MSF Eastern Africa is looking for a Public Health and Humanitarian Medicine Director
Do your skills and experience not precisely match the requirements? At MSF EA, we strive to create a safe, diverse and inclusive workplace, recognizing the need to increase access to professional opportunities for historically underrepresented groups. If you're interested in this position but your experience doesn't align perfectly with the selection criteria, we encourage you to apply anyway. You might be the ideal candidate for this or other positions.
Firmly committed to safeguarding patients, community members, staff, and all those in contact with the organization from all forms of abuse, including sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment (SEAH), we will take all necessary steps, through rigorous vetting processes, to ensure that confirmed perpetrators of abuse do not join the organization.
For this position, contact level with patients and children is categorized as Low risk and will be monitored with this in regard.
Introduction
Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is an international independent medical humanitarian organisation that provides assistance to people affected by conflicts, epidemics, and natural or human-made disasters and excluded from healthcare. We provide this assistance without discrimination, irrespective of race, religion, creed or political affiliation.
About MSF Eastern Africa
MSF Eastern Africa is the regional institutional office of MSF. It focuses on representation and networking, recruiting and supporting staff from the region, communications and fundraising, as well as working on other dossiers of importance to MSF such as Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Data Protection, mutualization, training, medical operational support and environmental health.
Rationale/Objective for Position
The Public Health and Humanitarian Medicine Director is responsible for providing visionary leadership, strategic direction and technical oversight to MSF EA's three specialised units (Anthropology, Climate and Environmental Health, and Epidemiology and Medical Data Science), which underpin its medical-humanitarian identity. He/she is responsible for ensuring MSF EA's public health positioning is evidence-based, culturally grounded and responsive to the health impacts of climate change and environmental degradation.
As MSF EA's primary medical voice, the Director bridges the entity with MSF Ubuntu Medical-Operations, contributes to global MSF medical policies and represents MSF EA on high-level regional and international health platforms; shaping a distinctive Eastern African medical humanitarian agenda that combines operational relevance, academic rigor and principled advocacy.
This position will be hierarchically and functionally accountable to the General Director.
Tasks & Responsibilities
Strategic Responsibilities
- Define and drive the public health and humanitarian medicine strategy for MSF EA, aligning it with the MSF Ubuntu medical-operational priorities, the MSF Global Strategic Vision and policies, and emerging population health needs in the region.
Technical and Operational Responsibilities
Leadership
- Translate complex epidemiological, climatic, and socio-cultural intelligence into actionable recommendations for medical operations, advocacy, and partnership building.
- Lead the integration of medical data science, climate and environmental health, and anthropology into a coherent, multi-disciplinary support function for MSF missions, emergency responses, and long-term programmes.
- Proactively identify neglected medical-humanitarian gaps in Eastern Africa and propose innovative operational or advocacy responses.
- Serve as a member of the MSF EA Management Team, contributing to the overall organisational direction, resource mobilisation, and policy development.
Supervision and Development of Specialised Units
- Medical Data Science & Epidemiology: Oversee real-time epidemiological surveillance, outbreak analytics, health information systems strengthening, and operational research. Ensure robust data governance, ethical use of health data, and capacity building for field epidemiologists. The unit will support sharing regional (to start with EA region) specific epidemiological trends for identified diseases, patterns, and outbreaks providing real time alert information to medical operations in the region.
- Climate and Environmental Health: Guide the development of climate-sensitive health early warning systems (including CSDs (Climate Sensitive Disease), Climate and environmental vulnerability risk assessments, anticipatory action, early action protocols (EAPs) and adaptation strategies for MSF operations. Position MSF EA as a thought leader on the health implications of the climate crisis in humanitarian settings. The unit helps MSF medical operations in the regions to build climate and environmental actors networking, potentially building local knowledge base beneficial for medical operations in the region/s.
- Anthropology: Foster applied medical anthropology that deepens community engagement, improves acceptance of medical interventions, and decolonises health programming. Ensure socio-cultural insights inform outbreak response, vaccination campaigns, mental health services, and sexual and reproductive health care.
- Mentor unit heads, build a collaborative team culture, and promote cross-unit initiatives (e.g., mixed-methods research combining epidemiological and anthropological approaches; climate-health vulnerability mapping with community narratives).
Medical Link Between MSF EA and MSF Ubuntu Medical-Operations
- Act as the principal medical interface between MSF EA and the MSF Ubuntu Medical Director, ensuring mutual understanding of regional and global health priorities, operational research agendas, and medical policies.
- Participate in MSF Ubuntu medical support platforms (e.g., MSF UBT health department meetings) to highlight Public health and humanitarian health Department activities, updates, when requested.
- Support MSF Ubuntu medical operations with rapid technical assistance, outbreak investigation leadership, and contextual analysis during emergencies in the region, upon request.
- Facilitate the deployment of MSF EA’s specialised capacities (e.g., anthropological rapid assessments, climate-informed risk mapping) to MSF Ubuntu country programs and other MSF entities upon request.
- Contribute to the development, review, and dissemination of MSF’s medical guidelines, protocols, and position papers, ensuring they reflect regional realities.
External Representation and Medical Voice
- Serve as the authoritative medical spokesperson for MSF EA at regional and international institutional platforms, including the World Health Organization (WHO AFRO), Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), East African Community (EAC), Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), and relevant UN clusters.
- Represent MSF EA at scientific conferences, humanitarian health forums, universities, and diplomatic briefings, articulating the medical-humanitarian consequences of crises and advocating for neglected populations.
- Build and nurture strategic partnerships with academic institutions, research networks, ministries of health, and regional health bodies to amplify MSF’s public health impact and influence policy.
- Lead or contribute to MSF EA’s engagement in global health advocacy campaigns (e.g., access to medicines, pandemic preparedness, climate justice and health, attacks on medical care) by providing compelling medical evidence and testimonies.
Internal Engagement and Organisational Influence
- Collaborate closely with other MSF EA Directors (Operations Support, Communications and Advocacy, Human Resources, Finance) to embed public health thinking across all functions.
- Advise the General Director and the MSF EA Board on medical-humanitarian trends, risks, and opportunities, enabling informed strategic decision-making.
- Foster a culture of medical ethics, independence, and testimony within MSF EA and the broader MSF movement.
- Design and host internal learning events, seminars, and cross-sectional exchanges that elevate medical and public health literacy among non-medical staff.
- Lead or participate in MSF-wide dossiers, working groups, or task forces related to public health, climate and health, medical anthropology, or outbreak response, contributing MSF EA’s unique insights.
Resource Mobilisation and Innovation
- Identify funding opportunities to expand MSF EA’s public health research, innovation, and capacity-strengthening initiatives.
- Partner with the fundraising and grants teams to develop compelling proposals for institutional donors, foundations, and private philanthropists.
- Drive innovation in data collection methodologies (e.g., digital epidemiology, GIS, community-based surveillance) and in the integration of climate science into humanitarian medicine.
- Document and showcase MSF EA’s public health achievements through publications, case studies, and multi-media materials to enhance visibility and influence.
Other Responsibilities
- Act as Officer-in-Charge for the General Director when delegated, providing overall leadership to the MSF EA office.
- Uphold and promote MSF’s core principles of medical ethics, neutrality, impartiality, and independence in all internal and external engagements.
- Ensure compliance with legal, safety, and safeguarding standards within the Public Health and Humanitarian Medicine department.
- Undertake field visits to MSF projects in the region and beyond to stay connected to operational realities.
- Ensure accurate integration of EDI & Safeguarding aspects into all policies and practices within the department.
- Recognize, respond, and document any form of abuse or inappropriate behavior in the department and alert the safeguarding unit of any suspected potential abuse.
- Compliance Assurance - Ensure that all data processing activities within the department comply with relevant data protection laws and regulations, including the Data Protection Act, 2019 and support your team to receive necessary training in this area.
- Policy Adherence - Enforce data protection policies, procedures, and guidelines within the department, ensuring that all team members are aware of and adhere to these protocols.
- Proactively participate in the individual performance management process including objective setting, performance monitoring and performance evaluation.
- Recognize and reinforce strong performance in the department; identify and encourage improvement where needed; and ensure quality and timely performance management process is carried out for the team.
Qualifications
Education
- Medical degree (MD or equivalent) is mandatory; a postgraduate specialisation in Public Health, Epidemiology, Tropical Medicine, or a related discipline at master’s level or higher is strongly preferred.
- Additional training in humanitarian affairs, health policy, anthropology, or climate and health is a distinct advantage.
Experience
- Minimum 10 - 12 years of progressive experience in medical-humanitarian work, with at least 5 years in a senior leadership role within MSF or a comparable international humanitarian or global health organisation.
- Demonstrated experience in managing multi-disciplinary teams, including epidemiologists, data scientists, environmental health specialists, and/or anthropologists.
- Proven track record of representing an organisation at high-level external forums (e.g., WHO, ministries of health, international conferences) and influencing health policy.
- Operational field experience in humanitarian emergencies, outbreak response, or complex insecure environments is essential; familiarity with the Eastern Africa context is highly desirable.
- Experience bridging medical operations with advocacy, communications, and partnership-building.
Competencies
- Technical Competencies
- Strategic vision with the ability to translate complex evidence into clear, actionable medical-humanitarian positions.
- Exceptional diplomatic, networking, and public speaking skills; able to be the trusted “medical voice” in politically sensitive environments.
- Strong analytical ability to integrate quantitative (epidemiological) and qualitative (anthropological) data into coherent narratives.
- Collaborative leadership style with emotional intelligence and a commitment to developing diverse, multidisciplinary teams.
- Fluency in English (spoken and written) is required; proficiency in French, Arabic, Swahili, or other regional languages is an asset.
- Willingness to travel within the region and internationally when required.
- Behavioral Competencies
- Deep commitment to MSF’s humanitarian principles and medical ethics.
- Courageous and articulate advocate for neglected populations.
- Resilience and adaptability to work in a dynamic, matrixed organisation.
- Humility, curiosity, and respect for diverse cultural and professional perspectives.
- Ethics: High ethical standards and a commitment to protecting the data of individuals and furthering MSF mandate.
Conditions and Benefits:
- Job Location: MSF Eastern Africa office in Nairobi (Kenya).
- Contract: 3-year full-time renewable contract.
- Start date: As Soon As Possible.
- Salary: An annual salary of EUR 62, 183 at HQ Grade 13 based on a full-time appointment with an annual increment of 2% every year up to a maximum of 10 years.
- Work-life balance financial benefit; ranging between EUR 620 to 1,159/month based on individual & administrative status. This amount may be used to cover accommodation and utilities, transportation, etc.
- Other benefits include;
- Annual Leave: 25 days of annual leave per year.
- Other Holidays: sick leave, circumstantial leave, maternity leave (21 weeks), paternity leave (4 weeks), own affairs days off, etc.
- Employer Pension contribution: 10% of basic salary:
- International insurance for both medical and disability**.**
- Relocation support; based on MSF EA terms/conditions.
- Work-life balance: Daily flexi-hours and 2 days working from home possible.
- School fees benefits: for eligible dependents, based on individual & administrative status.
- Diverse team composition; Collaborate with a global network of talented professionals, bringing diverse perspectives and expertise from around the world.
- Career Development: MSF provides many learning resources (online learning resources, regular trainings – including language, Peer to peer learning.
- Mobility: You will have opportunities to travel abroad for work, meetings, trainings and workshops; giving you a chance to experience different cultures and broaden your professional network.
- Annual home leave ticket: To be taken once every year for both staff and eligible dependents back to their home country for vacation. Only applicable to non-Kenyans and based on individual & administrative status.