Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an international, independent, medical humanitarian organization that delivers emergency aid to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, exclusion from healthcare and natural disasters. MSF offers assistance to people based on need and irrespective of race, religion, gender or political affiliation. When MSF witnesses serious acts of violence, neglected crises, or obstructions to its activities, the organization may speak out about this. For further information please visit www.msf-me.org
The Office in Dubai is currently seeking a motivated and committed candidate to become Executive Director.
The MSF United Arab Emirates (UAE) office, established in 1992, represents today 28 years of institutional presence of MSF in the Gulf and broader Middle East regions. MSF UAE aims to consolidate the place of the organisation within the region, while becoming a recognised centre of expertise for the movement on projects and topics specific and unique to this region, through its functional pillars of communication, partnerships, operational HR, and facilitation of field operations. MSF UAE is a branch office of MSF France, part of the MSF Operational Centre Paris (OCP) Group currently encompassing MSF France, USA, Japan, and Australia.
Reports to: General Director (GD) MSF France
Supervises: All team members – MSF UAE
Type: Full-time contract
Location: Dubai (UAE)
Purpose of the Position Under the oversight of the MSF France GD, and in accordance with the by-laws and in-country registration of MSF UAE, the Executive Director (“ED”) is responsible for leading MSF UAE in accomplishing the MSF social mission, for driving MSF UAE’s current strategic objectives, and for determining the future strategic orientations. The ED will have an engagement specific to the Gulf region while optimizing the reach of MSF UAE to the wider region.
Leadership and management of the UAE mission and office The ED is responsible for ensuring the effective, efficient, and ethical management of MSF-UAE’s financial and human resources, as well as developing and upholding the credibility and reputation of MSF’s medical humanitarian mission in the UAE, GCC, MENA and potentially worldwide. The ED leads and manages an office with a current staff of 14 plus, and an annual budget of over AED 07 million.
Implementing and evolving MSF UAE’s Strategic Objectives The ED will continuously identify the strengths and opportunities, maintain the existing network of stakeholders, and identify potential new ones that will enable MSF to fulfill its social mission, while actively working for MSF UAE to turn its mission statement into concrete outputs. Please request the 2020-2023 MSF-UAE Strategic Orientations document for further details.
Engagement, Networking, and representation
External Stakeholders
The ED will maintain existing networks and contacts of MSF-UAE and develop new ones to maintain relevance and achieve the strategic objectives of the office. In that sense, he will represent both the MSF office and movement, with a wide range of stakeholders that will include, but not be restricted to:
• Current, Lapsed, and new Donors, Supporters, and Strategic Partners
• Local, Regional, and International Aid Actors
• Government Officials, Diplomatic, and Institutional Actors
• Corporate, Legal, and Academic Circles
• Journalists and Media outlets
• Service Providers as appropriate and as per regulatory requirements
Different levels of the MSF movement
The ED further leads MSF-UAE’s participation, in different areas, in the construction of a strongly interdependent and accountable MSF international movement with the will that the branch office serves the MSF movement at large:
• He or she is personally involved in inter sectional and capacity sharing within Beirut, Amman where MSF is currently investing in various initiatives.
• He is part of the Executive platform of the OCP Group, and will participate as well as feedback regularly to the Group’s governance mechanism(s)
• With agreement of the GD in Paris, the ED will participate to MSF’s Full Executive Committee (although with no voting rights) and can be requested to engage with different platforms of the movement.
Associative Life MSF UAE aims to deepening the roots of the Association and enhancing its reach and vitality across the region. The ED will contribute to and support:
• Creating a dedicated associative dynamic relying on engaged and motivated people (Associative initiative in the office, etc.), and supporting a continuous interaction with the rest of the movement.
• Mobilizing and energizing all potential interests around the associative life in the region (new recruits, expatriated members and supporters, external partners, etc.)
• Developing and sustaining a strong associative network at regional level through joint initiatives and convergence of means and efforts.
• Fully integrating the upcoming associative dynamic with the long term vision of MSF entities in the region.
Qualifications Minimum of 07 years work experience in the Humanitarian sector.
Headquarters or Regional office experience preferred, especially if in the MENA/GCC Regions.
Exposure to highly political environments and humanitarian crises and emergency contexts strongly preferred.
MSF experience strongly preferred
Contextual knowledge and/or understanding of the MENA/GCC regions and their civil societies a must.
Ability to travel extensively: GCC/MENA region, MSF field and HQ locations
Ability to work in English a requirement; Arabic will be a strong plus
Experience in budgeting, fiscal control, audit processing a plus.
Ability to foster a creative, professional, “open door” management culture, to empower managers and staff members. to fulfill their potential and to encourage staff to challenge assumptions.
Demonstrable understanding of communications, fundraising, operational HR, and support to field operations.
Strong leadership, analytical, networking, and presentation skills required.
Special Notes: This Job Profile is only a summary of the typical functions of this position and not an exhaustive or comprehensive list of all possible job responsibilities and duties. Accordingly, the responsibilities and duties of the job holder might differ from those outlined in this Job Profile and the other duties, as assigned, might be part of the job due to the organisational and operational needs.
This vacancy is archived.