Field-based position with visits to the headquarters in Geneva

Context & Mission

Médecins Sans Frontières is an independent, international medical and humanitarian organization that provides care to people in need, people affected by natural or man-made disasters, and victims of armed conflict, without discrimination and without regard to race, religion, creed or political affiliation (MSF Charter).

OCG has been developing its presence in Amman with a delocalized structure created to support the quality of our operations in the region and beyond. It includes:

• The Operational Cell 5 directly managed by a Head of Desk, which current portfolio includes Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen. The team is composed by the Head of Desk, Deputy Head of Desk, Medical Program Responsible, HR Advisor, Fin Advisor, Log Advisor, Strategic Communication Advisor, Supply Referent and Desk Assistant
• The MESO (Middle East Support Office) directly managed by the Head of MESO, that includes advisory, implementers and support positions providing technical and operational support to the field missions. The team is composed by Medical Network Team Leader, MH Advisor, Lab Advisor, MHPSS Implementer, Specialized SRH Activity Manager, Project Medical Referent, Humanitarian Affairs Advisor, Project Officer, Legal Advisor, Staff Mobility Coordinator, Regional Technical Referent Energy and HVAC
• Delocalized positions Pool and Career Manager
• Hosted positions
• An intersectional Support Office for Finance/HR/Admin/Log/IT that supports both OCG and OCA teams in Amman.

Tasks and Responsibilities

This position will provide additional capacity to the MSF OCG Operations Teams, allowing for the swift deployment to missions for Emergency Response, Assessments, Exploratory Missions, gap filling in critical locations and on request the participation to strategic reviews (i.e. on security or context analysis).

The majority of responsibilities of this position are those of an Head of Mission (see below) but will be adapted to each mission according to the needs, the type of activity, the role of the polyvalent support (i.e. HOM or Fieldco) and the local context.

• Initiating and leading the mission-wide operational strategy; including country policy, annual plan, budget and policy frameworks. Leading the management team translating the strategic objectives into operational activities. Monitoring developments in MSF’s general policies and strategies and adapting the annual plan of the mission accordingly.
• Monitoring and analyzing the political, humanitarian and medical situation in the country and in the region. Identifying potential fields of intervention and determining response strategies.
• Representing MSF towards external actors (national authorities, NGO’s, donors, military organizations, media, etc.) to create commitment and negotiate terms and conditions for field operations.
  • Integrating an internal and external communication policy for the mission to advocate for change.
• Leading the implementation of medical-humanitarian activities in the mission.
  • Coordinating with other MSF sections to initiate, coordinate and develop short- and long-term strategies in-country.
  • Evaluating the progress and outcomes of activities to ensure that objectives are achieved and reporting to Headquarters
• Being responsible for the planning and coordination of all human, material and financial resources to ensure the overall performance of the mission
• Leading the mission and its staff, providing a clear vision for the direction of the mission and bringing staff together across functional and geographical lines to achieve the mission’s objectives
  • Managing, coaching and developing direct reports in line with human resource policies
  • Implementing Human Resources-policy and ensuring that MSF acts as a responsible employer in terms of working conditions and reduction of security and health risks.
  • Ensuring staff and management team are aware of mission strategies, ambitions and implementation plans
  • Ensuring the associative character of MSF is reflected in the briefing of all MSF staff.
• Ensuring the internal and external flow of information.
  • Keeping staff and HQ informed and updated of context and security related issues.
  • Producing all required planning and program performance reports in line with the HQ reporting cycle.
• Being responsible for all security aspects of the mission.
  • Defining and ensuring the implementation of the security framework in the country, in order to ensure safety of staff and visitors across the mission.
  • Ensuring the implementation of the Inter-operational directorate Security Agreement (ISA) in the mission, both in spirit and letter, promoting a culture of pro-active information sharing and collaboration.”

Specificities of the position:

As member of the MESO team, the flying Operational HoM Polyvalent contributes to the achievements of the MESO strategic objectives and is deployed to the field to provide direct support to project and coordination teams in OCG missions of interventions.

Emergency response and Operational continuity

The priority for this role will be to provide support during emergency response, assessment and participate in explo missions as well as being deployed to cover operational critical gaps in the field.

This position is similar to the previous Flying HOM positions, but is expected to have a more polyvalent role, covering also for gaps at FieldCo and DHOM level.

Analysis, support on dossiers and organizational learning

This position will be contributing to analytical work, providing support on specific operational dossiers (actors mapping, etc.) as well as lessons learnt and capitalizations based on the needs and on request of the missions and cells.

Staff development

Facilitate trainings at field level as well as have a role in the coaching of guidance of new Operational staff in the field, in close collaboration with the Ops L&D Team and as part of MESO objective to support the development of skills and capacity of MSF staff in the field.

Contribute to MESO development

The position is expected to contribute to reflection on MESO ways of working, including support to emergencies, new support areas to develop and other dossiers in order to keep the MESO office relevant to changing needs in the missions and MSF areas of intervention.

Your Profile

Education & Experience

• University Degree, preferably Medical, ParaMedical, Public Health or International Relations
• At least 2 years in a management position with a humanitarian organization
• Essential working experience with MSF (at least one emergency mission)
• Prior regional experience in the Middle East (an asset)
• Experience in opening/closing projects (an asset)

Languages

• English Advanced level is mandatory
• Arabic is a strong asset
• French is an advantage

Personal Abilities & Skills

• Security management
• Strong analytical skills
• Project management
• Essential computer literacy (word, excel and internet)
• Excellent ability to work in a multicultural environment successfully and to demonstrate commitment and support for diversity, gender-responsive, inclusive, and non-discriminatory behaviour and attitudes
• Strategic vision
• Leadership
• Networking, communication and representation skills
• People Management and Development
• Teamwork and cooperation
• Flexibility and ability to work under stress

Terms of Employment

• Fixed-term contract, 12 months
• Full-time, 100% (40h/week)
• Working place : Field-based position with visits to the headquarters in Geneva
• Practical working conditions in the field are in accordance with the MSF OCG volunteer manual.
• Ideal start date: As Soon As Possible
• Gross monthly salary: CHF 5’500.- based on 100%
• Benefits: Health insurance and living expenses in the countries of intervention and at headquarters, paid according to internal regulations.