Head of Emergency Preparedness and Support Unit At Médecins Sans Frontières en Suisse

Job Offer
(strictly no recruitment agencies)

Join MSF OCG as a Head of Emergency Preparedness and Support Unit!

We are looking for passionate candidates ready to contribute to our humanitarian mission.

Below, you will find the job details and the qualifications we are looking for.

Inclusivity and Diversity at MSF

Do your qualifications and experience not exactly match all requirements of the job?

At MSF OCG, we are committed to an inclusive culture that supports and amplifies the diverse voices of our staff members. We strive to create workplaces where teams of people with diverse backgrounds, characteristics, perspectives, ideas and experiences work together to advance MSF’s social mission and create better outcomes for our patients and the communities we work with.

We understand that some people may hesitate to apply for employment if they don’t meet all listed job requirements. Research shows that this is especially true for women. If you believe your profile is a good match for this position, we invite you to apply even if you don’t fulfill every listed qualification.

We encourage applications from individuals of all genders, ages, sexual orientations, ethnicities, background, religions, beliefs, ability status, and all other diversity characteristics.

MSF does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of discrimination or harassment, including sexual harassment. All selected candidates will undergo reference checks.

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).

The MSF movement is built around 5 operational centers supported by 24 sections and offices worldwide. MSF Operational Center Geneva (MSF OCG) is one of these centers.

The Emergency Preparedness and Support Unit (EU) is a continuation of the different mechanisms put in place by OCG since 2017 to better support our ambitions in terms of Emergency Reponse (ER). ER is a critical pillar in the OCG Strategic Plan, necessitating collaboration across various departments. The goal is to ensure a truly transversal, multidisciplinary approach, reinforcing ER within the Operations Departments and ensuring its integration into the planning of all departments and teams at all levels of the organization.

The Head of the EU will be responsible to directly lead a team of 5 persons, to steer the 4 workstreams defined for our Emergency Preparedness and Support; (1) Surveillance & Scanning (2) Preparedness, (3) Response and (4) Strategic Learning & Adpatation. The Head of Unit will be responsible to maintain an overview of all workstreams, developing the necessary mechanisms and supports for Surveillance, EPREP and Learning, and coordinating and providing the necessary support for Response.

Since the creation of the first ER support unit in 2017 there have been several evaluations of our Emergency Response and most recently of the E Unit that was created in 2021. This latter review, completed by the Vienna Evaluation Unit in May 2024 has led to several changes, in the setup, but also in the way that we want to better integrate ER at all levels ensuring that it remains at the very core of the OCG action today and for the future. The main change in terms of setup is to separate the Emergency Preparedness and Support Unit from the management of the Emergency Cell that will remain focused on response.

The management of all emergency operations as well as programme decisions remain under the direct responsibility of the Programme Managers and the Director of Operations.

Tasks & Responsibilities

Under the supervision of the Director of Operations, the Head of Emergency Preparedness and Support Unit (EU) plays a pivotal role in supporting the delivery of effective emergency response within OCG. The below responsibilities are framed around the 4 workstreams in the ER Frame. But more broadly, the function of this strategic role in OCG is articulated as follows:

1. Ensuring a global overview of OCG emergency preparedness strategies and plans.
2. Supports the Coordination of resource mobilisation on emergency response, including the accountability mechanisms, alongside Cells, Program Managers, delocalised operational entities and other units or departments.
3. Support the design and implementation: of emergency response strategies including accountability mechanisms for emergency response outcomes.
4. Leading: the EU and addressing operational challenges and risks related to emergency response.
5. Contributing: to the steering of OCG’s emergency ambitions, ensuring alignment with the Strategic Plan Pillars, and movement-wide orientations.

The responsibilities of the Head of the EU are described below, aligned with the 4 Workstreams and other transveral / management actions.

1. Surveillance

• To design and implement a comprehensive surveillance system for OCG, ensuring visibility at a marco level of key epidemiological trends, in collaboration with the Medical Department and Epicentre.
• In collaboration with Ops Units, ensure continuous scanning and analysis of emerging humanitarian and global health trends.
• To ensure a similar level of surveillance systems are developed and implemented at field level.
• To put in place a system of ‘horizon scanning and follow up’ of countries of specific interest to OCG, or countries where today we no longer have an operational presence.
• The Head of the EU is responsible for the maintenance of contacts with the states where we have no current operational presence.

2. EPREP

• To design and implement an OCG EPREP strategy, including the different scenarios for which specific investments (EPREP) are required.
• This is developed at 2 levels, a global EPREP strategy, including what resources need to be pre-positioned at a central level. To update the guidance necessary for mission teams to develop their EPREP strategies.
• The Head of the EU must have an overview of global and mission level EPREPs, ensuring coherence between at local, regional, and global levels, and that this overview is updated in real time, and accessible to key stakeholders.
• To review, then implement a strategy for the different response models and to establish the correct tension between the different options (E Pool, E Team/Projects, Regional Teams, Red Organigrammes etc.).
• Linked to the above point, to develop, in collaboration with HR and other stakeholders, the necessary surge capacity with qualified and equipped staff for deployment in an acute emergency. This will be integrated into the global OCG EPREP strategy.
• Review, update, and adapt the OCG EPREP Supply Strategy, both at global and mission level.
• In collaboration with Cells and Operational Units, develop and maintain engagement with authorities at all levels, to facilitate negotiated access to patients and communities.

3. Response

• Anticipating and improving practical intervention scenarios, strategies, tools, and preparation specific to emergencies, conceiving, and proposing alternative medico-operational strategies when needed and feasible,
• To coordinate the early mobilisation of resources, bringing departments together to ensure earlier alignment, transversal ownership, and prioritisation for the response.
• With operational cells and other stakeholders, to develop timely mechanisms for the appropriate monitoring of AER objectives, results, and outcomes.
• With operational cells and other stakeholders, develop an adapted frame for the implementation of Mission Fundamentals, for AER, with a strong focus on staff wellbeing, including security and safety, and actions linked to our behaviour commitments.
• To ensure that there is an immediate reflection on communications, advocacy and representation needs at the start of any AER.

4. Adaptation & Learning

• Responsible for promoting lessons-learnt and after-action reviews to capitalize on experiences and ensure that recommendations and best practices are integrated in emergency management.
• Managing knowledge to optimize access and sharing of relevant resources and best practices related to emergency preparedness and response. Beyond the emergency response platform on KOMPAS, OCG will mobilize transversally to gather tacit knowledge and promote individual and collective learning.
• To develop a frame / guidance for better management of internal communications at the outset and during AER.
• Networking and collaborating with other MSF operational centers or entities to develop synergies in emergency preparedness and response, in collaboration with departments and the emergency cell.
• Fostering strong partnerships with external stakeholders in the humanitarian and global health system with partners that develop expertise and innovative solutions to address emerging needs, developing new opportunities when they arise, and making the link with existing platforms and partnerships.
• Piloting strategic foresight methods will be considered with horizon scanning, trend analysis and new scenario planning, especially linked to climate crisis.

5. Transversal / Management

As a member of the Ops Management Team, the Head of the EU contributes to the definition of the overall strategy of the organisation and ensures the implementation of related priorities.

• Participate in OCG activity planning and management.
• Advocate for AER priorities and address concerns in organizational decisions.
• Leads the weekly E Forum, ensuring the participation and involvement of Ops and all departments.
• Play a key role in disseminating crucial operational information within the organization on important operational developments.
• Encourage thoughtful reflection and debate on operational matters at executive and associative levels.
• Embody the associative identity and participative dimension.
• Serve as a representative of the OCG leadership towards its staff in a way that translates the values and culture of the organisation, including its associative identity and the participative dimension involved.
• Represent the view of OCG toward the MSF movement and vice versa, and actively contribute to collaborative work through the intersectional platforms like RIOD and ad hoc international meetings.

Your profile

Education

• A university-level diploma in a medical or paramedical discipline
• Consideration given to those with backgrounds in international relations or any other relevant subject

Experience

• Strong leadership, people management and communication skills
• Strategic planning and organisation, project management, change management
• Aptitude for high level external representation, diplomacy, and negotiation
• Excellent oral and written communication skills

Languages

• English and French are the working languages of MSF Switzerland. Fluency in both English and French is required for this position (oral and written).

Skills/ Technical competencies

• MSF Operational experience, at project / Field level
• MSF Operational experience at HQ level, preferably in an operational cell, and with a history of involvement in direct emergency response
• 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

Personal Abilities/Qualities

• Commitment to values and culture of the organization including
• Dynamism, flexibility, and adaptability
• Strong interpersonal skills
• Team player
• Solution oriented
• Resistant to stress
• Sense of diplomacy

Terms of employment

• Full-time position 100% (40h/week)
• Open-ended contract
• Working place: Geneva, Switzerland
• Ideal start date: 06.01.2025
• Gross annual salary (for 100%): from CHF 130’188.- to CHF 158’724.- (salary commensurate with equivalent experience and internal salary grid)
• Paid vacation: 25 days per year, prorate temporis, plus any Swiss public holidays falling within the contract period.
• Pension plan: pension contribution covered 3/4 by MSF, 1/4 by staff member.
• Relocation package if moving from a different country to Switzerland.