Medical Director- MSF Ubuntu

• Location: Nairobi (Kenya), or Johannesburg (South Africa)
• Contract Type: Full-time, 3-year renewable once (maximum 6 years)
• Salary: In line with MSF reward policy
• Start date: Last quarter of 2025
• Deadline:21st August 2025.

• Reports to: General Director, MSF Ubuntu
• Location: Johannesburg or Nairobi, with frequent travel (minimum 30%)
• Team Management: Supervises a multidisciplinary team of medical staff
• Budget Responsibility: Shared oversight of multi-million-euro portfolio and operational resource allocation
• Organisational Integration: Member of Ubuntu Executive Management Team, and contributor to the relevant International Platforms, including Medical & Operations platform

MSF Ubuntu is the newest Operational Directorate (OD) of Médecins Sans Frontières, grounded in the principles of Ubuntu – “I am because we are”. With a base blended between the offices of MSF Southern Africa and MSF Eastern Africa and a strong emphasis on interdependence, interoperability, and maximizing sustainable outcomes, MSF Ubuntu seeks to add a new approach to the delivery of medical humanitarian action to the movement by placing communities at the heart of decision-making. The Medical Director is a key architect in turning this vision into transformative medical action.

The Medical Director (DirMed) of MSF Ubuntu provides visionary leadership to the Operational Directorate. As part of the Executive Management Team, the DirMed is accountable for working closely with the Director of Operations to shape and oversee MSF Ubuntu’s medical humanitarian strategy, ensuring its responsiveness to the needs of patients and communities through people-centred approach, high- quality services delivery, and ethical care. This role champions innovation, collaboration, and accountability, and positions MSF Ubuntu as a medical leader within the MSF movement and beyond

Strategic Medical Leadership

• Lead the development and implementation of MSF Ubuntu’s medical strategy in alignment with organisational goals and community priorities.
• Represent MSF Ubuntu within international platforms (e.g., DirMed and MedOps), contributing to MSF-wide medical direction and positioning.
• Ensure alignment between MSF global medical vision and MSF Ubuntu strategic vision.
• Forge and maintain strategic partnerships with academic institutions, health authorities, and civil society actors, enriching MSF Ubuntu’s medical intelligence and innovation.
• Work with the Director of Operations and the wider Management Team of MSF Ubuntu to develop an effective and efficient OD that places communities and patients at the centre of our activities.

Clinical Governance and Medical Quality

• Establish and uphold high standards of clinical governance across all operations, encompassing quality assurance, patient safety, and ethical medical practice.
• Oversee the development and review of medical policies, protocols, and evidence-based care models tailored to humanitarian contexts.
• Lead operational research, innovation, and medical ethics processes, ensuring community-informed and contextually appropriate care.

Medical-Operational Integration

• Guide the integration of medical strategy with operational planning in collaboration with the Director of Operations and MedOps platform.
• Ensure robust medical support to project teams, prioritising emergency response capacity, community health integration, and continuity of care during times of crisis.
• Ensure systems are in place to monitor and evaluate the medical impact of programmes, leading adaptations based on learning and contextual shifts.
• Develop appropriate MEAL (Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning) metrics for MSF Ubuntu and ensure the medical teams routinely report against the identified metrics, both quantitively and qualitatively.

Team and Talent Leadership

• Lead, inspire, and manage the Medical Department, creating a performance-driven, collaborative and inclusive team culture.
• Oversee workforce planning, recruitment and development of medical professionals within MSF Ubuntu and its wider pool.
• Strengthen field-facing capacity through mentoring, simulation training, and academic partnerships, enhancing technical excellence.
• Directly manage a Patient Safety Officer, Pharmacist and other Medical Department Managers.

Interdependent Collaboration and Representation

• Actively contribute to cross-functional leadership platforms within MSF Ubuntu and across the wider movement.
• Leverage MSF Ubuntu’s expertise in community leadership and bring lessons from a network of local and regional stakeholders, including local academia, to support intersectional initiatives.
• Represent MSF Ubuntu externally in policy, advocacy, research and institutional partnerships.
• Collaborate with MSF Access to ensure communities and patients we serve have continued access to appropriate treatments, diagnostics and care.

Essential

• Qualified Medical Doctor with postgraduate training in Public Health, Tropical Medicine or a related discipline.
• Minimum eight years’ field experience in medical-humanitarian settings, including senior MSF roles (e.g., Medical Coordinator, or Director of a Medical Unit within MSF).
• Proven ability to lead strategic planning, manage complexity and influence policy at senior levels.
• Experience working in multicultural environments and low-resource settings.
• Fluency in English required

Desirable

• Prior experience with MSF or similar INGO.
• Additional languages such as French, Portuguese, Swahili or Arabic

Core Competencies

• Strategic Leadership
• Medical and Operational Excellence
• Team and People Development
• Ethical and Inclusive Leadership
• Innovation & Adaptability
• Stakeholder Engagement

Conditions

• Location: Nairobi (Kenya), or Johannesburg (South Africa)
• Contract Type: Full-time, 3-year renewable once (maximum 6 years)
• Salary: In line with MSF reward policy
• Start date: Last quarter of 2025

Other Benefits include:

• Work-life balance: Daily flexi-hours and 2 days working from home.
• 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.
• Medical insurance cover included.
• Annual leave and other types of leave according to the policy of the office where you are based.

• If you recognize yourself in this profile, we welcome you to apply directly through the APPLY NOW button below.
• Applicants are required to upload a Letter of Motivation or Curriculum Vitae in English in PDF format as one combined document.
• The closing date for applications is 21st August 2025.

NB: Information
The protection of your personal data is important to MSF. By submitting your application, you consent to MSF using your personal data only for the recruitment process to have all the information and documents necessary to proceed with the recruitment, validation of your application and selection of the most suitable candidate. Your personal data will be treated confidentially. MSF will not use your personal data in any other way not foreseen for purposes of recruitment.

MSF values diversity and is committed to create an inclusive working environment. We welcome applications from all qualified candidates regardless of disability, gender identity, marital or civil partnership status, race, color or ethnic and national origins, religion or belief, or sexual orientation, and all other diversity characteristics. We also encourage women to apply.

Lately MSF is a civil society initiative that brings together individuals committed to the assistance of other human beings in crisis. As such MSF is by choice an association. Each individual applying for MSF roles does it out of conviction and is ready to uphold the values and principles of MSF.