COMMUNICATION ADVISOR

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.

At its core, MSF is a civil society initiative, bringing together individuals committed to assisting other human beings in crisis. Each individual working with MSF does so out of conviction and is ready to uphold the values and principles of MSF. The global MSF movement is built around six operational directorates supported by more than 25 sections and offices worldwide.

MAIN PURPOSE

The role of the communication advisor (CA) is to provide strategic advice on MSF’s public positioning and high-stakes public communications, coordinate and drive validation of contents, based on an in-depth understanding of the context, MSF’s operations and the dynamics of the communications environment relevant to the portfolio. The CA acts as a first responder in case of emergency, leads on crisis communications and supports country communication teams to develop and implementing communication strategies aimed at achieving operational priorities and objectives.  The CA validates a regular flow of information on MSF response to humanitarian crises, both within MSF-OCBA, the MSF movement and externally, and liaises with international media.

JOB OVERVIEW

The CA is responsible for defining and supervising MSF’s communication strategies in the portfolio of operational Cell 3 (including CAR, Chad and DRC), as well as other contexts to be defined according to MSF-OCBA’s needs and priorities. As referent for communications within the cell, the CA :

1. Provides strategic advice on public positioning and high-stakes communications;
2. Acts as senior content manager: designs, conceptualizes, coordinates and drives validation of content;
3. Be a first responder in case of Emergencies and leads on Crisis Communications;
4. Support, manage and build capacity of field communications resources;
5. Liaise with a variety of internal and external stakeholders, including MSF’s heads of programmes, directors of communications or international media.

RESPONSIBILITIES AND MAIN TASKS

Senior advice on public positioning & communication

1. In coordination with operations and country communications teams, assesses communication needs and priorities, including digital communications needs in coordination with the MSF-OCBA digital advisor;
2. Provides strategic advice on public positioning and high-stakes communications, contributing to bearing witness (témoignage), drawing attention, alerting, mobilizing and/or denouncing on situations and conditions of populations we are assisting, at local, regional and global levels;
3. Define and proposes the strategic communication objectives and messaging and based on the targeted audience, propose the format and channel to ensure the relevance and impact of the communication;
4. Advises and supports country communication teams in implementing and assessing impact of communications;
5. Coordinates with CAs from other Operational Centres and works in collaboration with Advocacy Managers/Humanitarian Affairs Officers (HAOs) to support advocacy efforts on topics and issues at stake in the countries covered according to the needs;
6. Works in collaboration with MSF partner sections and offices to identify opportunities of media and digital engagement at international, regional and local levels and reinforce overall the implementation and impact of the communication strategies defined for the countries of the portfolio.

Senior role in analysis

1. Provides analysis, contributing inputs about positioning, advice on tactics as well as identifying messages and powerful tools for the relevant portfolio of countries and themes;
2. Ensures with the support of the country communication resources, digital advisor and regional communication hubs as needed that the communication landscape is integrated in the context analysis of the country and is regularly updated (e.g. CCF, digital assessments);
3. Ensures with the support of the country communication resources and digital advisor that monitoring is in place and keeps abreast of the public narratives around the countries/projects/issues of the portfolio;
4. Contributes to assessing risks identified by operations and advises on the role and potential impact of public positioning in mitigating those risks;
5. Supports country communication teams in assessing and reporting back on impact of coms initiatives;
6. Contributes to reporting on MSF-OCBA’s operational communication unit’s goals and metrics linked to MSF-OCBA’s strategic orientations.

International media management

1. Identifies and builds strategic partnerships with media in collaboration with partner sections and regional hubs for communication initiatives (production and dissemination);
2. Advises and supports country coms teams in their national media dissemination strategies;
3. Supports, facilitates and manages as needed with the country communication teams direct media requests and those from the MSF movement, including field visits;
4. Has “a nose for news” seeking ways to tell the story and impact through engaging articles, video scripts/narration, social media posts/plans and make decisions regarding content and offering solutions.

Emergency Communications and Crisis Management

1. Be a first responder in case of Emergencies, ensure timely communications responses and production of relevant public communications materials;
2. Leads on Crisis Communications, acts as a senior member of crisis incident management teams, ensuring MSF’s public communications strategies support case resolution, the continuity of MSF operations or the preservation of MSF’s reputation;
3. Provides strategic advice and define communications strategies, including scenarios, communications responses and relevant public communications materials;
4. Supports field coms teams in ensuring all aspects of crisis communications management are in place, including monitoring;
5. Contributes to crisis management related reviews and trainings.

Field communications support and capacity-building

1. Provides direct comms support through field visits to the projects as needed and support country comms staff to assess communication needs, understand the communications environment, define priorities and develop key documents and material (e.g CCF);
2. Supports, manages and builds capacity of country coms resources, including remote coaching and mentoring and on-the-spot support, conducting appraisals and debriefings at the end of their assignment as well as supporting them in the implementation of their work;
3. Briefs and debriefs MSF senior staff (e.g. HoM, Medical Cos, FieldCos) going to/from projects;
4. Provides communications training to key staff in the countries and in HQ, conduct information sessions on the role of communications to staff;
5. Supports recruitment of Country Communications staff, provides induction about MSF’s communications.

Content management and validation

1. Acts as senior content manager: designs, conceptualizes, coordinates and drives validation of content in collaboration with operations in the countries and in HQ; validates a regular flow of information on MSF medical humanitarian activities, developing compelling messaging for public audiences;
2. Oversees the production of communications materials gathered by country communication resources or directly by him/her (from field assignment), for the various audiences and channels targeted; ensuring proper preparation, implementation and dissemination (e.g. communication initiative framework, dissemination strategy, etc.) as well as compliance with MSF´s identity and ethical standards; 
3. Works closely with the Creative Content Unit, relevant regional comms hubs or potential external partners, to jointly define and develop creative projects on MSF-OCBA’s operational comms priorities; 
4. Contributes to- content for various MSF publications, such as the annual International Activity Report, etc.;
5. As needed, and in close coordination with Creative Content Unit and country comms teams, occasionally collects material (stories, digital content, photos, etc.) and contributes to the production of content for external dissemination.

Coordination, back up & on-call

1. Participates in the relevant cell and operational meetings as needed;
2. Participates and engages regularly with other communication colleagues from other sections covering same portfolio (regular calls, meetings); 
3. Participates in the regular operational communication team and wider communication department meetings;
4. Meets regularly and coordinates production of content with members of the Creative Content Unit;
5. Covers temporarily for other team members or upon request of the Head of Operational Communication on other countries or topics;
6. Is “on-call” for emergency communications some weekends and evening

SELECTION CRITERIA

• Degree in Communications, Journalism, Political Science, or related fields.
• Minimum 4 years in communications/advocacy/humanitarian affairs with an international NGO.
• Field experience with MSF or similar organizations is highly desirable.
• Knowledge of media landscape, digital engagement, humanitarian principles, strategic communication planning.
• Fluent in English and French.

CONDITIONS

• Position based in Barcelona.
• Permanent Position.
• Full-time position.
• Annual gross salary: HQ – 4B level + secondary benefits based on MSF OCBA Reward Policy. Subjected to local conditions.
• Starting date: 1st of April.

HOW TO APPLY

• To apply, please submit your CV and cover letter.
• Closing date: February 23rd, 2026, 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.