Director of Operations

CONTEXT

As Director of Operations, you will provide strategic leadership for the operational portfolio of MSF Operational Centre Brussels (OCB), ensuring that interventions remain relevant, responsive and accountable to the people we assist. You will lead OCB’s operational response in complex and rapidly changing environments, steering priorities and allocating resources across countries and over multiple years in line with OCB’s Strategic Ambitions 2026–2031.

OCB has two Directors of Operations (DOs), who jointly oversee and manage operations currently spanning 35 countries, with an annual budget of €400 million. Working closely with your fellow Director of Operations, the Medical Director and the wider leadership team, you will bring together humanitarian analysis, medical priorities and operational capacity to enable access to care, deliver effective programmes with an oversight of operational risks and opportunities.

You directly report to the General Director of MSF OCB and are member of the OCB CODIR (_Comité des Directeurs_), thereby actively contributing to the broader delivery of OCB Strategic Ambitions and leadership of the organization.

Together with the other Directors of Operations, you provide strategic operational leadership for the MSF movement, as part of MSF’s RIOD and in the Medical Operational platform (platform of the Operations & Medical Directors). You also represent MSF in external fora to negotiate, advocate and enable donor trust.

Both Directors of Operations (DOs) lead the Operations Department of MSF OCB.

The department consists of six managerial and technical teams called Cells, each in charge of a portfolio of countries and an Emergency Team (E-Pool) for the management of highly volatile emergency interventions. These teams are in Brussels, Abidjan and Rio. They supervise, empower and support Country and Project Teams to deliver MSF OCB medical humanitarian action.

The department also includes the Security Risk Management Unit (SRMU) and teams working on transversal management functions, including operational monitoring, information and knowledge management, and duty of care. These functions are coordinated and implemented through delegated responsibilities and dedicated support structures, ensuring coherent operational management, institutional learning and support to decision-making.

The DOs and operations department colleagues have a critical role in championing wider aspects of the quality of our social mission including bearing witness, safeguarding, climate adaptation, diversity, equity and inclusion, empowering teams and optimally and ethically collecting and using our data.

The DOs jointly manage the department and ensure operational continuity. Each supervises designated teams and leads agreed dossiers covering OCB issues, the MSF movement and external stakeholders. Team assignments may shift between DOs to balance workload. Both DOs share accountability for the strategic direction, performance, resource allocation and adaptation of the overall OCB operational portfolio, regardless of their individual responsibilities.

At the time of publishing, there is an ongoing review on the review of OCB’s operations structure, leadership and governance to propose feasible adjustments that strengthen accountability, decision-making, emergency responsiveness, cross-department coordination and Movement-level engagement. In 2027, it is anticipated to have a Deputy Director of Operations joining the departmental leadership, and a plan to have one cell re-locate to Nairobi.

MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES

• Lead, together with the other DO, strategic decision-making across OCB’s global operational portfolio and define the multi-year operational v...

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.

Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam, eaque ipsa quae ab illo inventore veritatis.