QUALITY IMPROVEMENT ADVISOR (BASED IN ANY MSF 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 movement is built around six operational directorates supported by MSF’s 21 sections, 24 associations and other offices together worldwide. MSF OCBA is one of those directorates. The operations are implemented by field teams and the mission coordination teams; together with the organizational units based in Barcelona, Athens and decentralised in Nairobi, Dakar and Amman. The field operations are guided and supported by 5 Operational Cells, the Emergency Unit and other Departments supporting operations, including the Medical Department.

CONTEXT AND GENERAL OBJECTIVE  
The Medical Department of the MSF Operational Centre Barcelona-Athens (MSF-OCBA) is a multidisciplinary network structured in 4 Units – Health Unit 1, 2 and 3 – and the Medical-Operational Unit. Each Unit is composed by Referents, who are based in any of the MSF OCBA hubs, and is led by a Head of Unit (HoU); the Head of the Medical-Operational Unit is also the Deputy Medical Director. The Medical Director oversees the overall management of the Department with the support of the Heads of the four Units and an Assistant, and the five of them make up the Management Team of the Medical Department. All members of the Medical Network, as well as the CMT are, devoted to support the field program implementation and work in close collaboration with members of other Departments.

Quality Improvement is one of the key strategic lines in OCBA Strategic Plan. It is considered a broad framework addressing all medical procedures and services at different levels of health care, articulated through cycles of quality monitoring and improvement action planning, including the reporting, analysis, and prevention of patient safety incidents.

The referent is responsible and accountable for achievements of the objectives for his/her domain of expertise. Overall, the appointee is required to provide technical and strategic support to MSF-OCBA in the areas of Quality Improvement and Patient Safety. S/he contributes to improved quality of care through support to various medical and operational staff in the Cells, teams in the field, and the Medical Network at HQ level. 

PLACEMENT WITHIN THE ORGANIZATION:  
The Quality Improvement Referent position is placed in the MSF OCBA Medical Department and is hierarchically and functionally accountable to the Head of Unit 1. The Quality Improvement Referent will support MSF medical activities and programs through a close collaboration with Operational Health Advisors (TESACOs) and Desk HQ, Medical Coordinators and Heads of Mission (missions) and Project Medical Referents and Field Coordinators (projects), as the rest of Medical Network Referents. 

To ensure the coordination and harmonization of quality improvement initiatives, the QI Advisor will work closely with the PCA team, Learning & Development Unit, Behavior Unit, Logistics and HR Departments, and any other relevant positions 
in the field or headquarters as needed. 

The Quality Improvement Referent manages the Patient Safety Reporting Officer and functionally supervises the Quality Improvement MST.

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

Program and strategic support:

• Contributes to the development of the Quality Improvement and Patient Safety strategy and operational plan of the Medical Dept. through active participation in the Medical Network strategic planning and monitoring cycles, identifying global priorities and defining key recommendations for OCBA action plans.
• Contributes to the design and development of proposals on medico-operational strategies of Cells and projects on critical challenges related to Quality Improvement.
• Contributes to medico-operational decision-making by providing technical input during the consultation process aiming for systems and cultures for Continuous Quality Improvement and Patient Safety.
• Contributes to translate medico-operational requests requiring technical input into concept notes. S/he 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 Quality Improvement and Patient Safety.
• Conducts regular field visits (at least 30% of time or a minimum of 2-3 visits per year for at least 2-3 weeks, with flexibility) to assess Quality Improvement activities and Patient Safety, and to introduce field-adopted guidelines, policies, and technical tools, ensuring each visit follows a defined methodology that includes clear objectives developed in consultation with TESACO and field teams, while also requiring flexibility from the Referent to adapt to changing circumstances.
• Write field visit reports with clear actionable and agreed recommendation by priorities; provide follow-up support directly and/or in collaboration with other Referents, ensuring multidisciplinary and agreed advice to TESACOs and field teams.
• Provides feedback on reports and relevant documents needing specific technical input. 
• Leads, support and/or actively participates in designing and implementation of 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 technical questions from the field in a timely and concerted manner.
• Contributes to the definition of necessary indicators for monitoring and reporting Quality Improvement activities and Patient Safety.
• Supports the field in conducting risk analysis prior to implementation of Patient Safety Incident reporting.
• Analyzes data related to quality and patient safety across all missions and regularly shares the analysis results with coordinators and medical managers. 
• Initiates discussion and supports team to develop action plans where expected outcomes/quality deviate significantly from the MSF standard. 
• Develops solutions (including protocols, guidance documents, simplified algorithms, 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. 
• Participates in the intersectional Quality Improvement Core Platform.
• Remains updated on scientific knowledge and public health competencies in her/is area of expertise to ensure relevant support to the field. 
• Manages the Patient Safety Reporting Officer and functionally supervises the Quality Improvement MST, to ensure the appropriate support to projects and missions in the implementation of the Quality Improvement and Patient Safety activities.

Information and knowledge management

• Ensures all projects have access to all fundamental information resources relevant to Quality Improvement and Patient Safety.  
• Contributes to defining training needs adapted to each team knowledge and capacity, as well as designing, implementing and evaluating specific training(s) in collaboration with the Learning and Development Unit. 
• Contributes to the development of competency framework, job profiles and validates the technical skills of candidates for domain-related positions.  
• Briefs and debriefs key personnel with a relevant role in Quality Improvement and Patient Safety.
• Overviews, analyzes, and disseminates the capitalization of Quality Improvement and Patient Safety 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 in domain-related topics.
• Identifies field implementation challenges which require a novel adaptation of technical guidelines on quality improvement and/or patient safety 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 healthcare domain by following up scientific publications, participating in international events and forums.

Networking, representation and reporting 

• Develops partnerships and collaborations in the field of Quality Improvement and Patient Safety. These partnerships can be internal (MSF Intersectional Platforms, transversal work etc.) or external to MSF (including experts, medical societies, research institutes and universities). 
• Acts as the Medical Network focal point for Patient Safeguarding and Patient Charter.
• Participates in all activities organized by the Medical Department, including weekly, monthly and process revision meetings, as in other ad hoc relevant reunions.
• Is a member of the MSF OCBA Medical Professional Commission (MPC) and will be responsible for preparing documentation and reports for the MPC in coordination with the PSI Officer.  
• Participates in scientific conferences contributing to the dissemination of results.
• Writes medical reports on all his/her activities with clear recommendations for key stakeholders s/he interacts with. 
• Leads or contributes to thematic forum/collaborative platforms and medical seminars on her/his medical domain topics relevant to MSF. 
• Produces reports of her/his medical domain activities as requested by the supervisor including midyear, annual or any progress report. 
• Assists in the development of medical advocacy and communication initiatives.
• Regularly updates her/his supervisor on her/his work plan, progress and development needs.
• Chairs the OCBA Quality Improvement Coordination and Harmonization (QuICH) Committee.
• Acts as the Medical Department focal point in the OCBA Integrated Quality Improvement Platform.

SELECTION CRITERIA  

• University Degree in Medicine, Nursing, Midwifery, Public Health or related sciences. 
• Minimum of 2 years’ field experience in different MSF projects (different contexts) or with another relevant medical organization working in low-income countries and/or humanitarian settings. 
• Willingness to travel to the field.
• Additional knowledge, training and experience in Public Health, Quality Improvement science and methodologies, and Patient Safety.
• Experience in training and capacity building of personnel.  
• Languages: proficient in written and spoken English and French. Spanish or Arabic is an asset. 
• Good computer skills (Microsoft Office, Excel, Power Point).  

CONDITIONS

• Location: Position based in any MSF OCBA hub: Barcelona, MSF-Spain office delegations, Dakar, Bogotá or Nairobi. Final location will be subject to the employability of the preselected candidate (residency, work permit, etc.)
• Availability to travel for regular field visit: at least 30% of the time or 2 to 3 visits per year with flexibility, and according to field demands.
• Full-time job. 
• Duration: Contract duration: 2 years with possibility of extension.
• Benefit and remuneration: HQ 4A level + secondary benefits based on MSF OCBA Reward Policy. Subjected to local conditions. 
• Starting date: Immediately. 

HOW TO APPLY

• To apply, please submit your CV and cover letter.
• Closing date: 8th April 2025 at 23:59 hours 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.