MSF-OCA – Medical Director

OCA – Public Health Department
The OCA Public Health Department (PHD) is a diverse multi-disciplinary team of specialists and health advisors working across the OCA partnership. Health advisors are currently located in Amsterdam and Berlin and are integrated into the operational desks. Specialists, providing direct support through Mission Medical Support Teams (MSTs), research and innovation management, and within project teams, are currently dispersed across Amsterdam, Berlin and the Manson Unit in London. The purpose of the department is to provide medical leadership and direction for MSF-OCA, in order to contribute to the MSF social mission.

This is achieved through:

• Ensuring organisational medical priorities for MSF-OCA are translated into multi-year medical operational strategies

• Providing direct field support (strategic, implementation and quality assurance) to ensure all missions deliver safe, effective and responsive medical programming

• Setting norms and standards through our evidence-based policies and monitoring their implementation

• Shaping operational research agendas and stimulating the development, translation, and dissemination of knowledge

• Using our experience, data, and research to be a catalyst for change

• Equipping the organisation to meet the needs of future patients and the medical challenges of tomorrow

Objectives of the position of Medical Director

OCA organizational medical vision and leadership

• You are responsible for ensuring that MSF-OCA has an organizational medical vision and priorities that allows the organisation to remain relevant and responsive to the health needs of current and future patients and communities where MSF chooses to work.
• Together with the Deputy Medical Directors, ensure the organisational medical vision and ambitions are embedded into each new OCA Strategic Plan
• Provide OCA medical leadership for specific inter-sectional dossiers of work
• Ensure links with the external world through collaborations, allowing for the chance to learn from each other, and to fill gaps in expertise and know-how
• Provide senior medical representation for external strategic and opportunistic engagements with other global health institutions and networks.

OCA medical operational portfolio composition

• As Medical Director you are, in conjunction with the Director of Operations, responsible for the overall composition of the OCA medical operational portfolio. You will ensure:
• Alignment with the direction and intervention logic as per the OCA Strategic Plan
• Balance between competing organisational priorities
• Alignment with the OCA resources framework
• Consistency with organizational and operational policies

Member of the OCA MT

• You are part of the OCA Management Team. You work with you fellow OCA Directors as a real, inclusive and mutually responsible team, taking ownership for the vision and strategy of the entire organization and its operations, staff, and resources as a whole.
• Collectively, as part of the OCA MT, you are responsible for fostering an inspiring, vibrant, supportive and professional work environment to enable all staff to thrive and contribute in the delivery of the MSF social mission
• You will set the example and reinforce the OCA leadership and management framework and values
• You report hierarchically to the Chair of the OCA Management Team (MT)
• You will report to and be held accountable for by the oversight body from our association, the OCA Council

Quality assurance and improvement of OCA health programming

• You will, in conjunction with the Director of Operations, reinforce a culture of quality improvement to assure the health interventions delivered are as safe, effective and have the most optimal positive impact as possible
• You will ensure the implementation of a clinical governance framework for OCA, which focuses on patient safety and clinical risk management, clinical effectiveness, patient and community participation, and having an effective medical workforce
• You will, in close collaboration with the Staff Director, ensure quality assurance systems at all levels in the organization, which ultimately provides a learning environment, to ensure a medical workforce that is motivated and skilled to deliver on the social mission.

Leadership of the OCA Public health Department

Together with the Deputy Medical Directors (Amsterdam and London), provide overall leadership and oversight for the functioning and well-being of the OCA PHD.

• Embed best practice of geographical dispersed team working
• Ensure an inspiring, vibrant, supportive, and professional work environment to lead OCA PHD teams through transformation and change
• You will work in close tandem with the Operational Director and Advocacy Teams and set the example of a collaborative and integrated engagement between the operational and medical lines. You will ensure we continue to foster a collaborative approach that optimizes decision-making on the choice, design, and implementation of all programs.

Intersectional cooperation
You work in close cooperation with the other MSF Medical Directors as well as the other Directors of Operations to improve intersectional coherence and coordination, to increase collaboration, and to optimize resources and functions between the different sections.
Member of the MSFH-MT
You will be a part of the MSF-Holland Management Team (the legal entity of OCA) and work closely with fellow Directors to take ownership of the vision and strategies for MSF Holland.

Your profile
We are looking for an inspirational medical leader, with the compassion, motivation, technical competence and medical vision, to lead a complex, diverse and networked medical department, across multiple locations, to deliver high quality medical support to meet the evolving healthcare needs in humanitarian settings. Being at a crossroads in our organisation of almost 50 years of age, we are looking for a leader who will guide the transformative organisational development together with the OCA MT.

A medical doctor with a proven track record of leading significant organisational change. With a Master of Public Health, international public health specialisation, or similar post-graduate qualification, and at least four years humanitarian-medical field experience with MSF or a comparable organisation. You are be able to demonstrate strong, proven skills in management, leadership qualities, and have at least 4 years senior medical/health management experience. You have proven expertise in strategic and conceptual thinking, policy development, financial and human resource management, planning and monitoring of results. You will lead change through people i.e. have the ability to communicate the vision and rationale for change, and engage others, facilitating collaborative working.

Furthermore, you have an up to date knowledge of recent developments in the field of humanitarian relief and international public health and tropical medicine. In addition, you have proven affinity with advocacy, and experience with field research in resource poor settings. Good analytical and communication skills are essential as well as an excellent command of the English language (oral and written communication). It would be highly appreciated if you are able to speak French. You must be willing to live and work in Amsterdam and be prepared to spend approximately 20% of your time on work-related travel.

MSF and MSF-OCA in transformation
Our strengths continue to be our determined humanitarian spirit, our sense of common purpose, our capacity to scale up our responses and our adaptability.

We fully realize that the coming years we need to transform our organisation. The direction is set in our Strategic Plan 2020-2023: from a European rooted organisation to a global organisation, within which all staff are valued and respected, and do not face structural barriers to communication, mobility and professional development. Our leadership will be representative of our global workforce, bringing with it diversity of thought and perspective. We will ensure that our organisation develops in ways that empower all of our staff, bringing support and learning closer to where they live and work. We will develop and expand our MSF OCA partnership into a global network. Senior leadership in regional hubs will connect with local networks to deepen our engagement, knowledge and ability to influence. We will embrace our global capacity in support of our social mission.

Diversity & inclusiveness
At Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) / Artsen zonder Grenzen, we are committed to an inclusive culture that encourages and supports the diverse voices of our employees. Our diversity fuels our innovation and connects us closer to our beneficiaries and the communities in which we work. We welcome applications from individuals of all genders, ages, sexual orientations, nationalities, races, religions, beliefs, ability status, and all other diversity characteristics.

We offer
A Dutch employment contract from 1 January 2021, based on 40 hours per week. The contract is for one year with renewal option.

A gross monthly salary of a minimum of € 6,487 and a maximum of € 9,264 for a full-time appointment based on relevant work experience;

Other benefits include 30 holidays and a premium free pension.

Your application

The closing date for applications is 25 October 2020.

Selection will be by means of two interviewing rounds. The first interview round takes place in the weeks of 2/9 November 2020, the second and final interview round in the week of 16 November 2020. A test/case may be part of the process.

*Acquisition is not appreciated*