HIV/TB/HEPATITIS B&C MEDICAL REFERENT (BASED IN ANY OCBA HUB)

GENERAL CONTEXT  
Médecins Sans Frontières is an international independent medical-humanitarian organization, which offers assistance to populations in distress, to victims of natural or man-made disasters and to victims of armed conflict, without discrimination and irrespective of race, religion, creed or political affiliation. 

MSF is a civil society initiative that brings together individuals committed to the assistance of other human beings in crisis. As such MSF is by choice an association. Each individual working with MSF does it out of conviction and is ready to uphold the values and principles of MSF. 

The MSF OCBA Medical Department is a multidisciplinary network structured in 4 Units. Each unit is composed by referents, and each of them is led by a Head of Unit (HoU). Members of the different units are based in any of the MSF OCBA hubs. The Medical Director oversees the overall management of the department with the support of the heads of the four units, one of whom has also the role of Deputy Medical Director and liaises with both operational and medical departments. They are all devoted to support the field program implementation and work in close collaboration with members of other departments.   

The OCBA field operations are guided and supported by 5 Operational Cells, the Emergency Unit and other departments supporting operations, including the Medical Department.  The field teams and mission coordination teams are the direct implementer of all interventions while supported by the organizational units based in Barcelona, Athens and decentralized in Nairobi, Dakar, Bogota and Amman.  

PLACEMENT WITHIN THE ORGANIZATION
The HIV/TB/Hepatitis B&C Medical Referent position is placed in the MSF OCBA Medical Department with at least 30% travel to the field. S/he is hierarchically and functionally accountable to the Head of health Unit 3. S/he works closely with the corresponding Operational Cell-based Health Advisor (TESACO) when implementing work for specific missions and closely coordinate with other referents to contribute to a more transversal, integrated and holistic support. 

While in the field, s/he works under the regular hierarchical and functional structures of the missions, while keeping communication with the Medical Department.  

GENERAL OBJECTIVE  
The referent is responsible and accountable for achievements of the objectives for his/her domain of expertise, Overall, the appointee will be required to provide technical and strategic support to MSF-OCBA in the areas of HIV, TB and chronic hepatitis interventions. S/he contributes to improved quality of care through support to the polyvalent medical staff in the cells, the teams in the field and operations department and the medical network at headquarters (HQ) level. 

For all listed responsibilities below, prioritization and individualized activity planning will be done with the supervisor. 

MAIN RESPONSABILITIES AND TASKS

Program and strategic support

• Contribute to the development of the medical/HIV/TB/Hepatitis strategy and operational plan of the medical department through active participation in the medical network strategic planning and monitoring cycles.
• Contributes to the design and development of proposals on medico-operational strategies of Cells and projects on critical challenges related to HIV/TB and chronic hepatitis.
• Contributes to medico-operational decision-making by providing technical input during the consultation process aiming for quality HIV/TB/Hepatitis medical programming.
• Contributes to translate medico-operational requests requiring technical input into concept notes. He/She provides inputs to improve the requests’ relevance, terms of reference, objectives, definitions, deliverables, planning inputs, implementation phases, key contributors (HQ, regional, partnerships), and risks assessments.
• In collaboration with relevant referents and units, defines a surveillance, monitoring and evaluation frame for HIV/TB and chronic hepatitis.
• Conducts regular field visits (30% of the time) to assess medical HIV/TB/Hepatitis activities, and to introduce field-adopted guidelines, policies, and technical tools, ensuring each visit follows a defined methodology that includes clear objectives developed by TESACOs and field teams after consultation with the referent, while also requiring flexibility from the Medical referent to adapt to changing circumstances.
• Write field visit report with clear actionable and agreed recommendation by priorities; provide follow up support directly and/or in collaboration with other advisors ensuring multidisciplinary and agreed advice to TESACOs and field teams.
• Provides feedback on reports, and relevant documents needing specific technical input. 
• Support missions to complete their HIV/TB/Hep component of their emergency preparedness plan. 
• Leads, support and/or actively participates in designing and implementation of exploratory missions, surveys, evaluation, pilot projects/operational research projects, setting up of new and /or emergency projects as agreed with the supervisor and TESACO.

Technical support

• Answers to direct clinical questions from the field in a timely and concerted manner (including Telemedicine and according to the allocation policy). 
• Contributes to the definition of necessary indicators for monitoring and reporting medical activities related to HIV/TB/and hepatitis B and C.
• Participates in the follow-up of HIV/TB/Hepatitis B&C projects/activities, surveillance, analyze data related to their specialty across all missions and regularly share the analysis results with coordinators and medical managers. 
• Supports teams in defining the mission standard drug list and forecasting of needs.
• Initiates discussion and support team to develop action plans where expected outcomes/quality deviate significantly from the MSF standard. 
• Develops and /or updates solutions (including protocols, simplified algorithms, syndromic approaches, training modules, quality standards, innovative tools, checklists, and medical kits) based on field needs and in collaboration with other MSF sections, that are easy to interpret, timely, relevant, contextual, concerted, consolidated and consistent. 
• Remains updated on scientific knowledge, evidence-based innovations, and public health competencies on HIV/TB/Hepatitis to ensure relevant support to the field.
• Actively participates and takes assigned role in Technical Working groups (Technical platforms), mutualization effort and multidisciplinary meetings of any mission/cell. Eg. Based on the need and rotation, the candidate might be asked to be a rotating leader of the MSF HIV/TB/Hepatitis technical working group.
• Together with the other HIV/TB/Hep referent, serves as the medical department focal person to matters related to HIV/TB and hepatitis.
• Based on request, s/he participates in the selection of people who are to carry out HIV/TB/Hep-related activities as well as their follow-up and evaluation.
• When available, co-manages the mobile implementation officer and or technical regional implementation support, to ensure the latter supports projects in the implementation of the medical domain activities. 

Information and knowledge management

• Ensures all projects have access to all fundamental information resources relevant to HIV/TB and hepatitis.
• Contributes to defining training needs adapted to each team knowledge and capacity, as well as designing, implementing (as trainer) and evaluating specific training(s) in collaboration with the Learning and Development Unit. 
• Leads, organizes, and/or contributes to collaborative platforms, scientific conferences, medical seminars on their domain topics relevant to MSF. 
• Facilitate the sharing and creation of knowledge through creation of relevant Community of practice (CoP).
• Contributes to the development of competency frame work, job profiles and validates the technical skills of candidates for medical position focusing on HIV/TB/ hepatitis, including Telemedicine volunteer specialists.  
• Train, Mentor and guide Field teams as appropriate.
• Briefs and debriefs key expatriates with a relevant role in the provision of healthcare in their specialty.
• Overviews, analyzes, and disseminates the capitalization of their specialty experiences across OCBA projects enhancing cross-fertilization and peer-support.

Medical innovation and operational research

• Leads and/or contributes to the design, implementation, follow-up of operational research and the development of manuscripts for medical journals and scientific conferences.
• Identifies field implementation challenges which require a novel adaptation of technical guidelines and transforms those into relevant operational research.
• Identifies new cutting-edge topics in the medical humanitarian context to update OCBA medical ambitions and adapt external knowledge to MSF contexts. 
• Follows the evolution of innovation and evidence-based advances in the medical domain by following up scientific publications, participating in international events and forums.

Networking, representation and Reporting 

• Develops partnerships and collaborations in the field of their specialty. These partnerships can be internal (MSF Working Groups, transversal work etc.) or external to MSF (including experts, medical societies, research institutes and universities). 
• Participates in all activities organized by the Medical Department, including weekly, monthly and process revision meetings, as in other ad hoc relevant reunions.
• Writes meeting reports/action points on relevant activities with clear recommendations for key stakeholders he/she interacts with. 
• Produces reports of their medical domain activities including midyear, annual or any progress report or articles for MSF internal magazines. 
• Assist in the development of medical advocacy and communication initiatives.
• Regularly updates their supervisor on their work plan, progress and development needs.

SELECTION CRITERIA  

• Medical Doctor specialized in Infectious Diseases or with an experience of at least 2 years in HIV/TB/Hepatitis B&C. 
• Field experience with MSF is mandatory. Experience in another humanitarian agency is advantageous. 
• Willingness to travel to the field at least 30% of the time.
• Practical field experience in the implementation of HIV/TB/Hepatitis B&C activities in developing countries and humanitarian emergencies, especially in integrated programs.  
• Experience in training and capacity building of personnel. Experience in Telemedicine is an asset.  
• Languages: Fluent in written and spoken English, B2 or upper intermediate proficiency of spoken and written French. Other languages like Arabic, Spanish and Portuguese are an asset.
• Good computer skills (Microsoft Office, Excel, Power Point).  

CONDITIONS

• Position based in any MSF OCBA Hub office (Barcelona, MSF-Spain office delegations, Amman, Bogota, Nairobi or Dakar). Final location will be subject to the employability of the preselected candidate (residency, work permit, etc.). 
• Regular field visits (estimated at least 30% of time).     
• Full time position. 
• Contract duration: 14 months. 
• Starting date: 23 July 2025.
• Annual gross salary: level HQ-4A + secondary benefits based on MSF OCBA Reward Policy. Subjected to local conditions.

HOW TO APPLY

• Applicants should forward their CV and cover letter.
• Closing date: May 27th, 2025, 23:59 CET (Central European Time).

MSF is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, race, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply. We are committed to achieving a balanced gender distribution and therefore encourage women to apply.

All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. MSF provides a work environment that reflects the values of gender equality, teamwork, integrity and a healthy balance of work and life. MSF does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo reference checks.

Médecins Sans Frontières, as a responsible employer, under the¨Ley General de la Discapacidad de 2013 (LGD)¨ invite those persons with a recognized disability and with an interest in the humanitarian area to apply for the above-mentioned position.