Médecins sans frontières

POLYVALENT MEDICAL OFFICER – CELL 3

10/06/2010 - 05/08/2010

Offres d'emploi à Bruxelles

(Liberia – North/South Sudan - Kenya)

The matrix framework
The Operations Department has a matrix structure with dual reporting. It is composed of 7 multidisciplinary cells that manage groups of missions/projects, while each cell is composed of 5 profiles who report to both, the OPS Department, and another department (between brackets):

• operations coordinator (OPS dept only)
• polyvalent medical officer (MED dept)
• logistics person (LOG dept)
• human resources person (HR dept)
• finance person (FIN dept)

The Wat-san unit offers direct support to the cells via 3 Wat-san people stationed in the area of operations. They work in conjunction with the logistics people and respond to the different needs of the field once these have been determined by the polyvalent medical officer.

The Medical Department is composed of polyvalent medical staff working in the above OPS cells and of referents working in the MED dept.
The referents cover the following domains: nutrition, epidemiology, public health, malaria, tuberculosis/Neglected Diseases, HIV/AIDS, mental health, laboratory, pharmacy, medical logistics, hygiene and sterilization, hospital and vaccination, operational research, Water and Health Sanitation, women’s health, pediatrics, medical anthropology.  A GAS coordinator (Gynecology, Anesthesia, and Surgery), and the  people in charge of managing the expatriates’ pool also form part of the MED dept.

Job profile & argumentation
For the Medical Department, the Polyvalent Medical Officer plays a key role in the matrix set-up: he/she assures the concrete match between the technical & strategic orientations conceived (theory) and the field reality. His particular expertise is that he knows very well the projects & contexts in medical terms. Aware of current medical practices at MSF, (s)he is expected to make sure that policies & guidelines are put to practice in the field. (S)he is also in the crucial position to feedback the MED dept on medical field problems and inconsistencies with the current orientations & practices.

I. Medical Strategic Role
The main responsibility of this post, is to make sure about the medical pertinence, adequacy, and quality of the projects.

• The strategic role entails:

•    Identifying the population’s needs and making proposals on how to best respond to those needs.
•    Appraising the reality of the field in the light of “medical theory”
•    Matching up the medical & political vision with the operational reality in the field (adaptability, feasibility)
•    Proposing a health vision per country (needs).
•    Providing rules of conduct and preserving the medical dimension: medical relevancy of projects; counterbalance the humanitarian drive in OPS.

At MSF, as a medico-humanitarian organization, the decision to initiate, modify or stop projects is taken in the cell (formalized via Copro). The role of the Polyvalent Medical Officer is, to  that extent, co-decisional  with the Operations Coordinator:  (s)he is responsible for making operational decisions congruent with the medical identity & the medical policies.

II. Specific Responsibilities
These translate into tasks at 3 distinct levels for which the Polyvalent Medical Officer can opt for a variable delegation.

A.    ~ the field
Support to the field from Brussels & during field visits for:

Strategic role

• (co-) assess & re-assess the evolving needs in their context (scanning for needs & opportunities)
• defining objectives and medical strategies in all the projects.
• relay requests & suggestions in general to the MED dept.

Managerial role

• planning & implementation of projects, e-preparedness (practical & strategic questions)
• data analysis & monitoring and evaluation of programs.
• provide analytic feedback , answering the medical and technical questions from the field
• and, where needed, referring to experts for technical questions and medical/patient  questions.
• reading and giving feed-back on documents regarding program descriptions.
• defining the profiles of medical HR in the field (in terms of type of HR, coherence between national staff and expatriates, adjusting positions, defining tendencies for the future, briefing for coordination positions, and for other field coordinators positions, and debriefing the expatriate staff.
• coaching Medcos
• checking  the definition of reference terms, follow-up and support of internal and external medical consultants
• validation of medical orders (their appropriateness in relation to the needs and to MSF norms & standards), validation of local orders
• pro-active promotion of medical issues (policies, guides & tools)

B.    ~ the cell
Strategic role: The Polyvalent Medical Officer is expected to develop a medical vision for the respective missions & projects.

• make sure about the medical pertinence, adequacy, and quality of proposals at the Copro’s, at  the annual action plan (AAP). Aspects as the diagnosis of the situation, vulnerability, relevance of the problem for MSF, definition, conceptualization, planning of the projects, evaluation of the resources needed, choice of the project’s partners, project evaluation are included.
• check the medical aspects of the project / mission reports
• cost-awareness regarding medical choices.
• steer projects, contacts with other operational actors (MSF sections, agencies)

Managerial role:

• diffusion (sharing) & promotion of medical information
• alert identification & resolution of medical gaps & inadequacies
• communicate medical matters (regarding the projects) to the COM dept & occasionally to the media (medical advocacy)
• prepare (with medical referents) an annual medical activity report

C.    ~ the Med dept
Strategic role:

• contribute to the development of medical policies and strategies by sharing context-specific experiences and by checking their field adequacy.
• Suggest possible research in specific fields by co-identifying and defining the interesting topics and making sure about conditions for implementation.
• suggest, co-identify (with AAU), and determine the interesting topics in medical advocacy, and make sure of implementation conditions.
• As the Cell is based in Italy (s)he assure a good communication, feed back and exchanges of medical issues with medical referents and other OCB related departments.

Managerial role:

• filter out the purely managerial aspects of the medical problems before referring them to the experts
• participate actively (preparing and/or presenting) in the training of MSF medical HR via the MCC + MSH  
• look after the dissemination & promotion of medical documents in the field
• expatriate and national staff health: check the country adaptation of both policies.
• Decide on the possible departure to the field of expatriates without an updated medical  certificate. Give additional information to pool managers on services available at country level
• medical ethics: identify and/or clarify issues coming in from the field, and link if necessary with the medical ethics committee  

Candidate’s profile

• Medical degree
• Degree in tropical medicine
• Bilingual (French/English), the knowledge of another language is an asset
• Minimum 3 years of experience in humanitarian work
• Minimum 2 years of experience with MSF
• Having worked as a general coordinator/medical coordinator is an asset
• Available for HQ (Brussels) and field visits
• Able to set priorities, make choices, and assume decisions
• Team spirit
• Good communication skills.

Conditions offered

• Full time position, based in Brussels
• Indefinite-term contract (ITC)
• Starting date: ASAP

Applications to be sent before August 5th, 2010 to MSF, Caroline Maes, Medical department, Dupréstreet, 94, 1090 Brussels
caroline.maes@brussels.msf.org