“Policy & Practice and Communication Advisor (m/f/x)” for LuxOR (Luxembourg Operational Research Unit)

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an international humanitarian aid organization that provides assistance in more than 60 countries to populations in distress, to victims of natural or manmade disasters and to victims of armed conflicts, without discrimination and irrespective of origin, religion, creed or political affiliation. To develop this work, the MSF OCB Medical Department and MSF Luxembourg is looking for a: “Policy & Practice and Communication Advisor (m/f/x)” *for LuxOR (Luxembourg Operational Research Unit).

CONTEXT

MSF Luxembourg is a historical partner section of the MSF movement created in 1986. With 35 staff members, the section’s team works to raise awareness on humanitarian issues among Luxembourg’s population, raise funds needed to finance humanitarian interventions, supports MSF volunteers who go into the field and carry out operational research projects directly linked to health programmes in order to help improve their efficiency and effectiveness.

Nine MSF partner sections (Belgium, Brazil, Denmark, Hong Kong, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, South Africa and Sweden) and the Lebanon Branch Office, make up the Operational Center Brussels (OCB).

The medical department is a network of units, in Brussels, the Brussels Medical Unit (BRUMED), in Cape Town, the Southern African Medical Unit (SAMU), in Luxembourg, the Luxembourg Operational Research unit (LuxOR), in Beirut, the Middle East Medical Unit (MEMU) and positions based around the world (London, Nairobi, Rio, Rome and Toronto). The department is composed of members working in the operations department in a dual-matrix system (deputy cell coordinators & medical officers) and experts working in the medical department itself. The experts cover the following domains: anaesthesia, antibiotic resistance, capacity building & mentoring for healthcare professionals, change management, chronic non-communicable diseases, critical care, data protection & data sharing, emergency medicine & toxicology, emergency preparedness, environmental health, epidemiology, general surgery & orthopaedics, health promotion & anthropology, hepatitis C, HIV, infection prevention & control, infectious diseases, knowledge management, laboratory, malaria & vector-borne diseases, medical data & health informatics, medical devices, mental health, microbiology, nursing care, nutrition, operational research and documentation, paediatrics & adolescents health, pharmacy, primary healthcare, public health, sexual & reproductive health, tuberculosis, vaccination, victims of torture and viral haemorrhagic fever & emerging infectious diseases. The department is organized in resources deployed in thematic circles.

Since 2009, MSF Luxembourg has been putting its expertise at the service of the development of medical research in the field through the Luxembourg Operational Research unit (LuxOR) within OCB Medical Department. Operational Research helps MSF take an in-depth look at its programmes and operations, evaluates what is working well, and shows what needs to be improved. LuxOR shares findings with the international MSF-movement and partner organizations, and advocates for evidence-based policy and practices changes with local and international stakeholders. Supported studies are published in renowned scientific journals, and openly available to researchers and the global humanitarian community.

The unit is based in Luxembourg with detached staff in Brussels, Beirut, Toronto and London. More information can be found on: https://msf.lu/en/operational-research/luxor

FUNCTIONAL INTERACTION

The Policy, Practice and Communication Advisor will be reporting to LuxOR program officer for policy & practice, and to MSF Luxembourg General Director for OR internal and external communication purposes.

• The OR Coordinator and LuxOR Director is the overall medical department reference person regarding guiding global policy and strategic aspects of operational research in OCB and provides overall guidance to team members.
• The Program Officer is responsible for team management, support to the epidemiologist pool and allocation of HR related to operational research. She is also responsible for linkage between LuxOR, Operations and the Medical Department in Brussels.
• The Policy, Practice and Communication Advisor will have a close interaction with team members who are based in Luxembourg, Beirut, London, Canada and South Africa. Continuous interaction with the field, operational cells and the medical department will be necessary to support operational research and focus on policy and practice. The LuxOR team consists of advisors and mobile/flying implementation officers, there is no hierarchical link between positions. S/he will report to LuxOR Program Officer.
• MSF Luxembourg Editorial Committee: The Policy, Practice and Communication Advisor will be part of MSF Luxembourg Editorial Committee for OR related communication purposes. The EC is a horizontal structure made up of members from the Communications, Fundraising, Association and LuxOR departments and that meet up monthly or adhoc in order to define and elaborate the thematic priorities and contents to be published in the different media supports of the section.
• The General Director of MSF Luxembourg supervises the overall communication strategy of the section and supports the Editorial Committee.

OBJECTIVES OF THE POSITION AND MAIN RESPONSABILITIES

With the position of the Policy & Practice and Communication Advisor we aim to:

a. Ensure that Operational Research conducted by LuxOR seeks to have an impact on evidence-based policy and practice changes within MSF, national governments and other relevant actors by: (Estimated 70% workload)

• Developing and coordinating a LuxOR’s policy advocacy strategy and research uptake strategies for evidence-based policies, in conjunction with LuxOR members, relevant stakeholders in Operational Centers Centres (OCs) and field teams.
• Evaluating if a research project has sufficient policy and practice impact within the MSF operational research framework
• Networking alongside members of the field teams to engage with key government representatives, UN agencies, NGOs and/or civil society groups, opinion leaders and experts to promote evidence-based policy & practice change for specific dossiers / thematics
• Linking these activities with appropriate communication activities in coordination with the communication and analysis departments.

b. Support OR within OCB (and other OCs upon request) by designing and implementing communication strategies to show how OR is conducted and disseminate the results within OCB and the wider movement (Estimated 30% workload)

MAIN ACTIVITIES/TASKS

1. Contributes to the development of a vision and action plan on policy & practice for LuxOR/OCB

• Develops guidance on how OR can have an impact on policy, practice and contribute to external advocacy efforts in liaison with the analysis department(s).
• Helps making LuxOR’s research to be in line with the general policy & practice needs within OCB and the general MSF movement.
• Provides an analysis of the changing global and national policy environment of specific dossiers and thematics.
• Ensures uptake strategies are implemented and followed-up throughout the OR study cycle

2. Helps setting the OCB (and other OCs upon accepted request) research agendas by involving and communicating to the different stakeholders

• Identifies specific OR dossiers and thematics that merit to be prioritized for policy & practice advocacy.
• Develops an action plan for these specific dossiers and help implementing them in collaboration with the headquarters and the field.

3. Capacity building for policy & practice implementation and research uptake

• Integrates Policy and Practice assessments and support to selected participants in all LuxOR-organised courses.

4. Networking and dissemination

• Participates in meetings, platforms and conferences to promote a conducive environment for evidence-based policy & practice change
• Links up with medical department, operations and analysis department in OCB and MSF international as appropriate
• Provides support to headquarter staff, operational mission staff and researchers to achieve policy & practice change

5. Communication

• As a member of MSF Luxembourg Editorial Committee, he/she contributes to the choice and drafting of OR related external communication priorities and topics for different supports when relevant (i.e. monthly newsletter, monthly awareness raising editorial tribune, quarterly magazine, etc.)
• Drafts OR related policy briefs, reports and communication messages for a non-scientific audience for both internal MSF movement/external communication purposes.
• With the support of MSF Luxembourg Editorial Committee and LuxOR researchers, he/she raises the awareness of the general public and specific target groups on LuxOR’s work (press releases, policy papers, articles, web updates, Annual Activity Report, OR Day Booklet, and other communications materials …)
• Acts as the spokesperson of LuxOR unit and MSF Luxembourg in OR related topics with media, external actors, donors and public events
• Coordinates the organization of the annual OR Day with the support of MSF Comm Dept. and in collaboration with the OCB Association, and other relevant events directly linked with operational research.

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS

• Education: Master’s degree in Public Health, International Relations, Communications or Knowledge Management or equivalent experience
• At least 5 years of experience in (preferably both) program implementation and/or policy & practice advocacy
• Capacity to quickly get familiar with the literature on different topics related to the operational priorities and different OR domains (environmental health, migration, mental health, sexual and reproductive health, outbreaks,…)
• Understanding and experience with different study designs are an asset
• Very high level of spoken English, scientific writing skills and ability to use the editorial pen
• Spoken French is essential while written French is a very strong asset
• Well-developed analytical skills including the ability to assess the relevance of research regarding the development and implementation of evidence-based policies that raise the standard of care
• Ability to conduct high level internal coordination (e.g. with MSF General Directors, Operational Directors, Medical Directors) and external representation (e.g. Ministries of Health, WHO, other NGOs, civil society/activist groups)
• Sufficient medical, technical and operational understanding to inter-relate with medical, scientific and operational experts

SOFT SKILLS REQUIREMENTS

• Strong team player, with the ability to work highly independent, and interpersonal skills to succeed in a geographically dispersed team and interact at all levels within MSF
• Ability to adapt to changing circumstances, contexts, tasks, responsibilities and people.
• Ability to handle large volumes of work under pressure, tracking multiple projects or activities, and to deliver quality outputs within deadlines
• Capacity to take initiatives and seize opportunities, proactivity- Strong team player, with the ability to work highly independently, and interpersonal skills to succeed in a geographically dispersed team and interact at all levels within MSF
• Flexibility for short visits to the field. Ability and willingness to spend time in often difficult and unstable contexts.

Desirable:

• Experience in productions of communications tools (written and multimedia)
• Field experience in MSF or another humanitarian NGO, including having worked in the context of health systems in a developing country

CONTRACT CONDITIONS AND BENEFITS

• Undetermined contract with probationary period (6 months) – Full time
• Based in Luxemburg with frequent travels to Brussels
• Monthly gross salary: from 4327 € to 5251 € according to MSF experience
• Hospitalization insurance, meal vouchers, transport allowance
• Contract start date: 1st of March 2021