MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES UK



Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) provides life-saving emergency relief and longer-term medical care to some of the most vulnerable and excluded communities around the world. As an independent medical humanitarian organisation, we deliver care based only on need, regardless of ethnic origin, gender, religion or political affiliation.

MSF relies on donations from private individuals and organisations for the majority of its income. This private funding gives MSF the freedom to respond where needs are greatest and to speak out publicly, free from any political interference.

MSF has around 40,000 local and international staff working in over 70 countries, in some of the most challenging places in the world. Our medical humanitarian projects are supported by teams in 32 countries, including the UK, spread across Europe, North and South America, Asia, Africa and Australasia.

At MSF UK, we support MSF’s operations by building relationships with our supporters, increasing awareness of our work, raising funds, providing specialist medical expertise, catalysing change on medical humanitarian issues, and recruiting field staff. MSF UK personnel are dynamic, hard-working, enthusiastic and committed to MSF’s values and aims.

Hours: 40 hours per week

Duration: 1-year fixed term (maternity cover)

Location: London or Amsterdam

Salary: £42,945.16 per annum

THE PUBLIC HEALTH DEPARTMENT

The Public Health Department (PHD) of Operational Centre Amsterdam (OCA) supports the overall purpose of MSF, providing medical and public health leadership for the organisation. The department is responsible for providing strategic direction and integrated advice on medical and public health issues to the field and headquarters. The PHD plays a key role in developing and maintaining the medical humanitarian identity and image of MSF-OCA, and in continuing to develop and improve intervention strategies so as to be relevant and effective.

The PHD is made up of health programme managers and clinical and public health specialists, mostly based in the MSF offices in Amsterdam, Berlin and London. In addition to providing medical management of MSF’s field operations, the PHD gives technical and strategic guidance across a range of fields including infectious diseases, non-communicable diseases, mental health, nutrition, paediatrics, and vaccination as well as epidemiology, health promotion, laboratory, pharmaceutical quality/medical supply, and water/sanitation.

The Manson Unit (MU)

The MU is a multi-disciplinary medical team within MSF UK and is the London based part of the PHD. We aim to improve the quality of MSF’s medical programmes worldwide, so the best possible care is delivered to our patients.

The MU is a team of 30 comprised of medical doctors and specialists in infectious diseases, non-communicable diseases, health information systems, epidemiology, geographical information systems, medical editing and research communication. We also have a clinical trial team working towards improved treatments for patients with drug-resistant tuberculosis. We provide direct support to our field programmes through specialist advice on medical issues, implementing new ways of working, supporting research studies and outbreak response.

JOB PURPOSE

GIS mapping and spatial analysis plays an important role in MSF medical responses. However, there are challenges to utilising and applying GIS in many MSF contexts. MSF requires a GIS Coordinator to support OCA and manage Missing Maps, an open, collaborative project, founded by MSF and partner NGOs, which addresses the lack of accurate, available geo-data in humanitarian settings.

The purpose of the role is responding to mapping and GIS requests coming from the field and headquarters; as well as proactively developing new tools and methods with the aims of meeting specific medical challenges in the field and the strategic objectives of MSF OCA. In addition, the GIS Coordinator has a catalytic role in the Missing Maps collaboration, maximising the benefit MSF field teams receive from this, while contributing to its strategic development through collaboration with other member organisations. This position also entails being the key coordination and liaising focal point role between OCA and MSF’s GIS Centre, a support shared GIS service which leads GIS support within the MSF Movement.

SEE BELOW JOB DESCRIPTION AND PERSONAL SPECIFICATION ATTACHMENT FOR FULL DETAILS OF THE ROLE.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Essential:

• Degree or post-graduate qualifications or equivalent experience in GIS, geography, environmental sciences, computer science, or a related field.
• Well-developed knowledge of the principles, methods and techniques of GIS.
• Demonstrable experience of work with GIS and/or mapping in humanitarian and public health sectors.
• Experience of the NGO sector and volunteer communities including community development / volunteer management.
• Thorough knowledge of GIS mapping software (e.g. ArcGIS and QGIS) and platforms (e.g. OpenStreetMap).
• Experience in data collection, organisation, management and processing of spatial/tabular data from different data sources.
• Strong team-working skills and experience.
• Ability to translate field needs and develop working solutions.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and experience of communicating with stakeholders at multiple levels of an organisation.
• Ability to transfer knowledge effectively and use this to train users on new systems.
• Ability to work independently, with minimal supervision and under pressure.
• Ability to prioritise tasks, multi-task and manage time well.
• Ability to work collaboratively with others including MSF staff, volunteers, and representatives from other NGOs and sectors.
• Commitment to the aims and values of Médecins Sans Frontières.
• Willingness to travel periodically, including to areas of unstable security.

Candidates must hold an appropriate passport or permit to work in the UK or in Amsterdam.

MSF UK is an equal opportunities employer. We are committed to diversity and creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We encourage applications from all sections of our diverse community. 

HOW TO APPLY

Please apply on our website by submitting a copy of your CV together with a letter of motivation by the closing date.

Recruitment timetable:

• Closing date for applications: 17 January 2021, 11.59pm (GMT)
• Interviews: end of January 2021