HEAD OF HEALTH UNIT(BASED IN ANY MSF OCBA HUB)

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

The MSF movement is composed of seven operational directorates, supported by 21 sections, 24 associations, and other offices worldwide. MSF OCBA (Operational Centre Barcelona-Athens) is one of these directorates, with field operations guided by five Operational Cells, the Emergency Unit, and other support departments. Operations are managed from hubs in Barcelona, Athens, Nairobi, Dakar, and Amman.

ROLE SUMMARY AND KEY OBJECTIVES
The Head of the Health Unit (HHU) is a senior member of the Medical Department Coordination Team, reporting to the Medical Director (DirMed). The HHU provides leadership, coordination, and guidance to a team of approximately 10 medical referents, supporting them to deliver high-quality, field-adapted technical expertise.

A key focus of the role is to strengthen the medical and technical voice within the department and strengthen the role of medical perspectives in cross-departmental and organisational decision-making. The HHU plays a vital role in promoting alignment between technical expertise and medical-operational priorities and will work in close collaboration with other Heads of Unit, the Deputy Medical Director, and Medical Operations and other technical dpts to ensure that technical guidance contributes meaningfully to strategic planning and is adapted to operational realities.

The HHU helps create the conditions for referents to play an effective advisory role—providing timely, relevant, and field-oriented expertise— and linking transversally with other technical areas, ensuring that they are working as team following the priorities in MYP and vision doc etc. while recognising that decision-making on medical implementation lies with Medical Operations and field coordination teams.

Key responsibilities include guiding health strategy development, ensuring priorities across the network with broader departmental and operational goals, coaching staff performance and development, and supporting the overall cohesion and collaborative functioning of the Medical Department.

The ideal candidate actively model and promote MSF’s behaviour principles and safeguarding approach. In their work they will adopt a, quality improvement, Patient Centred Care and People-Centred Approach (PCA), mindset ensuring these are meaningfully integrated into the work of the medical network . The candidate will be able to demonstrate a strong commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).

The HHU will also:

Foster cross-disciplinary collaboration, working proactively with other technical advisors and Unit Heads to ensure technical expertise is fully integrated into cross-cutting technical packages and strategies.

Act the accountable person for relevant technical platforms within the Medical network, they will take turns to chair monthly meetings, set objectives, workplans and indicators ensuring effective agenda setting, follow-up on decisions, and documentation of outputs.

REPORTING & KEY RELATIONSHIPS
Reports to: Medical Director.

• Member of: Medical Department Coordination Team (with other Heads of Unit, Deputy Dir Med and DirMed).
• Line manages: an average of 10 medical referents, with functional links to additional staff as needed
• Liaises with: Regional Units, other departments, Operations, MSF sections, and external partners.

MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES
The Head of the Health Unit is expected to demonstrate flexibility in a dynamic organizational and external environment. This includes the ability to reassess and, when necessary, reallocate or stop projects led by Unit referents in line with evolving Medical Department and operational priorities under the direction of the Medical Director. The scope and focus of the role may adapt over time to meet the changing needs of MSF OCBA.

Strategic Leadership and Planning

• Lead the development and refinement of health strategies in line with OCBA's operational and medical priorities.
• Ensure strategic, technical, and operational coherence across the department.
• Contribute to the Medical Ntw Department’s Annual and Multiyear Plan and translate priorities into actionable goals for the Unit.
• Support the development of an Annual Report (Feb–Mar) on the achievements of assigned dossiers/topics and support the consolidation and analysis of Unit Referents' reports, measuring progress against strategic objectives and KPIs.

Operational Oversight and Departmental Contribution

• Ensure initiatives identified in the Medical Department’s Annual and Multiyear Plan are implemented in a timely and effective manner.
• Represent the Unit in relevant internal platforms (coordination meetings, seminars, etc.) and ensure technical input into key institutional discussions.
• Promote communication and coordination with decentralized referents and regional units to ensure alignment and field-relevance of medical strategies.
• Strengthen interactions with Operations and ensure that medical network priorities are discussed and aligned across departments.

Team Leadership and Management

• Line manage and coach a team of technical medical referents, fostering a high-performing, supportive work environment.
• Support referents in prioritising their workload effectively, providing coaching and guidance to help them focus on strategic deliverables and balance reactive demands, especially in high-pressure periods.
• Assist referents in navigating and overcoming operational or structural challenges in collaboration with field teams, coordinators, Operational Cells, and other departments ensuring a facilitative approach that respects and complements the responsibilities of the Medical Operations team. 
• Oversee recruitment, onboarding, and performance development of staff in coordination with HR.
• Identify additional support needs and propose staffing solutions (ToRs, JDs, budgets, etc.).
• Manage administrative aspects including travel requests, budget oversight, and leave planning.

Technical and Cross-Departmental Engagement

• Ensure active participation of Unit members in interdepartmental and cross-sectional platforms and initiatives.
• Promote interdisciplinary collaboration across technical and operational functions.
• Drive knowledge management and capitalization of field experiences, ensuring access to key documents and learnings.

Vision, Research and Innovation

• Support and ensure that each referent develops a clear vision and strategic action plan for their technical area aligned with the OCBA Strategic Plan.
• Encourage presentation of action plans to relevant Working Groups (WGs) and promote constructive dialogue with MSF counterparts.
• Helps identifying research and innovation opportunities. 

CANDIDATE PROFILE

• Medical or nursing degree. Advanced degree in Public Health, International Health, Epidemiology, or Tropical Medicine is an asset.
• Specialization or significant experience in a technical area relevant to the Unit is an asset.
• Previous experience in similar or coordination positions will be highly valuable. 

Other

• Fluent in English (oral and written). 
• Working knowledge of Spanish and French desirable. 
• Willingness to travel up to 30% of the time, including to insecure environments.

CONDITIONS

• Position based in any MSF-OCBA Hub: Bogotá, Dakar, Nairobi, Barcelona or Madrid. Final location will be subject to the employability of the preselected candidate (e.g., residency, work permit, etc.). For the rest of Spain Delegations as Bilbao, Sevilla and Valencia: Final location will be also subject to the availability of space at the time of the final selection.
• Permanent Contract.
• Full-time job.
• Annual gross salary: HQ-5 level + secondary benefits based on MSF OCBA Reward Policy. Subjected to local conditions. 
• Starting Date: October 2025.

HOW TO APPLY 

• To apply, please submit your CV and cover letter to:   
• Closing date: August 26th, 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.