Project manager MSF Academy for Healthcare (m/f/x)

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an international humanitarian aid organization that provides assistance in more than 60 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. To develop this work, the Medical Department is looking for a: Project manager MSF Academy for Healthcare (m/f/x)

CONTEXT

The MSF Academy for Healthcare is an initiative that has been created with the aim to increase the quality of healthcare provided by our staff to the patients we assist in the missions. The Academy has a growing portfolio of projects addressing specific learning objectives of different categories of healthcare staff in MSF. All these projects are chosen in line with overall MSF operational and medical priorities.

A large focus is on MSF’s national staff, especially in the countries with the largest gaps in human resources for health (HRH) capacity. Presently, a lot of effort goes to nursing staff of MSF hospitals in Africa. More recently we added skills in out-patient departments as a new program. The Academy develops adapted curricula and invests a great deal in clinical mentorship in the wards. Presently the nursing training programme has projects in CAR, South Sudan and Sierra Leone and it is planned to be expanded to other countries in the coming years. We hope to install a much stronger learning culture within the MSF operations. Beyond MSF projects, the Academy connects also to health authorities to work on accreditation of its learning and punctual support to governmental programs.

The Academy works also on two projects to develop longer term, academic courses. The first is a Post-Graduate Diploma in Infectious diseases (PGDip ID), the other a two-year course on Medical Humanitarian Action (MHA) for medical managers in the organisation. These courses are developed in collaboration with existing universities. Finally, there are also a couple of scholarship programs that send MSF staff to high quality schools in Africa, either to become certified nurses or specialist nurses in anaesthesia-reanimation. The portfolio of the Academy is planned to develop further, so new projects can be added in the coming years.

The Academy aims to maintain the same overall educational approach in all its projects: competency-based learning; as much as possible on-the-job training with the presence of strong tutors or clinical mentors; and seeking to achieve appropriate accreditation for all trainings, often in collaboration with partner teaching institutes.

JOB PROFILE

The portfolio of project of the MSF Academy is growing, and projects are increasing in scope and complexity. Also, the 2 larger diploma courses (PGDip ID and MHA) are reaching the stage of detailed development and later on the deployment.

For this reason, the workload of the overall team has increased, and we recognise the need to reinforce the capacity of the ‘global team’ of the Academy.

Overall, the main tasks of the Global team can be divided in 4 categories:

1. Leadership and project initiation
2. Project management of existing projects
3. Administrative follow up and support of existing projects or the overall structure
4. Technical expertise, guidance and support for the different programs (nursing, learning, curriculum development, mentorship, etc.).

It was a choice to invest strongly in a technical team. Otherwise, as a relatively small team, all members agree to join in the all 3 first tasks.

At this stage, we foresee growing gaps in capacity in several fields:

• Project support and management to the large nursing projects. Review and adjustment of the strategy, close follow up of the implementation in the field, support and coaching of the MSF Academy field teams.
• Course management of the PGDip ID and MHA
• General management support and information management

Positioning within the organisation: The project manager will respond to the director and the deputy director of the MSF Academy.

MAIN ACTIVITIES

• Overall project management of one or more of the nursing learning projects in the field.
• Lead and organize the course management of the MHA, including support in the curriculum development.
• Implementation of the MSF Academy information management and routine monitoring and evaluation.
• General support in management and administration to MSF Academy activities in coordination with the rest of the team.

All of these tasks will be organized in close coordination with the rest of the team, and a detailed division of tasks and responsibilities will be discussed and regularly reviewed.

CANDIDATE PROFILE

• Master’s level in relevant subject matter
• Proven (project management) experience of min 5 years, preferably with previous MSF field experience
• Experience in team management
• Experience of working in an African context
• Good understanding of information management and monitoring and evaluation
• Proficiency in English and French
• A sound experience in the field of learning or curriculum development is a plus
• Available for frequent field visits and 3 months of field-presence per year
• Personal characteristics/interpersonal skills
• Ability to work autonomously
• Very organised, creative and solution-oriented
• Pragmatism is a must
• Excellent computer skills
• Adherence to MSF principles and to our managerial values: Respect, Transparency, Integrity, Accountability, Trust, Empowerment
• Adherence to the MSF Behavioural Commitments

CONDITIONS

• ### Contract type: open-ended contact – full-time – Location: Brussels, but could also be Abidjan
• Hospital insurance (DKV) - Pension plan - 100% reimbursement for public transportation costs**
• Starting date: from November 2020**

Deadline for applications: 03 November 2020

CV + motivation letter to be sent to caroline.maes@brussels.msf.org mentioning “**Project Manager MSF Academy**” in the title.

Please name your application documents with your LAST NAME. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

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