Médecins Sans Frontières
Organization
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an international humanitarian organization that delivers impartial medical care to people affected by conflict, epidemics, disasters, or exclusion from health care in over 70 countries.
We welcome candidates who bring a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences to join us in working toward MSF’s common mission.
Department
The Programs Department at MSF-USA consists of several units that work on both internal and external representation of MSF to this home society inclusive of units such as the Grants Unit (coordination of Programs Committee of MSF USA’s Board of Directors), the Humanitarian Representation Team (HRT) unit and the Global Health Advocacy and Policy (GHAP) unit, in addition to supporting projects related to the intersectional medical humanitarian space. There is a strategic focus on humanitarian operational representation, humanitarian diplomacy and global health advocacy and policy work as it relates to US based interlocutors and the medical humanitarian space. The Department also hosts many teams and individual roles from around the movement including from Epicentre, the Access Campaign, IO and others.
Project
Given the increasing concerns related to Food Security and the acute impact on the health and nutrition of patients in our countries of operation, there is a need to ensure a collective understanding of the opportunities for influence at international and regional levels. UN projections assume up to 320 million people in food insecurity in 80 countries in 2022, with only 150 million people currently included in humanitarian response plans.
Beyond the immediate focus of mortality prevention and ensuring effective and responsive nutrition and other health programs, there is a need to ensure a collective approach within the MSF movement to better enable external representation and communications for immediate, mid-term and long-term opportunities for influence, especially as it relates to US based actors in this humanitarian space.
Tasks
The role will report to the Director of Programs at MSF-USA and work in support of the IOHRC (IO’s Humanitarian Representative Coordinator), in her role as Chair of the RIOD and Head of Humanitarian Representation, and work alongside other experts in the movement to:
- Map internal-to-MSF stakeholders at HQ and country-level to identify what information is available, what strategies are being implemented and what existing MSF positioning is to identify priority contexts of concern to MSF;
- Identify external opportunities with a focus on US home society (US based multilaterals, philanthropic foundations, CSOs and government) for engagement and information gathering on MSF priority contexts, and support engagement of MSF representatives by developing briefing notes on discourse related to Food Security, Nutrition and Climate from both inside and outside the organisation;
- Work with MSF operational advocacy colleagues and members of the HRT and MSF USA GHAP teams to identify opportunities for MSF influence, as well as gaps in operational information that could be used for influence;
- Support the IOHRC in developing materials for MSF operational decision makers on the overlap of climate, food security and health in humanitarian setting.
- Support MSF-USA’s GHAP in conducting relevant policy analysis and developing materials for engagement on activities related to food security, nutrition and climate with key US-based stakeholders
This role will be expected to develop specialised food security-related external relationships, in addition to engaging with the following internal MSF stakeholders: RIOD, HRT, IOMT colleagues for medical and communications, Nutrition Working Group, Operational Desks and Operational Advocacy colleagues across all OCs inclusive of internal health policy colleagues.
US home society based
The central role that US based multilaterals, philanthropic foundations, CSOs and the USG play in the current global food security portfolio is enormous. Though this role is internationally focused to support MSF’s medical humanitarian operations, the bulk of the engagement will involve US based actors, inclusive of the extensive think tank and food security/climate expertise that is based at various US institutions. This role will work very closely with the current US based team, both the US based HRT and Global Health Advocacy and Policy (GHAP) team to create a coherent, robust and meaningful analysis and engagement strategy for the MSF movement on this dossier. This temporary position is anticipated to have a duration until the end of the year.
Qualifications
The ideal candidate for this role will be / have:
- Genuine commitment to MSF’s medical and humanitarian principles, with knowledge about MSF movement structure and programs
- Minimum 10 years relevant work experience, with a Master’s degree (or other advanced degree) in a relevant field such as international relations, public policy, public administration, public health, (bio)medical sciences, pharmacy or related global health field.
- Demonstrated ability to manage and prioritize diverse responsibilities while maintaining flexibility to undertake unanticipated projects
- A diplomatic team player, comfortable working across units and MSF entities
- Knowledge of food security, nutrition and/or climate portfolios, especially as relevant to US based interlocutors
- Excellent project management capabilities, and ability to work effectively and independently in a fast-paced environment.
- Experience in developing and maintaining professional relationships with a wide range of stakeholders and organizations
- Proven track record of external engagements and external representation
- Strong interpersonal skills.
- Strong written and oral communication skills, including non-technical writing.
- Excellent research skills.
- English fluent, additional languages an asset.
- Flexibility in schedule, including availability to travel.
- Excellent judgment and diplomacy.
Expected to work in a hybrid work environment with the ability to come into either the NYC office or regional hub (Washington, DC) a minimum of 2 times a week.
No phone calls or emails please. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
Application Deadline: Open Until Filled
MSF-USA/Doctors Without Borders is an Equal Opportunity Employer. No employee, or applicant for employment, shall be discriminated against in any term or condition of employment because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, or sexual orientation or any other characteristic protected by law. We are constantly striving to make our organization anti-racist. Diversity, equity and inclusion are core values. As an employee, you become part of that mission. We expect this same commitment from our staff.