Deputy to the Secretary General

Location: Any MSF office*, preferably within 6 hours time zone difference with CEST

Contract: 100%

Duration: Subject to two terms limitation (3 years renewable once)

Starting date: 01st of November 2026

Deadline to apply: 10th of May 2026

Compensation and benefits: MSF practice is to offer the C&B package current in the MSF entity establishing the contract.

*By default, the successful candidate will be offered a contract in the MSF office of their country of residence at the time of application.

I. MSF INTERNATIONAL

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an international, independent, medical humanitarian organisation that delivers emergency aid to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, healthcare exclusion and natural disasters. 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, 26 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.

II. OBJECTIVES OF THE POSITION

The Deputy to the Secretary General (Deputy to the SG) is a key partner to the Secretary General in strengthening the MSF Movement’s strategic steering, governance, and collective capacity. Acting under delegation, the Deputy to the SG provides senior leadership and alignment across MSF’s international support platforms - Finance, Human Resources, Fundraising, Logistics, Supply Chain, and Information Systems - and plays a key role in reinforcing Movement‑level decision‑making, interdependence, and accountability.

The role is central to ensuring that MSF is able to agree and deliver on common shared priorities, allocate resources coherently, manage institutional risk, and deliver strategic transformation in a complex, decentralized, and evolving environment.

III. POSITION BACKGROUND

The Deputy to the SG reports to the Secretary General and is a member of MSF’s Executive Committee (ExCom) and the International Office Management Team (IO MT).

The Deputy to the SG provides line management to the coordinators of the international support platforms and acts as an integrator across platforms, ensuring clarity of roles, quality of interaction, and effective escalation to executive governance when required. The role also contributes directly to the work of the Executive Committee and the International Board, supporting their fiduciary, policy-making and accountability responsibilities.

IV. KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Strategic Leadership & Resource Alignment

• Provide strategic leadership and alignment across international support functions, indirectly overseeing €2.5B+ in revenue and €100M+ in procurement spend

• Lead, support and oversee Movement‑wide strategic and resource planning processes, and their effective implementation, as delegated, including multi‑year planning, financial projections, multi-year workforce planning, and alignment of common shared priorities

• Ensure that strategic ambitions & priorities are matched with realistic resource planning and institutional capacity

• Partner with International Coordinators & Platforms on strategy, resource planning & allocation, and execution & implementation, ensuring that key decisions are well informed and aligned with overall strategies and common strategic priorities.

2. Governance, Risk & Accountability

• Act as the institutional focal point for organizational risk management, including tax, privacy, compliance, and institutional risk

• Partner with the Secretary General, the Executive Committee and the International Board on strategy, risk mitigation, and operational support matters

• Serve as a non‑voting member of the Financial and Audit Standing Committee of the International Board

• Contribute as a senior leader to the governance of large international projects and steering committees, strengthening alignment with shared common priorities, oversight and interoperability

3. Platform Governance & Executive Decision‑Making

• Strengthen the functioning of MSF’s platform governance by ensuring that decisions are taken at the appropriate level and escalated to Executive Committee when required

• Support high‑quality preparation of executive dossiers, ensuring clarity of objectives, options, risks, and implications

• Steer strategic alignment and change processes across platforms, build ownership of the common strategic priorities and address misalignments or obstacles that may impact implementation.

• Represent the Secretary General in international platforms and decision‑making bodies when delegated

4. Collaboration, Learning & Project Governance

• Foster cooperation, learning, and resource‑sharing across support platforms

• Support governance and management of international projects, including project portfolio management, steering indicators, and reporting

• Support change management initiatives and the development of tools, standards, and practices that enable effective collaboration at Movement level

• Build a culture of transparency, accountability, learning, and trust

5. Safeguarding

• Contribute to a safe, supportive, fair, inclusive, equitable, diverse, respectful, and healthy workplace, free from abuse and other misconduct. Ensure that workplace relations and behaviour are respectful, non-discriminatory, and professional.

• Ensure that staff and consultants under their supervision understand their responsibilities with respect to required behaviour and report abuse while working for MSF by reinforcing and regularly discussing expected standards of behaviour.

• Ensure that staff know how to complain and keep staff updated on reporting mechanisms.

• Ensure respectful management and communication at all levels and intervening to address inappropriate behaviour.

Experience

• Solid experience within MSF

• Substantial senior leadership experience in complex, international environments

• Exposure to platform‑based governance and executive decision‑making

• Fluency in English; French desirable; additional languages an asset

Skills

• Strategic leadership and system-thinking ability

• Strong diplomatic and political influencing skills

• Critical thinking and problem-solving skills

• Ability to develop and lead multicultural, high-performance teams

Personal Attributes

• Strong interpersonal and emotional intelligence skills, including strong listening, humility, as well as trust, and consensus-building skills; Can navigate cultural and organizational complexity effectively

• Inspiring, collaborative, and decisive

• Results-oriented with a “can-do” attitude

• Demonstrated commitment to MSF Charter

• Willingness and ability to travel as required

At MSF, we are committed to an inclusive culture that encourages and supports the diverse voices of our employees. We welcome applications from individuals of all genders, ages, sexual orientations, nationalities, races, religions, beliefs, ability status, and all other diversity characteristics.

MSF is committed to preventing abuse, inappropriate behavior, lack of integrity, and financial misconduct in its work and care spaces. MSF expects all staff to share this commitment and promote an environment where abuse and misconduct is not tolerated.

We are committed to removing barriers for people with accessibility needs. If you need an adjustment to the recruitment process to be considered for the role, please let us know from the beginning of the selection process.

Note: All offers of employment will be subject to reference checks and to appropriate screening checks. By submitting an application, job applicants confirm their understanding of these recruitment procedures.