Humanitarian Affairs Advisor at Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF)

Main Objective(s)

In this position you will be promoting strategic humanitarian responses guided by a critical understanding of MSF’s positioning within the given context. Developing and supporting operations with implementing the witnessing, protection and advocacy components of MSF’s work is what you will be working on. Along the way you will come along key humanitarian challenges that MSF is facing:

The levels of need for medical humanitarian assistance remain vast in many regions of the world, yet it is increasingly challenging to fulfil MSF’s social mission. Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Myanmar, and the Central African Republic are a few of the places where violence, abuse and neglect lead to human crises. Entire populations are threatened by outbreaks of disease, responses to which continue to be inadequate.

Factors such as global pandemics, urbanization and global migration may bring new types of health needs. At the same time, humanitarian responses must navigate an ever-shifting political landscape. Increasing restrictions to operations set by host states, instrumentalization, criminalisation and delegitimization of humanitarian action and the communities it seeks to support; and the politicisation, militarisation, privatisation and nationalisation of humanitarian assistance all affect the way humanitarian agencies operate and impact on their ability to respond.

Responsibilities and Activities

Direct country support

• Support, coaching and functional (technical) management of Humanitarian Affairs staff in country, supporting and orienting their work; Providing country operations with political and contextual analysis on factors shaping the humanitarian landscape and issues MSF wants to leverage or influence;
• Working with operational teams in identifying and documenting protection issues affecting the populations we serve, and defining MSF’s strategies to address them;
• Driving consistent implementation of advocacy strategies;
• Acting as a ‘sparring partner’ to the Heads of Mission and Operational Managers on protection issues, humanitarian principles and organizational positioning;
• Advising country teams on the process of the gathering, analysis and synthesis of information/data; Drafting of position papers, briefing documents, and public reports.

Thematic work

• Identifying and developing key humanitarian themes for MSF, conducting research, writing papers, organising internal and external discussions
• Sharing MSF thinking and analysis through attending debates, workshops and conferences, writing articles and making presentations.
• Developing and maintaining relevant networks, bringing cutting edge thinking into the organisation.

Training

• The Humanitarian Affairs Advisor is also responsible for developing and delivering training modules for country teams and headquarters staff on humanitarian affairs, aimed at strengthening MSF’s humanitarian work.

This position is based in Nairobi with travel to the field of up to 30% of the time.

Candidate Profile

We are looking for someone with:

• Substantial experience (6-8 years) with international organisations in the field of humanitarian action, protection or human rights; at least 3-5 years in country experience in the types of contexts where MSF is active (in country experience with MSF is an advantage);
• Extensive knowledge and understanding of recent developments in the field of humanitarian action, protection and international relations;
• Academic background in areas relevant to MSF’s work, such as international relations, international human rights & humanitarian law and social sciences;
• Strong analytical and advisory skills and the ability to translate complex analysis into concise, clear, and actionable conclusions and recommendations;
• Ability to travel to humanitarian contexts for periods of up to 4 weeks;
• Proven excellence in written English and a track record writing reports, position papers or briefing notes; excellence in written French an advantage;
• Excellent verbal communication and training skills;
• Fluency in English required; and fluency or working knowledge of French is a strong advantage; working knowledge of Arabic is an advantage;
• Regional expertise and/or understanding of geo-political factors influencing contexts where MSF is operational will be considered assets, as will an understanding of public health issues;

Who is:

• Outgoing, persuasive, persistent, ability to organize and drive initiatives involving different stakeholders (public health advisors, operations, communications advisors, etc.);
• An independent self Strategic vision/thinking;
• Analytical thinking/Results and Quality orientation;
• Coaching/Training/Advising;
• Networking and relationship building;
• Flexible behavior;
• Commitment to MSF principles;