Title of the function: SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH (SRH) ADVISOR
Contract: Full time (100%)
Duration: open-ended contract
Starting date: May 2026
Deadline to apply: April 13, 2026
Location: Dakar, Senegal; Nairobi, Kenya
Compensation and benefits: MSF practice is to offer the C&B package current in the MSF entity establishing the contract.
This job description may evolve according to the finalized MSF Access Strategic Plan, although its main parameters (scope, area of expertise) should not be essentially altered. Until that key stage, the incumbent is expected to demonstrate a degree of flexibility in the performance of their work
I. BACKGROUND
MSF INTERNATIONAL
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an international, independent, medical humanitarian organisation that delivers emergency medical assistance to people affected by conflict, epidemics, disasters, or exclusion from healthcare. MSF offers assistance to people based only on need and irrespective of race, religion, gender or political affiliation.
MSF International is the legal entity that binds MSF’s 24 sections, 27 associations and 18 branch offices together. Registered in Switzerland, MSF International provides coordination, information, and support to the MSF Movement, as well as implements international projects and initiatives as requested.
MSF ACCESS
Médecins Sans Frontières works tirelessly to improve the accessibility, availability, affordability, appropriateness and quality of products for health care for the populations it assists and their communities. While this is a collective effort across the organisation, the MSF Access team plays a central role as it identifies and implements a priority selection of access projects, offers expert support for access activities elsewhere in MSF, and brings together information and analysis relevant to MSF’s access work. The MSF Access team, overseen by an Executive Board, is based in the following five regional hubs:
Dakar, Senegal: covering West and Central Africa
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: covering the Americas
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: covering Asia and Oceania
Nairobi, Kenya: covering Eastern and Southern Africa
Brussels, Belgium: covering Europe, the Middle East, and Northern Africa
The work of MSF Access is rooted in MSF’s medical humanitarian work and aims to improve access to medicines and healthcare products for people in the greatest need by bringing down barriers that keep people from getting the treatment they need to stay alive and healthy.
To do this, we advocate for the most effective medicines and health products to be available, affordable, and equitably accessible for the people we care for, and beyond.
The MSF Access team has the following responsibilities:
Gather input for MSF’s Common Priorities on access to products of healthcare (Access).
Design and implement Access Analysis & Advocacy activities to respond to the agreed Common Priorities.
Provide, facilitate, support on Access files outside the Common Priorities to MSF entities that request it.
Maintain an overview of Access initiatives across MSF and report on them annually.
Research, and stay informed of, the Access landscape globally and regionally to inform the MSF Movement of opportunities and threats.
The seven Common Priorities currently agreed upon by the MSF Movement include: i. Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), ii. Vaccinations, iii. Tuberculosis, iv. Diabetes, v. Diagnostic Tools, vi. Sexual Reproductive Health and vii. Cancer. They are based on the Medical-Operational priorities witnessed by the Movement and are subject to possible changes on medium-term.
Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) is a central component of MSF’s medical response, given its profound impact on morbidity, mortality, and overall well‑being, particularly among women, adolescents, and crisis‑affected populations. Globally, preventable Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) conditions remain among the leading causes of death and disability for women of reproductive age, with complications from pregnancy and childbirth causing nearly 300,000 deaths per year, and an estimated 45% of all abortions occurring in unsafe conditions in low‑ and middle‑income countries. Persistent access barriers, including restrictive policies, supply shortages, market fragmentation, slow regulatory pathways, and limited availability of essential commodities such as contraceptives, maternal health medicines, safe abortion care tools, and point-of-care sexually transmitted infections diagnostic tools, directly undermine MSF’s ability to deliver effective care in the field. Strengthening Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) within the MSF Access agenda is therefore essential to ensuring that MSF can proactively influence product availability, guide market shaping, and support the introduction of innovative tools adapted to humanitarian and low‑resource settings. In 2024, addressing access challenges around Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) was identified as a key common priority for MSF, forming the foundation for the new MSF Access team to continue working on and integrating this priority into the strategic plan 2026–2031.
II. PLACE IN THE ORGANIZATION
The Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) Advisor is part of the Analysis Department of MSF’s Access team, reporting to the Head of Analysis. S/he works in a multidisciplinary team of the Analysis Department consisting of experts on medical, pharmaceutical, legal and policy issues related to access to health products and technologies. S/he works closely with the regional hubs of the Access team on SRH issues.
The Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) Advisor maintains a close working relationship with MSF technical working groups, medical referents, and other technical experts at MSF projects and headquarters. The position involves frequent international travel.
III. OBJECTIVES OF THE POSITION
Lead and coordinate the development of strategy, plans and activities for Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) dossier of MSF’s Access team, addressing access barriers on priority tools, technologies and innovations.
Lead research, analysis, and horizon scanning on the overall Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) priorities, pipelines, and trends.
Provide technical and strategic advice on new issues that require research, analysis, and strategic development within the domain of Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH).
Support and provide input into the development and implementation of advocacy strategies in relation to priority Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) technologies and innovations.
III. MAIN ACTIVITIES
Lead research, analysis, and horizon scanning on the overall SRH dossier, priority objectives and domains
Conduct and coordinate comprehensive analyses on barriers affecting the availability, affordability, appropriateness, and quality of priority Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) products and technologies.
Monitor market dynamics, including pricing trends, supply chain vulnerabilities, patent landscapes, regulatory pathways, R&D pipelines, and manufacturer behaviour across essential Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) products.
Produce high‑quality internal reports, policy briefs, market landscape analyses, technical guidance, and strategic notes to support decision‑making across MSF.
Contribute to horizon scanning to identify emerging Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) innovations, evaluating their operational relevance, feasibility, and potential for integration into MSF programs.
2. Support and provide input into the development and implementation of advocacy strategies in relation to priority Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) commodities
Respond to requests on price and other access barriers for Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) products and technologies, analyse access barriers and support the development and implementation of targeted advocacy strategies.
Work closely with pharmacist advisor, support MSF procurement analysis and needs, including price reduction negotiations for MSF field operations, and engage with manufacturers, product developers, and key funders to be abreast of the landscape and advocate for medicines, products, tools that are suited to low-resource contexts.
Prepare and give presentations for internal and external meetings, including international conferences related to access to SRH issues.
Maintain an external and internal network with relevant stakeholders, representing the access team at MSF’s technical working groups on Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) access works.