Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an international humanitarian aid organization that provides assistance in more than 70 countries to populations in distress, to victims of natural or manmade disasters and to victims of armed conflicts, without discrimination and irrespective of origin, religion, creed or political affiliation.
CONTEXT
MSF has had an operational presence in Ukraine since 1999. Initially MSF activities were focused on tuberculosis. When conflict started in the East of Ukraine in 2014, MSF activities expanded to include mental health and primary health support in the affected areas. From February 2022, when the full-scale invasion of Ukraine started, MSF switched to a broader emergency response, initially by developing medical evacuation trains, then moving to ambulance activities, and adding components of hospital support, mobile clinics and mental healthcare. We currently have 4 projects in Ukraine: South project with main base in Mykolaiv and East project with main base in Dnipro covering different sub-bases in the nearby regions with ambulance referrals, mobile clinics and hospital-based teams; an Early Rehabilitation project based in Cherkasy with a sub-base in Kyiv; and a short-term project providing ambulance referrals and hospital support in Sumy region. The Coordination is based in Kyiv, with a logistics and supply sub-base in Lviv. The total number of (international) Mobile Staff (MS) is around 25 and the total of Country-Based Staff (CBS) is around 330, making a total of approximately 355 staff.
The Infection Prevention Control (IPC) Manager, being based in Cherkasy Project, reports hierarchically to the Project Medical Coordinator (PMC) in Cherkasy project and functionally to both the Country Medical Coordinators and the MSF OCB IPC Referent in Brussels.
MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES
- Conduct comprehensive assessments of health departments in MSF-supported health facilities to evaluate Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) standards, implementation effectiveness, operational capacity, compliance with National Guidelines, and their overall impact on the quality and safety of patient care.
- Develop, implement, and monitor facility-specific IPC action plans based on assessment findings, ensuring clear priorities, measurable objectives, defined timelines, and alignment with the Ministry of Health (MoH) policies, standards, and health system strengthening strategies.
- Coordinate and validate IPC action plans with relevant MoH counterparts, hospital management, and key stakeholders to ensure ownership, integration into existing health system improvement plans, and sustainable implementation beyond MSF support.
- Lead the development, implementation, monitoring, and continuous improvement of the hospital IPC programme in accordance with MSF protocols making sure alignment with national regulations respecting the sustainability of IPC program.
- Develop, review, and update IPC policies, standard operating procedures (SOPs), guidelines/ protocols aligned with MoH and MSF standards to ensure evidence-based and standardized infection prevention practices across all hospital departments where MSF is supporting.
- Facilitate regular IPC risk assessments, audits, and surveillance activities to identify healthcare-associated infection (HAI) risks, monitor compliance, and implement corrective and preventive actions.
- Provide technical leadership and guidance to both MSF and MoH staff on infection prevention practices, including standard and transmission-based precautions, hand hygiene, sterilization, disinfection, and waste management.
- Monitor and evaluate compliance with IPC standards through routine ward rounds, observational audits, and performance indicators, together with MoH counterparts ensuring implementation of quality improvement initiatives.
- Develop and implement comprehensive IPC training programmes, orientation sessions, competency assessments, and continuous education for MSF and MoH staff including on the best practices to prevent infections..
- Collaborate with clinical departments, microbiology laboratories, pharmacy, occupational health, facilities management, and hospital leadership to strengthen antimicrobial stewardship, patient safety, and infection prevention strategies (if applicable)
- Prepare and analyze regular IPC performance reports, and quality indicators to hospital management and relevant committees, recommending evidence-based improvements.
- Represent MSF together with PMC in national and external IPC networks, technical working groups, accreditation activities, and regulatory inspections, ensuring compliance with applicable standards
- Supervise, mentor, and evaluate IPC team members, fostering professional development, accountability, and continuous improvement of IPC services.
- Support the estiblishment of the IPC committees in hospitals MSF supports.
- Liaise with the local IPC NGO as a focal person to strengthen IPC components in the hospitals MSF is supporting to ensure the sustainabilitity (if applicable).
REQUIREMENTS
Education & Experience
- Degree as Registered Nurse, MD, Epidemiologist, or Pharmacist
- Diploma in IPC is mandatory (validated by the MSF IPC Referent)
- Essential minimum 2 years of professional IPC experience in hospital settings
- Work experience in volatile contexts is a strong asset
Languages
- Proficiency in English, written and spoken, is mandatory
CONDITIONS
- Expected starting date: 1 December 2026
- Location: Cherkasy (Ukraine)
- Contract Type: Fixed-term contract – full time
- Mobility: regular visits to implementation team of early rehabilitation, and ad hoc visits to other projects in Ukraine
- Contract duration: 9 months
- Salary according to MSF salary grid
- The contractual terms, conditions and salary will be established according to the official residence of the selected candidate
- No family or couple position
- Adhere to the MSF principles and to our managerial values: Respect, Transparency, Integrity, Accountability, Trust and Empowerment
- Adhere to the MSF Behavioral Commitments
Deadline for applications: 19th of October 2026
How to apply?
➢ Submit your application via the 'Apply here' button on the vacancy page
➢ You will be directed to the online application form for this position
➢ It should take 5-10 minutes to complete. Thank you in advance for having your CV and motivation letter ready to upload (in PDF format)
Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
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