Emergency Medical Coordinator At Doctors Without Borders in Switzerland

Field based position with visits to headquarters in Geneva

Context

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

The PURACO project (Regional Emergency Pool for Central and West Africa) started in 2021 with the objective of providing rapid, effective and appropriate medical-humanitarian assistance in the sub-region.

The type of intervention can be: medical-humanitarian surveillance, an exploration mission, an exploration-action mission, and an emergency intervention.

The main goal is to monitor the humanitarian and epidemiological situation in the countries under the cell-3 portfolio, to be able to detect alerts. When the alert is identified, an analysis followed by an investigation/explo is triggered. Depending on the results, an evaluation and support for intervention opportunities is provided.

PURACO is a multidisciplinary team, designed to be deployed in the short term and quickly. It is a temporary team, present everywhere in the central Sahel sub-region and the Lake Chad basin and active in less than 72 hours in response to different situations: epidemics, nutritional crisis, forced displacement of populations following natural disasters or situations of violence as well as complex humanitarian crises.

The PURACO team is made up of personnel trained and prepared to manage or participate in the management of emergency interventions, for this, the team must have the capacity and experience allowing it to conduct operations in delicate situations by granting greater attention to the safety and care of beneficiaries.

Mission

The flying emergency coordinators will have the mission of coordinating all the actions underway or planned by the 3-OCG cell in the emergency response on the different missions, of preparing the mission for a possible emergency response outside the country. interventions and ensure the capitalization of the interventions carried out

He/She is co-responsible with the ECoordo for the preparation, development and implementation of the mission’s contingency plans, as well as their dissemination to the staff.

The Emergency Medical Coordinator is part of a team made up of around fifteen MSF-OCG staff selected from the missions. He/She will be responsible for supporting and managing all activities developed by the teams working for MSF-OCG in the field, ensuring a rapid and appropriate medical-humanitarian response.

Main responsibilities

As part of the cell 3 team, the emergency medical coordinator is responsible for directing and developing the strategy as well as the collaborative intervention capacity of the Ecoordo in the cell’s missions.

Emergency Preparedness

• Maintain regular contact with the emergency pools of other OCs and represent the cell vis-à-vis the sections of the movement.
• Develop contacts with other organizations or partners (UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, ICRC, etc.) and represent cell 3 with political/military stakeholders, partners in the health field (MoH, health structures, etc.) and international organizations according to a strategic framework.
• Develop and improve tools for better emergency management with the services concerned, also in collaboration with the emergency unit
• Co-facilitate mission EPREP strategy update workshops and proactively monitor the implementation of the EPREP plan with missions.
• Co-lead with the E-Coordo, the pre-negotiation work and the construction of the humanitarian access network, particularly in countries where MSF is not present
• Ensure the collection, analysis and interpretation of surveillance system data and information on humanitarian and geopolitical contexts
• Continually analyze the political/security situation and translate the results into forecasts and scenarios

Implementation/Participation in exploration missions and emergency management

• Participate in and help prepare emergency explo missions.
• Support field teams in the implementation of emergency management, leveraging the experience acquired on site.
• Lead the implementation (or modification) of the operational strategy of an emergency response.
• Develop a proactive attitude in certain contexts and interventions.
• Participate in the “active capitalization” of MSF’s experience and expertise in emergency situations
• Participate in systematic evaluations, with intervention stakeholders, of the strategies used to deal with emergencies and relay the lessons learned from them
• Co-evaluate and adapt the concept of emergency preparedness.

Team management

• Planning and leading work meetings with the team and partners: project progress, security, team meetings
• Transmission to the teams of information and directives given by coordination and/or headquarters.
• Writing job profiles and end-of-mission evaluation of team members.
• Ensure follow-up on team members’ career development plans.
• Prevention and resolution of conflicts within the team.
• Assessment of security risks and threats linked to the implementation of activities.
• Centralization of information, verification of consistency and synthesis in order to facilitate decision-making.
• Ensure compliance with project safety rules and that they are known and applied.
• Participation in the recruitment of people from the PURACO pool (tests, interviews, inductions, etc.).

Promotion of knowledge and dissemination of the concept of emergencies in the field and at headquarters

• Participate and lead training sessions and contribute to the development and development of training modules or workshops related to emergency response and preparedness (ERT, PSP, PPD, etc.).
• Represent MSF before national and international authorities.
• Participate in reflection on emergency humanitarian aid and work on internal files to enrich the operational debate, in connection with the emergency unit
• Ensure good visibility and facilitate communication of PURACO operations (webinar, field visits, webinar, information session, workshop, etc.) to missions and headquarters in order to promote staff membership in emergency units.

Required profile

Education

• Medical degree
• Training in public health or epidemiology or in the field of project management will be considered a plus

Experience

• At least three (3) years of MSF field experience and preferably in emergency situations and/or in a context of insecurity. Or, experience in other similar organizations
• Essential professional experience in resource-limited countries or development contexts
• Experience in managing a large and/or multidisciplinary team

Technical skills

• Essential computer skills (Microsoft Office Package and Internet)

LANGUAGES

• Fluency in oral and written French and English
• Another local/regional language is an asset

Others

• Availability to work in unstable contexts and to travel frequently
• Flexibility and ability to work under pressure
• Positivity and motivation
• Knowledge and experience of security management in unstable and volatile contexts
• Adherence to MSF’s objectives and values
• Knowledge of and engagement in MSF’s advocacy role
• Ability to negotiate and make decisions
• Knowledge of information equipment and means of communication used by MSF

Working conditions

• Field-based position with visits to headquarters in Geneva.
• Practical working conditions in the field comply with the OCG MSF Volunteer Manual.
• Duration of 12 months, gross monthly salary: CHF 5,500.- for a 100% position (proportional to occupancy rate)
• Ideal start date: as soon as possible
• Social benefits: Health insurance and living expenses in the countries of intervention and at headquarters, paid according to internal regulations.