Paediatric Referent

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an international humanitarian aid organization that provides assistance in more than 80 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.  

Paediatric Referent (m/f/x) – Nairobi, Abidjan or Brussels – MSF Belgium 

CONTEXT  

The medical department of MSF Belgium (OCB - Operational Center Brussels) plays a strategic role by defining the modalities of implementation of MSF’s medical strategy so that both coherence and quality can be safeguarded. Strategical support is given along the phases of the project cycle. It has a normative role and technical support function regarding implementation and follow-up of the projects. The medical department ensures knowledge transfer to the medical workforce and stimulates research and innovation by challenging current medical practices and scanning of new approaches.  

It is composed of multiple specialists based across a network of units worldwide (Belgium, Brazil, Ivory Coast, Lebanon, Luxembourg, and South Africa) and works in close collaboration with operations, other OCB departments and MSF movement. We are also supporting the projects of MSF WACA.  

In MSF OCB projects, paediatrics covers patients aged 0-15 years old. As of 2023, OCB has 37 inpatient projects (neonatal, paediatric, emergency, surgical and ITFC) in 20 countries and 52 outpatient projects in 30 countries. The Paediatric referents are part of the OCB Medical department.  

MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES 

• Participate and contribute to OCBs medical strategies and strategic orientations: Identify major gaps in paediatric care in projects, provide guidance for planning and implementation and monitoring, recommend strategies for the reduction of paediatric mortality and morbidity in different contexts and different paediatric age brackets 
• Provide direct technical support to operations and projects – through short project visits and longitudinal follow up : Assess paediatric aspects of care, assure implementation of paediatric protocols or help to implement new strategies using a horizontal approach, reinforce paediatric care in extensive emergencies, assure good implementation of neonatal care or extensive paediatric inpatient and outpatient care, provide training, share reports of the projects visited and follow up with relevant medical referents and operations department and actively follow up post visit, proactively capitalize on lessons learnt from different projects and disseminate to medical, operations and projects 
• Contribute to the development of technical documents/medical tools and training materials in paediatrics. 
• Participate to the intersectional paediatric collaborative platform.  
• Ensure coherence with policies and strategies developed and validated by medical referents in vertical and transversal topics (vaccination, nutrition, infectious diseases, etc) 
• Update, review and validate content of paediatric trainings or paediatric modules of other trainings as well as participate and conduct trainings 
• Analyse paediatric data (ie, DHIS, line lists, reports) and regularly share with relevant stakeholders and identify areas for capitalization and dissemination  
• Contribute and be actively involved in supporting the development of 2 key annual reports – International typology report and OCB’s Medical Activity Report  
• Support and participate in various OCB medical circles 
• Contribute and participate in paediatric related research and innovation: Support ongoing research and discussion, and exploration on possible research ideas/concepts as relevant to MSF 

REQUIREMENTS 

Education & Experience 

• Medical Doctor with specialization in paediatrics  
• Clinical experience in low-resource settings is mandatory 
• Minimum 2 years of MSF international experience mandatory 

Competencies 

• Flexibility to carry out project visits in all MSF relevant contexts 
• Commitment to MSF’s Principles  
• Cross-cultural Awareness  
• Behavioural Flexibility  
• Analytical Thinking  
• Strategic Vision  
• Results and Quality Orientation  
• Service Orientation  
• Initiative and Innovation  
• Teamwork and Cooperation  
• Good command of Microsoft Office tools (Word, Excel, PowerPoint).  

Languages 

• Fluency in written and spoken English mandatory 
• Good knowledge of French is a very strong asset 

CONDITIONS 

• Expected starting date: April 2025 
• Location**:  Nairobi, Abidjan or Brussels* 

**Other location/s where there is an MSF entity could be exceptionally discussed. The final outcome depends on the residency of the candidate, the local legal limitations (residency, work permit, etc.) and on agreement with the hosting MSF entity of these locations 
* Due to administrative constraints, given the duration of the contract, candidates might already need to have the permanent right to work in the mentioned location 

• Mobility: 30% MSF projects visits /year 
• Contract type: Fixed-term contract – Full-time  
• Contract duration: 18 months 
• The contractual terms and conditions will be established according to the place of work, legal constraints and in respect of MSF standard function and salary grids  
• 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: 9th of February 2025 

How to apply? 

➢ Submit your application via the 'Apply here' button    

➢ 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 in English or French ready to upload (preferably in PDF format)

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. 

Position only open to candidates with previous MSF work experience

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