MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES is an international humanitarian aid organisation 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 of origin, religion, creed or political affiliation. To develop this work from our headquarters in Brussels, the Communication department is recruiting a: COMMUNICATIONS AND AUDIOVISUAL COORDINATOR (m/f)
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has set itself the challenging ambition to go beyond its medical and humanitarian work by speaking out about the plight of the people it assists. The vision for MSF communication has just been redefined at movement level in a very ambitious document titled “Telling It as it Is” that will guide MSF for the next few years. It requires to be bold in what we say and put our focus on the crises and people rather than MSF’s reputation.
This is the responsibility of all staff, but in practice, this capacity to convey strong stories messages relies on communication professionals across the MSF movement both in the field and in headquarters.
The COMBO Unit is a team of 13 communication, audio-visual and digital professionals that delivers high level strategic and production support to MSF’s operations. It serves the Brussels Operational Centre of MSF and is part of the Communication and Fundraising Department in Brussels.
The Unit’s main tasks are to develop communications strategies and positioning on specific contexts or dossiers and support field teams with their communications activities. The Unit’s also provides information, communication tools. It also dedicates time and energy in supporting the communications professionals based in the field.
The Unit also has a pool of crisis communication professionals that are made available to be part of crisis teams or taskforces linked to critical incidents or reputational crises.
The Combo Unit is made up of the coordinator, seven communications advisers (based in Brussels covering a series of countries or medical and thematic dossiers) as well as five members of the Brussels-based “Creative Content team” who produce or oversee the production of audiovisual tools.
The Communications and Audiovisual Coordinator leads and manages the Combo Unit including the Creative Content Team Leader, who manages the production team. The Coordinator ensure coherence between communication initiatives and positioning emanating from the Brussels Operational Centre.
He/She also maintains a strong link and working relationship with decentralised positions (South Africa) and the contributed to the management of the MSF Regional Communication Manager for West Africa based in Dakar, Senegal.
He/she operates under the supervision of the Director of Communications and Fundraising and maintains strong link with other key stakeholders (in addition to operations) like the Analysis and Medical Departments.
He/She also belongs to the Communications Coordinators platform with counterparts from the other four MSF operational centres (Amsterdam, Barcelona, Geneva, Paris). This platform defines global operational communication priorities, possible joint positioning and management of possible differences of views.
Although the Communications and Audiovisual Coordinator will spend most of his/her time in Brussels, he/she is expected to travel to project locations from time to time, as well as to MSF offices abroad.
Operational Communications
Supervise the definition of MSF's international communications strategies and public positioning for about 35 countries of MSF operations in close collaboration with the Director of Communication and Fundraising;
Prioritise and design the short and longer term external communication plans, activities and tools to be developed in support of MSF global priorities and operational needs;
Ensure the coherence, relevance and technical quality of communication activities developed or supported by the Combo Unit;
Oversee the production of communications materials, including written, audio-visual and digital content;
Collect input on communications plans and coordinate the production and release of communications packages;
Lead and advise other departments on communication strategies in the event of crises (including critical incidents and reputational crises etc.) involving MSF or its staff members.
Creative Content Team
Oversee the activities of the Creative Content Team, which is in charge of photo, video and digital production;
Together with the Creative Content Team Leader and getting input from other key departments (eg. Human resources, Logistics, Medical, etc.), identify and set the priorities of the Creative Content Team;
Together with the Creative Content Team Leader, define the strategic objectives and general policies for MSF’s audio-visual and digital production;
Ensure a smooth workflow and collaboration between communications advisers and the Creative Content team;
Management
Line-manage the members of the Combo Unit, including seven Communications Advisers and the Creative Content Team Leader, and oversee their daily activities;
Provide team members with the necessary support to ensure the achievement of identified priorities;
Organise and chair team meetings of the Combo Unit;
Manage and support each team member’s professional development (including recruitment, evaluation and career development);
Define and guarantee a proper allocation of communications resources in key strategic locations in order to provide efficient support to MSF communications aims and needs;
Maintain a trained pool of communication staff for crisis management and field emergencies;
Oversee objectives and Key Performance Indicators (KPI) for the different projects of the Combo Unit;
Define and manage the Combo budget.
Validates profiles for the field communication pool
Interactions
Work closely with the Operations Coordinators and Operations Directors to provide MSF operations in the field and headquarters with proper communications support;
Work closely with the Analysis Department to build and design joint initiatives to reinforce OCB public positioning on key thematic;
Liaise and interact with other MSF sections worldwide in order to identify and collaborate on joint communications initiatives and strategies;
Play an active role in the international Communications Coordinators (counterparts in the other four operational centres) platform and contribute to international initiatives, guidelines and policies for MSF operational communications;
Participate in meetings and weekly teleconferences of the international Communications Coordinators platform, discuss and set the international agenda for MSF operational communications;
Conduct regular visits to MSF field projects as well as to other MSF offices;
Carry out and adapt the various training modules on communications aimed at MSF field staff (media trainings, preparation primary departure, project coordinators course, heads of mission course, health promotion course, etc.);
He/she acts as a back-up or interim in case of absences of the Director of the Communication and Fundraising Department
In order to be considered for this position, candidates need to demonstrate:
a strong professional background in journalism and communication (minimum 5 years of experience required)
field experience and knowledge of/experience with MSF, or similar international humanitarian agencies
solid knowledge of and experience with the international media scene
considerable experience in team management and project management
excellent writing and communication skills
the ability to make decisions and communicate them clearly
strong capacity to deal with stress and short deadlines
good team spirit
a comprehensive working understanding of humanitarian interventions, their principles and ethics
fluency in English, working knowledge of French
adherence to the MSF principles and to our managerial values: Respect, Transparency, Integrity, Accountability, Trust and Empowerment and to the MSF Behavioral Commitments.
In addition, the following skills would be highly valued:
analytical skills
knowledge of video, photography and digital communications
knowledge of the digital media landscape
the ability to develop a consultative and problem-solving approach
the flexibility to travel at very short notice, as and when required
additional languages like Arabic or Spanish an asset
CONDITIONS
Open-ended contract – Full time – based in Brussels;
Hospital insurance (DKV) – pension plan – canteen – 100% reimbursement for public transport costs;
Starting date: as soon as possible
This vacancy is archived.