HEAD OF HEALTH UNIT (INTERIM POSITION/BASED IN ANY MSF-OCBA HUB)

Do your skills and experience not precisely match the requirements? MSF-OCBA is an  organization committed to promoting diversity and equity by providing equal access to  professional opportunities.
We understand that women, people of color, indigenous  individuals, members of the LGTBIQ+ community, and other underrepresented groups often  hesitate to apply for employment if they don't meet all the requirements.
At MSF-OCBA, we strive to create a diverse, inclusive, and genuine workplace.
Therefore, if you're interested in this position but your experience doesn't align perfectly with the selection criteria, we encourage you to apply anyway.
You might be the ideal candidate for this or other positions.
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 five 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.
GENERAL OBJECTIVE The Head of the Health Unit is an integral member of the medical department coordination- management team (CMT).
Through delegation from the Medical Director (DirMed), the HoU manages a group of medical referents in the medical department.
S/he is responsible and accountable for the coordination and achievement of the objectives or assigned dossiers of her/his specific medical area.
The Head of the Health Unit will attend the medical department’ coordination meeting (middle management decision-making), medical seminars, the medical department meetings (information sharing and normative), and any other collaborative platform linked with their area of medical competencies.
JOB ENVIRONMENT The HoU will be working in the Medical Department directly reporting to the DirMed and will be part of the department’s coordination team, made of the 3 Heads of Unit and the DirMed (Chair).
Units are divided in three Health Units and one Medical Operational1.
The Head managing this last Unit is today the Deputy Medical Director.
Each Head of Unit manages a medical team/group which may evolve depending on the department’s needs.
Each group is composed of structural and functional referents positions and temporary support positions / consultants.
The HoU will provide sparring to the DirMed on key medical technical and managerial issues and assume additional responsibilities delegated to him by the Medical Director and linked to his competencies and transversal issues.
The HoU will hold regular coordination with other HoUs as needed and will be counterpart for other departments and external organizations regarding the assigned transversal projects/topics and those delegated by the DirMed.
1 The name of the Units does not indicate or define the technical background or expertise level of all the positions inside.
Each Unit position has been chosen following a process that considers different variables and Units composition may be subject to change in strategic reviews.
GENERAL RESPONSABILITIES AND TASKS OF HEADS OF UNIT The Head of Unit is responsible and accountable for the direct management of a group of around 10 FTE of technical medical referents, keeping also a functional link with a variable number of FTE.
Ensure that the initiatives and activities identified and prioritised in the Annual and Multiyear Plan of the Medical Department are timely endorsed and carried out.
Ensure that Medical Referents will work through a “collaborative project mode” as soon as the solution requires different competencies within the same medical area or between areas.
Link with other medical Heads of Unit to contribute to or receive inputs in transversal projects they lead or are involved in.
Knowledge management.
oversight of the capitalization of medical experiences.
HoU makes sure that the members of her/his Unit provide access to field staff and/or other Dpts to key documents.
Ensure cohesion of OCBA’s Medical Department enhancing communication and collaboration with MSF OCBA decentralized referents and regional units, working for alignment of strategic vision and supporting joint activities according to field operations needs.
Develop an Annual Report (in February – March) on achievements of the dossiers/topics assigned and help to analyse and compile the Annual Reports of the Referents in the Unit.
Assuming additional responsibilities delegated by the Medical Director related to the profile of the position.
Collaborate with Medical Director in the development of the contents and strategies related to the “MSF Support Model”.
TEAM MANAGEMENT (HIERARCHICAL AND FUNCTIONAL) Lead, support and coach the Unit of medical referents under his/her supervision.
Evaluate their achievements (including performance evaluations).
Support the professional career development of medical referents under his/her supervision together with the HR assigned responsible.
Participate in the identification of the additional support required by the referents in the Unit and the technical platforms managed, proposing ToRs / JDs together with budget for validation, participating in the selection process if required.
Delegate/distribute responsibilities (e.
.
acting as focal point for certain topic or dossier which doesn’t require a full time dedication) to member(s) of their Unit and/or Platform when necessary.
Follow up of the administrative aspects for the running of the Unit compiling the requests (travels, budget, holiday planning, etc.).
STRENGTHENING WORKING DYNAMICS As a priority, identify the interdisciplinary working platforms within the Unit, related to other Units of the Medical Department or other Departments in OCBA, and ensure with the CMT that these platforms are functional and effective.
Ensure that the multidisciplinary and interdepartmental platforms created to develop strategic priorities of Medical Department Annual and Multiyear Plan (those depending of her/his Unit) are fully operative, including involvement of external partners.
Strengthen interaction with Operations and Regional Units developing the different responsibilities assigned and ensuring that priorities of the Unit are shared and discussed.
This will be achieved in coordination with both Deputy and Medical Director.
Ensure that referents of the Unit are interacting and taking part of initiatives (technical or operational) where their input is required and needed.
Ensure that a good working dynamic and communication is also settled within the Unit, considering that priority will be given to the platforms aforementioned.
VISION AND ACTION PLANS Support and ensure that each referent of the Unit develops a vision and action plan regarding her/his technical area and covering the Strategic Plan period and aligned with Strategic Plan priorities.
Ensure that those priorities are well acknowledged by the different platforms and duly included in the Annual Plan of the Medical Department.
Support the referent if she/he is being asked to present these action plans in different fora.
Encourage that each referent action plan is presented to their respective Working Groups (WG) while challenges and nurtures their counterparts of different MSF Sections and WG strategic vision.
SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITES OF THE HEAD OF UNIT 1 The Head of Unit 1 will be the final responsible, and accountable to Medical Director (with whom will take final decisions) of the priority topics listed below.
She/he will not be in charge of creating technical contents (many of these topics have already one or more referents / technical experts assigned) but will adapt/create (in case of need) those regarding vision, structure and governance.
The HoU will ensure that they are fully developed according to the plan/objectives agreed within the Medical Department (Referents, CMT and Medical Director) and with other OCBA Dpts.
These objectives will be delivered and discussed at the beginning of the assignment.
For those topics that have already one or more referents assigned, the HoU will support them creating and/or leading the intra/inter-departmental platforms, helping to develop a vision and forecasting the needs.
For the others, the HoU will be the Focal Point in the Medical Department, in charge of compiling and developing the advice and participating in the already existing committees.
This will not be in any case in detriment of Referents’ responsibilities.
Operational Research Surveys, Needs Assessments and Surveillance (in coordination with Deputy Medical Director) Evaluations and capitalizations Knowledge Management Quality of Care Learning and Development All these topics are identified and selected priorities of the Medical Department.
Some of them are flexible and will be reviewed over time.
New ones can be incorporated.
They should take at least 40% of the workload of this position.
COMPETENCIES OF THE POST Commitment to MSF’s Principles Cross-cultural Awareness   Strategic Vision Results and Quality Orientation Service Orientation Planning and Organising Initiative and Innovation Teamwork and Cooperation Leadership People Management and Development Networking and Building Relationships Others Proactivity.
Ability in team management.
Style of direction Communication Style   SELECTION CRITERIA KNOWELDGE AND EXPERIENCE Medical / Health Professional degree is essential Experience in team management and project management Specialization or previous experience in one of the related technical area(s) of the Unit will be an asset.
Public/International/Epidemiologic/Tropical Medicine health degree is an asset.
At least.
1 year of Field experience with MSF and 1 year experience as Referent in a MSF Medical department or Operational Health Advisor.
Previous field experience with MSF in coordination position is an asset Knowledge of recent developments in the field of humanitarian relief, international public health and tropical medicine.
Proven affinity with advocacy, and experience with field research in resource poor settings LANGUAGES  Fluent in English and French (oral and written) Working knowledge of Spanish Portuguese and Arabic are assets OTHERS Availability to travel CONDITIONS Position based in any MSF Spain offices (Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Bilbao or Sevilla) and regional hubs (Bogotá, Nairobi and Dakar).
Full time job Interim position for one month with possible extension Salary and Benefits.
In line with MSF values and according to location.
Starting date.
April HOW TO APPLY To apply, please follow the link below and submit your CV and cover letter.
Closing date.
April 4th, CET (Central European Time)   MSF OCBA is a people-focused humanitarian organization that offers a diverse, collaborative, and inclusive work environment.
We believe this approach enhances our work and we are committed to equity in employment.
We embrace diverse backgrounds of people working together to exhibit their passion in action for the social mission of MSF.
Médecins Sans Frontieres, as a responsible employer, under article 38 of “Ley de Integración Social del Minusválido de (LISMI)” invite those persons with a recognized disability and with an interest in the humanitarian area to apply for the above-mentioned position.