Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)
MSF is an international humanitarian aid organisation that provides medical assistance in more than 75 countries to populations in distress, to victims of natural or manmade disasters and armed conflicts, without discrimination and irrespective of race, religion, creed, or political affiliation.
The MSF-OCB Medical Department
The MSF-OCB Medical Department is a network of units, consisting of the Brussels Medical Unit, the Southern African Medical Unit (SAMU) in Cape Town, the Luxembourg Operational Research unit (LuxOR) in Luxembourg, the Middle East Medical Unit (MEMU) in Beirut and the Brazil Medical Unit (BRAMU). It is composed of polyvalent medical staff working in, and outside of, the operational cells and Regional Support Teams (RSTs). The experts cover many different medical and para-medical
domains such as (but not limited to): anaesthesia, antibiotic resistance, capacity building & mentoring for healthcare professionals, change management, chronic non-communicable diseases, critical care, data protection & data sharing, emergency medicine & toxicology, emergency preparedness, environmental health, epidemiology, general surgery & orthopaedics, health promotion & anthropology, Hepatitis C, HIV, infection prevention & control, infectious diseases, knowledge management, laboratory, malaria & vector-borne diseases, medical data & health informatics, medical equipment, mental health, microbiology, nursing care, nutrition, operational research and documentation, paediatrics & adolescents health, pharmacy, primary healthcare, public health, sexual & reproductive health, tuberculosis, vaccination, survivors of torture and viral haemorrhagic fever & emerging infectious diseases.
Operational Research in MSF-OCB
Operational research and documentation are an integral part of the MSF-OCB activities to strengthen evidence around decision-making, guidelines, and policy. There are two units supporting operational research LuxOR and SAMU. The LuxOR unit has staff based in the offices in Luxembourg, Brussels, Ivory Coast, South Africa, Beirut, and Toronto, with core activities including operational research linked to the domains covered by the medical department (as mentioned above) and epidemiology support and capacity building. The second unit involved in operational research is SAMU, based in Cape Town, South Africa, which focuses on HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis C, Tuberculosis, and non-communicable diseases (NCDs). More information can be found here.
The LuxOR Programme Officer (60%) and Operational Research Advisor (40%)
Main Functional Interactions
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The LuxOR Director is the overall medical department reference person regarding guiding global policy and strategic aspects of operational research and Epidemiology support in OCB and provides overall guidance to team members and the unit strategy.
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The LuxOR Team members consist of the Programme Officer, Research Process Coordinator, Operational Research and Epidemiology Advisors, Mobile Implementation Officer, Medical Editor and Policy and Practice Advisor. LuxOR team members are based in Brussels, Luxembourg, Ivory Coast, Lebanon, Canada and South Africa. They have continuous interaction with the field, operational cells, regional support teams and the medical department technical referents and provide support on operational research, documentation activities and support to field-epidemiologists within projects. All positions report to the LuxOR Director and Programme Officer
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The OCB Medical Department Strategic Advisor provides a functional interaction/link on files around OR related processes such as Research Agreements, Data Sharing Agreements, Material Transfer Agreement, any other Data Sharing and Data Banking, GDRP compliance, Health Record Management, Information and Knowledge management, Research Insurance, and other Institutional agreements.
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The SAMU Research Coordinator is responsible for supporting and coordinating a large thematic OR portfolio (HIV, TB, HBV/HCV, NCDs, key populations, etc. in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East) and for linkage with LuxOR and Medical Department on OR issues. There is a functional interaction/link with the Programme Officer on Research portfolios, OR processes could ensure harmonization, standardization, and cross-pollination between the units (which also fall under the LuxOR Research Process Coordinator).
Geographical location of the post
The programme officer is an MSF Luxembourg section position based in Luxembourg with regular and scheduled time spent in Brussel and in our projects. Functional Interactions
Functional Interactions
The programme officer will work closely with:
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The LuxOR Director. He is the overall medical department reference person regarding guiding global policy and strategic aspects of operational research in OCB. His tasks include providing overall guidance to team members. Development of partnerships and driving the intersectional collaboration with other MSF operational Centers and global partners in the area of Operational Research and Epidemiology support
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The Operational Research and Epidemiology Advisors, The Research Process Coordinator, Medical editor and Policy and Practice advisor. The LuxOR team members are based in Luxembourg, Brussels, Ivory Coast, Lebanon, Canada and South Africa. They have continuous interaction with the field, operational cells and the medical department to support operational research, documentation activities and the field epidemiologists. They report to LuxOR Program Officer and Director and work closely with colleagues inside and outside the medical department as well as counterparts in the MSF movement.
The Program Officer is responsible for the day-to-day team management, research system support,
OR coordination, and supports on budget and LuxOR strategy. The programme officer is also
responsible for linkage between LuxOR, Operations and the Medical Department in Brussels. The job
will start with an emphasis on the LuxOR Programme Officer responsibilities but whilst the candidate
will become more familiar, with MSF(OCB) and LuxOR the Programme Officer responsibilities will be
reduced to 60% and 40% will focus on direct Operational Research Support.
JOB DESCRIPTION
LuxOR Programme Officer (60%)
1- Support the development and progression of the MSF-OCB and LuxOR Operational
Research Portfolio
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In collaboration with the LuxOR director, the LuxOR team and medical referents contribute to the development of research agendas and the portfolio of OR activities; identify the related resources to achieve the objective (HR, equipment, finances, etc.). This task has to be achieved in the early phase of the definition of a new project and revised periodically afterwards. The program officer will thus be actively involved in the oversight support for different operational research projects and strategic planning.
o Process support is provided by the LuxOR Research Process Coordinator
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Together with the team (and MSF movement wide initiatives), proactively scan the “evidence gap”, and build opportunities for OR in a specific thematic area (e.g. environmental health) which are aligned with the OCB operations and medical department strategy.
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Propose and participate in regular field visits by LuxOR staff to priority projects to define/ refine/ follow-up the OR agenda, propose relevant data collection, and propose a dynamic which allows capacity building and participation of field staff in OR.
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Assure with the LuxOR policy and practice advisor that the OR agenda and output is useful and relevant to MSF operations and the humanitarian space, and thus assure that OR informs policy and practice change.
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Create an enabling and flexible environment with (para-)medical staff that fosters and supports OR initiatives (Community of Practice, Intranet and Knowledge bases).
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Be flexible and accommodating to Medical and Operations Department needs.
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Coordinate and facilitate activities related to:
o Defining and lobbying for the resources and improved organisational set up of the OR
activities at project level implying data collection/awareness of its relevance.
o Facilitate feedback and discussions on implications for policy and practice between the
LuxOR unit and the policy and practice officer.
o Contribute to retention strategy of trained research staff; create a pool of staff with
Research
o Support the organisation of Operational Research Training activities
2- Manage and Coordinate the LuxOR team (in collaboration with the LuxOR director)
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The programme officer is the direct day to day line manager of the Luxor team members and coordinates all LuxOR team activities (in collaboration with the LuxOR Director). This will be defined in more detail within the first months of starting the position.
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Ensure that all positions in the team are clearly organised and mapped and align with their activity portfolio to the LuxOR strategy
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Propose and design additional short-term contracts for OR work in priority thematic areas, when additional capacity is required (e.g. consultants/interns)
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Jointly with the LuxOR director the program officer will assure the planning and follow-up of a budget for LuxOR activities.
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The program officer will organize regular meetings in Luxembourg and Brussels and maintain MSF Luxembourg section (management team and departments and board) updated on LuxOR activities and outcomes. He /she will update the MSF Luxembourg board on request basis (jointly with the director).
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Support the development of a strong knowledge management system (jointly with the LuxOR)
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The program officer is responsible for the organisation of quarterly and yearly activity reports and summaries as well as reporting to potential donors (in collaboration with fundraising, comms and finance departments) in collaboration with the LuxOR director and policy and practice advisor).
3- Part of the MSF-Luxembourg and Management Team
- Represent and participate in LuxOR in the MSF-Luxembourg Management Team (together with the LuxOR director).
- Support a warm and welcoming office environment.
- Ensure relevant LuxOR strategic objectives are broadly aligned and embedded in the relevant sections of the MSF-Luxembourg strategy and logframe
- Represent the LuxOR in relevant MSF-Luxembourg meetings
- Participate in representation activities of MSF, MSF-Luxembourg and LuxOR (e.g. meetings with donors, public communication etc.)
Operational Research Advisor in Area to be determined (at a later stage) (40%)
- Support the development of the research portfolio in the domain that will be determined at a later stage based on interests and competences of the respective selected candidate;
o Work closely with the environmental health unit in the OCB-Medical department to
define research priorities and agendas.
o Work closely with the LuxOR team on agenda setting.
o Align and define with MSF-Movement wide priorities with different OCs and sections
- Ensure research priorities are properly bridged with relevant colleagues on HQ (e.g. other technical referent and expertise).
- Ensure an interdisciplinary approach where applicable.
- Actively look and create partnerships in this domain (knowledge hubs, other humanitarian partners and academic) both for operational support and operational research
