• Minimum of 3-year moral commitment, with a maximum term of 6 years.
• Annual gross salary: HQ-7A (divided in 12 monthly payments) + secondary benefits, based on MSF OCBA Reward Policy.
• Starting date: August 2021 (with a certain flexibility).

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JOB GENERAL OBJECTIVE AND CONTEXT

The current JD is compiling two different responsibilities:

• Assuming the supervision of the matchings and the development of experienced profiles towards strategic positions.
• Assuming the Profile management of one strategic pool (MedCo, LogCo…), depending on the profile of the person chosen.

 

The Coordinator of Strategic Positions is hierarchically accountable to the Head of Recruitment, Development and Pool Manager and aims at contributing to guaranteeing the presence in the MSF OCBA projects necessary professionals based on quality and quantity needs in the short, mid and long term. This will be achieved by managing a pool of professionals matching the Organisation’s requirements.

The position is placed within the HR Department including the Management and Assistant to the Department and 5 units: Policy Making; HR Management Unit; Recruitment, Development and Pool Management; Training; and Administration of Persons.

The Recruitment, Development and Pool Management Unit is made up of a team of Profile Managers and one Recruitment unit.

MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES AND TASKS AS COORDINATOR OF STRATEGIC POSITIONS

The coordinator should have the global view in terms of HR International Staff capacities and needs and establish the most adequate assignment of resources to support the coverage of the Strategic Positions in the organisation while ensuring the development of the International Staff to guarantee the future coverage.

The positions considered as Strategic should be aligned with the operational strategies and needs and will ensure Coordinators for regular and ER missions, including HICs, complex missions and in general missions with high risk of gap.

Coordinate the follow up and coverage of the Strategic Positions

Coordinate the Pool Managers involved in the Follow up of the Strategic Positions (HoM, LogCo, MedCo, HRCo, FinCo, FC & PMR):

• Lead the monthly meetings together with the Pool Managers concerned to ensure the coverage and a proper balance of the possible assignments in Coordination positions and offer a general view of the coordination positions coverage.
• Lead Bimonthly meetings with the cells for an operational update and to provide a mid-long-term HR perspective of the coverage of the Strategic Positions.

Detect Talent and support development towards Strategic Positions

• Together with the other Pool Managers, detect talent within the FC, PMR and Vocationer pools and support development towards Strategic Positions.
• Enhance DEI with in the coordination pools.
• Define ad hoc career paths (specific trainings and assignments) to facilitate the development together with the Pool Managers.
• Deploy a specific Follow up for Strategic Positions with the corresponding Pool Managers and other actors if needed (Recruitment, Technical Departments, other Partner Sections, etc).
• Follow up with the Pool Managers and the Coordinator of Field Positions, the definition of targets for new coordinators and the evolution of the people growing towards this coordination positions.
• Support the implementation of new projects linked with the development and retention of senior international staff as the Tandem System, Mentoring programme…

MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES AND TASKS AS PROFILE MANAGER

Development of his/her Pool based on Operational Needs

The Profile Manager is the professional in charge of developing a pool of International Staff (and National Staff holding field coordination positions) aligned with the Operations needs in MSF-OCBA.

• Ensure the availability in the Organisation of people having profiles matching operational needs, ready to be deployed in the field, while coordinating with Operation department to know and anticipate needs.
• Design and implement strategies to build the HR capacity needed for short, medium and long term.
• Ensure the quantitative and qualitative follow-up of his/her pool and analyse it accordingly in order to anticipate future recruitment, selection and development needs.
• S/he will be responsible for designing and applying the retention strategies and policies defined in the unit and the HR department and measure the results according to the indicators set.
• Guarantee the follow-up and development of International Staff (and National Staff holding field coordination positions) within the Organisation with future insight in terms future missions based on Operational needs.
• Identify transversal development needs of the pool based on current gaps of capacities or foreseen future needs in Operations.
• Ensure proper link and synergies with the operations department to ensure the development of specific strategies for FCs induction & development.

HR Development and Career Management

The Profile Manager is the reference person for the International Staff (and National Staff holding field coordination positions) in terms of Development and Career Management of our HR in MSF-OCBA.

• Follow up together with the HR reference officers in the Operational Cells (REHUCOs) that International Staff (and National Staff holding field coordination positions) receive the evaluations & upward feedbacks required.
• Identify the development needs of each person of the pool in terms of competencies, languages and technical skills coming from evaluations and regular feedback from cells.
• Support each person of the pool to assimilate the improvement areas detected and define plans together with the people in the pool to improve these areas and to reinforce their strengths.
• Follow and be in contact with each person of his/her pool and support their professional development, orienting their career path within the Organisation based on the individual interests and the organizational needs.
• Support and revise the trainings offered by the Learning Unit to check if they correspond to the needs of the pool and operations.
• Ensure people in the pool are aware of the individual support offer like mentoring or coaching.
• Invest development efforts based on the commitment to MSF, performance and potential/interest in critical positions of each person of the pool, giving priority in terms of development to people under LongTerm Commitment packages.
• Ensure proper communication with other Pool Managers to proper follow up people with potential in the career path, both people growing to FC and from FC to HoM.
• Participate in the briefings to ensure the deployment is happening correctly.
• Debrief the pool at the end of assignment, focusing on their future professional motivations and the reinforcement of their development challenges.

Matching

The Profile Manager is responsible for searching, identifying and appointing the people to fill field vacancies, seeing in turn to the development of a career path for the International Staff (and National Staff holding field coordination positions) throughout their professional life in the Organisation.

• Based on the Annual Plan drawn up by the HR Management, propose candidate well in advance to the cells with proper presentation of the candidates and the reason behind the proposal.
• Follow up the closed matching with the HR reference officers in the Operational Cells (REHUCOs), Staff Health Unit, Travel Unit and Administration so that departure to the mission can be accordingly organised.
• Ensure communication / consulting with other profile managers about common positions in order to appoint the candidates best suiting the job requirements and ensuring a global team view of the balance in projects & coordination teams.
• Guarantee that all the candidates pre-matched have access to the information about the position, project, living and working conditions.

Interaction with the Recruitment Unit

The Profile Manager is responsible for setting the priority needs for the Recruitment Unit in terms of recruitment and selection of International Staff for his/her pool well in advance so as to ensure enough HR having the qualifications, training and competencies needed to address operational needs.

Interaction with other OC’s and Partner Sections

• Jointly with the Head of Unit, define, follow and ensure the achievement of in the HR agreement with Partner Sections.
• Coordinate with the Pool Managers of the others OC’s, sharing needs, information and resources when needed and possible,
• Coordinate with the Career Managers in the Partner Sections to increase the people from other Partner Sections engaged with OCBA operations. Collaborate with Career Managers in the follow up of the development needs and career management of these people.

Other tasks:

• Participate in the department and unit planning as well as in defining and/or adjusting the MSF-OCBA HR policy.
• Participate as a facilitator in training courses and workshops organised by MSF-OCBA if needed.
• Participate in the implementation of outplacement policies for MSF-OCBA International Staff within the MSF Policy framework.
• Keep information about availability and qualification of the candidates up to date on the SAP database.
• Depending on team needs the position can also take care of some small pool, like HAOs at this moment

SELECTION CRITERIA

Education and experience

• Experience as Pool Manager in coordination positions.
• Field experience with MSF in various projects (any section) will be an asset.
• Expertise in the use of basic HR management tool (job descriptions, evaluation tool, competency model, etc).
• Good command of English and French. Spanish language desirable.
• IT knowledge as a user (Microsoft Office setting).
• Knowledge / experience in ERP/SAP systems will be a plus.

Competencies

• Commitment to MSF’s Principles
• Cross-cultural Awareness
• Behavioural Flexibility
• Analytical Thinking
• Strategic Vision
• Results and Quality Orientation
• Service Orientation
• Initiative and Innovation
• Teamwork and Cooperation
• Communication skills

CONDITIONS

• Positions based in any MSF-OCBA Hub (Barcelona, MSF-Spain office delegations, Buenos Aires, Amman, Dakar or Nairobi) 
• Temporary position for 13 months.
• Full time job.
• Annual gross salary: HQ-4B (12 monthly payments) plus secondary benefits based on MSF-OCBA Reward Policy.
• Starting: End September 2021.

go to method of application »

GENERAL CONTEXT

Médecins Sans Frontières is an international independent medical-humanitarian organization, which offers assistance to populations in distress, to victims of natural or man-made disasters and to victims of armed conflict, without discrimination and irrespective of race, religion, creed or political affiliation.

MSF is a civil society initiative that brings together individuals committed to the assistance of other human beings in crisis. As such MSF is by choice an association. Each individual working with MSF does it out of conviction and is ready to uphold the values and principles of MSF.

The MSF movement is built around five operational directorates supported by MSF’s 21 sections, 24 associations and other offices together worldwide. MSF OCBA is one of those directorates. The operations are implemented by field teams and the mission coordination teams; together with the organizational units based in Barcelona, Athens and decentralised in Nairobi, Dakar and Amman. The field operations are guided and supported by 5 Operational Cells, the Emergency Unit and other departments supporting operations.

MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES AND TASKS

Advance OCBA’s transversal ambitions for People Centred Approach (PCA)

1. Generate a multidisciplinary dynamic that ensures that OCBAs operational response is focused on and responds to the evolving needs of the population affected by the crises where it intervenes.
2. Coordinate and co-lead the PCA working group that includes the following areas of expertise: protection, community engagement, social work, sexual violence, mental health and DIE (diversity, inclusion & equity, this postion is the focal point of DEI in ops). Working groups co-lead with the Director of Operations
3. Promote effective field support, by ensuring transversal exchange within the different areas and timely, clear, practical and service oriented support to field teams. 
4. Spar with the Director of Operations, Cells and ARHP team
5. Directly supervise the following advisors: Community engagement (2), Social Work and RESTORE TIC.
6. Improve basic data collection aiming for overview, cross referencing and automated analysis to visibilise trends and concerns affecting the population so as to inform operational adaptiveness.

Ensure roll out of Protection Framework

1. Provide specific guidance on how to embed protection in the operational mind-sets of HQ and Field as well as setting up the advice and support
2. Document past and emerging protection issues, good practices and incorporate them into active and proactive knowledge strategies in collaboration with Ops knowledge management and its relevant hubs and dissemination strategies.
3. Frame and launch (content review, rules of engagement) the Protection Community of Practice in Tembo.
4. Leverage learnings from partnerships in Protection to the wider audience in Ops and house regarding protection.
5. Access external expertise and best practices by developing a network with external specialists

Develop HR and contribute to knowledge management in collaboration with Ops knowledge management and learning teams.

1. Develop a mechanism to identify, articulate and disseminate key practices and lessons learnt on PCA, also incorporating a repository of external resources.
2. Participate in mentoring initiatives directed at building capacity in population focus (HoMs, Medcos and FieldCos)
3. Develop PCA and protection learning outputs for relevant in-house transference of key knowledge in collaboration with Ops learning and knowledge vision

Contribute to wider dynamics within the operations department

1. Participate in ROP meetings
2. Contribute to discussions and reflections on operationally important topics
3. Engage with relative operational initiatives – ongoing and foreseen e.g. Knowledge management Ops project, Roles & Responsibilities Ops/HR project and Support Model initiative, Tembo etc. to ensure operational and organisational coherence and synergies

SELECTION CRITERIA

Education, skills and experience

Essential

• Social Sciences profile, with an international component and/or expertise, including: (International) Political Science, International Law, Development’ Studies, Anthropology or similar
• More than 7 years’ experience in the humanitarian sector
• Previous field operational experience in humanitarian crises, whether in MSF or externally, with exposure to protection dilemmas, access constraints and community engagement strategies
• Knowledge of protection issues in armed conflict, including those relating to International Humanitarian Law and the human rights of internally displaced persons
• Experience in Mentoring and Coaching.
• Experience working with senior management in OCBA and navigating house (cells, Homs, FCs, Medcos, tesacos, referents, platforms, etc)
• Ability to generate bridges across disciplines and departments, mobilise expertise and funnel effective support to field teams
• Ability to analyse complex operational environments and synthesise the core elements into conclusions and recommendations for MSF operations and advocacy
• Ability to understand medical data and epidemiological analysis
• Strong analytical, writing and facilitation skills
• Excellent verbal communication skills
• Excellent written English, and proficient in French

Desirable

• Experience with other organisations in the sector (UN, other NGOs, think tanks) or donors
• Training on protection, community engagement, SGBV or humanitarian affairs
• Spanish and Arabic language skills

Competences

• Commitment to MSF’s principles
• Results and quality orientation
• Service orientation
• Strategic vision
• Teamwork and cooperation
• Initiative and innovation
• Behavioural flexibility
• Planning and organising
• Security awareness and management
• Writing, presentation and facilitation
• Cross-cultural awareness

Others

•  Availability to travel, including to insecure environments

CONDITIONS

• Position based in any based in any MSF-OCBA hub: Barcelona, MSF–Spain office delegations, Buenos Aires, Amman, Dakar or Nairobi
• Fulltime job
• Temporary position – 2 years
• Annually gross salary: HQ-5 (divided in 12 monthly payments) + secondary benefits, based on MSF OCBA Reward Policy