HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS MANAGER in Doctors Without Borders

MSF is a civil society initiative that unites people who want to help other people in crisis situations. Thus, MSF is an association by choice.

Everyone who works with MSF does so out of conviction and is willing to support the values and principles of the organization.

Employee's main activity:

The Humanitarian Affairs Manager is responsible for managing all in-country humanitarian and advocacy activities in line with the policies and values of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), reporting to operational leadership and in close liaison with the HQ Analytics department. The Humanitarian Affairs Manager is part of the country management team and acts as a consultant to all operational and medical teams.  

Primary Responsibilities:

MAIN TASKS

• Identifying and coordinating all humanitarian and advocacy activities of MSF, including identifying humanitarian issues of interest to MSF; developing advocacy strategies that meet medical and humanitarian priorities, as well as incorporating advocacy components into project and country operational strategies.
• Analyzing and reporting on key humanitarian issues and trends; providing regular updates on the dynamics of the humanitarian aid system (funding, activities and positioning of medical and humanitarian actors) in order to strengthen the leverage and effectiveness of MSF's advocacy work in accordance with operational plans, regular activities and medical and humanitarian advocacy goals. 
• Preparation of preliminary theses for discussion and internal/external reports related to the main medical and humanitarian issues of MSF. 
• Providing advice to the country management team on the perception of MSF's positioning and operational strategy.

DATA COLLECTION - ANALYSIS 

• Develop and support the implementation of data collection systems on the country context (with an emphasis on the national level with potential regional/global implications, as well as local developments in project locations) and on medico-humanitarian issues to provide reliable information for operational and strategic decision-making and for advocacy.  
• Provide data and discourse analysis to support the Country Coordinator in shaping MSF positioning (at project level and at national level). 
• Proposing improvements to the methodologies and tools used, as well as conducting training for teams as needed.
• Conducting actor mapping and stakeholder analysis on behalf of projects, providing recommendations/support to project coordinators on managing relations with local authorities and strategic advice to the country coordinator/medical coordinator on positioning the organization at the national level. 
local scientists and universities.  
• Liaison with other MSF sections in the country to share analysis, identify common positions and develop cross-section advocacy initiatives. 
• On request/based on project needs – interaction with the international MSF advocacy network (reflection centers, HRT network, Access Campaign MSF, etc.) in order to provide updated, contextualized medical and humanitarian content and support in defining advocacy strategies and messages. 
• Conduct discussions, trainings, briefings on the medical and humanitarian context in the country, MSF principles, international humanitarian law, medical ethics and advocacy activities/strategies to raise awareness of MSF staff on these issues.

ON REQUEST

• Conduct in-country assessments (related to data collection/analysis context or exploratory evaluation) and other business trips as needed.  

MSF Unit Features: 

Context:  

MSF OCB (Brussels Section MSF) expanded its operations after a full-scale invasion in February in 2022. The country team is currently implementing three projects, and the fourth is at the discussion stage:

• East of Ukraine:
  1. Support of three hospitals in the zone 40-100 kmfrom the front line in the east;
  2. Support of emergency assistance in systems and targeted referrals of the emergency medical service, as well as on-call for hospitals in the eastern region of Ukraine;acute primary medical care for communities that have no or limited access to medical services, as well as for IDP hubs and transit points. Southern Ukraine: Integrated support inoperationhospitals in the cities of Ochakiv and Kherson;
  3. Mobile primary medical care for communities that have no or limited access to medical services in the Kherson and Mykolaiv regions;
  4. Active screening for tuberculosis in areas not covered by the Ministry of Health or other actors.
• Early rehabilitation:
  1. Base in Cherkasy, where multidisciplinary teamssupport two hospitals in early rehabilitation aftersurgery;
  2. A semi-mobile team that travels tohospitals with a high workload trauma surgery to help integrate early rehabilitation into the treatment plans of beneficiaries, staying there for about 3 months to demonstrate the benefits of the approach and help the hospital identify ways to continue this practice (locations for such activities to date – Odesa, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, soon Poltava and others in
• The fourth project is under discussion...

Specific responsibilities taking into account the context:

• Conduct a detailed analysis of the state of affairs in the field of health care and humanitarian assistance (including financing of these areas and ongoing reforms) in MSF project locations, as well as provide concise informational materials to relevant colleagues.
• Support project coordinators in updating the mapping of medical and humanitarian actors.
• As delegated by the coordinator of activities in the country, support the establishment of relations and external representation in Kyiv, in particular through participation in platforms in the field of health care and humanitarian aid, as well as in bilateral meetings with authorities and partners.
• Propose useful or relevant interlocutors who can help the mission advance its advocacy goals.
• Keep a meeting log for the country team, share meeting notes with coordinators and facilitate follow-up of MSF engagement with key actors. 
• Coordinate the finalization of the advocacy strategy in the country for 2026 based on the plans for advocacy activities within the project, approved in October 2025.
• Prepare and update advocacy theses, documents, reports, etc. for use in closed meetings and/or in public communication.
• Coordinate work with the communication team to identify external messages and communication activities.
• Strengthen cooperation with MSF OCG (Geneva section of MSF, which also works in Ukraine) in the field of advocacy.
• Conduct briefings for new colleagues and organize regular trainings on humanitarian issues and advocacy for country and project teams.
• If necessary, organize discussions and/afor seminars for the purpose of monitoring, evaluating and revising the plan(s) and strategy of advocacy activities.  
• Undertake field visits to meet with project teams, collect data for advocacy (according to MSF ethical guidelines), support context analysis and engagement.

REQUIREMENTS:

Education:

• Required: Master's Degree (Medical or Public Health, Law, Gender Studies, Defense)
• Required: Fluency in English.

Experience:

• Required: At least 3 years of previous experience in humanitarian affairs, research, analysis or advocacy
• Required: Experience with MSF or other medical organizations
• Required: Excellent writing skills and a high level of research and analytical skills
• Desired: experience of interaction or cooperation with the Ministry of Health and/or WHO

Languages:fluent in Ukrainian and English. 

• Term contract, with the possibility of extension;
• Full time employment;
• guaranteed salary;
• Vacation - 2.5 days / month;
• Sick leave coverage;
• Medical insurance;
• Professional development (trainings, courses provided by the organization).

You will receive more detailed information during the interview.

Start date: as soon as possible; the process of selecting candidates is ongoing.
Applications are considered on an ongoing basis in the order of receipt. The position is open at any time, so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible.

We encourage diverse candidates to apply, including people of all gender identities, ages, sexual orientations, nationalitiesnationality, race, religion, creed, social and family status, people with different abilities and all other different characteristics, as well as ways of working together.