Deputy Program Responsible at Médecins Sans Frontières en Suisse

Deadline for application extended until 31 May 2021

Based in Dakar, with travel in OCG mission & HQ

Mission

The Program Responsible (RP) and Deputy (ARP) are central positions in MSF, accountable for the activities of the organisation in the field and acting as interface between the missions and the headquarters.

This comes with a responsibility to ensure coherence and dynamism at all levels of the OCG by:

· Organizing the best possible circulation of information coming from the field,

· Making coordination’s aware of headquarter issues,

· Promoting internal understanding and visibility of programmes (i.e. presentation to the Geneva morning info point),

· Using the various forums in the office to share operational challenges, dilemmas, concerns and achievements.

Your responsibility

· In accordance with the Charter, the Chantilly / La Mancha agreements and the operational policy of the OCG, the Programme Responsible ensures the overall relevance, timeliness and quality of MSF’s assistance for populations in danger (within a selected group of countries).

· Is responsible for steering the operations’ planning cycle, making sure that transversal internal processes are respected, that MSF policies are translated into action unless justified otherwise, and that resources are adequately mobilized to support the operational objectives and chosen intervention strategies.

· Makes sure the key medical and/or humanitarian stakes are identified within each mission and project, prioritizes them, carries them internally / externally (through bilateral meetings, documentation, témoignage and communication); determines the way MSF will address the issues at stake and its public position.

· Creates and maintains a network of relevant political, humanitarian, medical, academic contacts to ensure the best knowledge of the environment for the teams working in the field, especially in tense contexts.

· Monitors the level of exposure to risk affecting teams in the field and validates the security frame proposed by the heads of mission for each project;

· Supervises, advises, supports and evaluates the heads of mission in the fulfilment of their global responsibilities / duties; in this perspective, delivers them all useful information and visits the missions at key moments (explos, programme definition phases and/or reorientations due to evolving needs, context or policy).

· Organizes the best level of headquarter support to field operations by optimizing the input, the expertise and control function of professionals from different departments, each representing a technical field necessary for the good running of projects in the field.

· Monitors the implementation of programmes and the good running of the mission, by analyzing the situation and programme reports sent by the coordination, and providing feedback; is accountable for the timely reporting on operations, including towards institutional donors who support MSF’s action in the field.

· Aims at constantly improving MSF’s medical assistance by evaluating results achieved, leading thematic working groups on intervention strategies, initiating critical reviews as needed, supporting operational research projects, and contributing to the design and animation of training modules for coordinators.

Your Profile

Education

· A university-level diploma

· An equivalent professional experience

Experience

· Expertise in the analysis and management of unstable contexts and crisis situations and experience and interest in medical, social, economic and political issues in countries undergoing humanitarian crises (one-off or long-term) or in the process of development are a plus.

· Successful experience in the field of humanitarian aid as an MSF Head of Mission or Emergency coordinator.

Profile

· A person from West & Central Africa is an asset because of the context sensibility and access to those areas.

Languages

· Fluent in French and English.

· A language from the region is an advantage.

Requirements & Personal qualities

· High level representation and diplomatic skills; an aptitude for negotiation

· An aptitude for analysing humanitarian contexts; knowledge of medical issues and MSF’s intervention strategies

· Strategic planning and orientation skills : a capacity for conceiving and planning programmes, setting up a network, animating and motivating teams, organising roles and delegating tasks;

· Excellent writing skills

· Dynamic and flexible; a capacity for taking the initiative and making decisions; a capacity for analysis and summarising; a sense of priorities; highly developed stress management skills; ease of communication and public speaking, participative management style

Terms of Employment

· CDI, but it’s mandated so a 3 year commitment renewable once

· Based in Dakar, with travels to the field & HQ

· Start date : mid-June 2021