Tutor for the Postgraduate Diploma in Medical Humanitarian Leadership - MSF Academy for Healthcare

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an international humanitarian aid organization that provides assistance in more than 60 countries to populations in distress, to victims of natural or manmade disasters and to victims of armed conflicts, without discrimination and irrespective of origin, religion, creed or political affiliation. 

Tutor for the Postgraduate Diploma in Medical Humanitarian Leadership (m/f/x) – Brussels - MSF Academy for Healthcare

CONTEXT 

The MSF Academy for Healthcare is an intersectional training initiative that focuses on strengthening the skills and competencies of healthcare workers in MSF projects, with the aim of having a long-term impact on the quality of care in the countries where MSF operates.

Our project teams are currently present in the Central African Republic, South Sudan, Mali, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Yemen, Burkina Faso, Tanzania and soon in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Emphasis is placed on MSF’s locally hired staff, particularly in the countries with the greatest gaps in human resources for health (HRH) capacity (e.g. nursing staff in MSF-supported hospitals). Beyond MSF projects, the Academy also liaises with health authorities to achieve joint recognition of its training programs and to support governmental programs. Our objective is to maintain a uniform educational approach in all our projects: competency-based learning; on-the-job training with the presence of strong tutors or clinical mentors; while striving to achieve appropriate accreditation for all training, often in collaboration with partner teaching institutions. The Academy has a growing “global team”, consisting of the director, deputy director, resource manager and 3 project managers as well as a strong technical team of medical experts and learning science experts to support our projects, and a group of distance-learning clinical mentors. There are strong country teams in each country where a training program is run. The global team has around 26 staff, and the project-based teams have around 70 staff. Discover more on MSF Academy for Healthcare.

The Postgraduate Diploma in Medical Humanitarian Leadership is a 24-month practice-based diploma course that is tailor-made to strengthen the key competencies of MSF’s future or junior medical coordinators (MedCos). Epicentre is a partner of this course and since 2024, a partnership with Wits University, in South Africa, has been established to accredit the program as a Postgraduate Diploma in Public Health. It targets the key competencies identified for the role, with the aim to have an impact on the quality of the medical strategies of MSF projects and the leadership to run the medical activities. Given in English, this programme is delivered through a hybrid learning format, with online self-paced learning content, live sessions, and two in-person sessions lasting one to two weeks. A team of MSF professional tutors provide close individual support to the learners, to assure optimal work-based learning.

As the Tutor for the Postgraduate Diploma in Medical Humanitarian Leadership (PGDip MHL), you are a key support in the learners’ development and join a team of 3 tutors under the supervision of the program manager. As facilitator and referent, you enforce the development of competencies and the use of work situations to ensure actual learning of the PGDip MHL curriculum while assessing progress. 

Supporting a group of about 15 trainees, your main task is to remotely facilitate the work-based learning of each participant. This involves integrating the learner into the training environment (e-learning platform); stimulating and motivating them; actively training and guiding them; monitoring their progress on a weekly basis; assessing the competencies validation and adjusting support accordingly. You work on the specificity of the path of each participant during the course.

In coordination with the other tutors and the program manager, you also prepare and co-animate group sessions (face-to-face meetings, as well as online group exchanges). You contribute to the development and updates of the curriculum, intersectionality. You also participate in the Mentoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning processes (MEAL) related to the program, such as: encoding key indicators in the program’s database, evaluating impact, reporting, etc. Being part of the MSF Academy dynamics, you contribute to meetings, internal discussions, and other activities.

MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES

Provide individual support 

• Remote learning support via phone/online calls and chats, e-mails (~2h/week/learner): 
• Lead and guide the learning of each participant, based on the curriculum and learning resources
• Assure a part of the lecturing and teaching for the learners (online and F2F, see below)
• Create or adapt and curate additional resources depending on learner’s specific needs
• Establish and follow-up on individual learning plan, based on co-assessment of learners’ strengths/weaknesses in the different competency areas and on the context’s opportunities and constraints.
• Assist the learners to orientate themselves in the course, i.e. where to find the information on the learning platform: means of communication, assessment system and criteria, course calendar, etc. Referring to programme manager or helpdesk for specific issues
• Assure good progress in the learning plan in view of the specific needs and situation of the learners, identify, anticipate and solve obstacles throughout the course
• Assess the outcome of the learning: refine/tailor assignments, give feedback on assignments, correct and assess them
• Provide mentoring-like support on Medco/PMR roles

Face-to-face learning support

• Project visits at the learner’s place of work (depending on the needs)

Prepare and facilitate group training activities 

• Prepare and facilitate 3 weeks per year of face-to-face training sessions with a full cohort
• Prepare and facilitate interactive webinars (1 to 2 per week)
• Encourage peer-learning and learning community building through creating and moderating discussion forums on the learning platform, group chats, etc. 
• Follow-up on buddy system and group works

Assessment of the learning

• Communicate on evaluation criteria
• Evaluate and certify the competencies developed, using the detailed assessment plan set
• In addition to the learner’s self-assessment, give feedback on the accomplishment of tasks and performance, the mode of operation and the evolution of the participant learning through the review and output assessment

Curriculum’s content

• Organise and improve the existing course material on the learning platform
• Keep up to date with new processes and tools related to the medco’s role and key competencies, in all MSF sections
• Suggest and create additional resources to develop further the course

Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL)

• Participate in teams’ meetings
• Collect data and report on learners’ participation, progress, satisfaction, obstacles
• Debriefing, sharing proactively with other tutors and program manager to improve the learning experience

REQUIREMENTS

Education & Experience

• Medical doctor or nurse, preferably with a master’s degree
• Minimum 5 years of MSF international experience in medical coordination; preferably with experience as Medical Coordinator within the last 2 years 
• Experience as a tutor or coach, or as trainer and mentor is an asset

Competencies

• Interest in learning and teaching and staff development, capacity to motivate colleagues 
• High level of autonomy and proven leadership qualities 
• Comfortable with the use of e-learning technology 
• Readiness and flexibility to often be in contact with participants (weekly basis as an average)
• Good communication skills: active listener, clear and effective communication, sense of diplomacy and pedagogy
• Proven training, coaching and mentoring skills, eager to transmit in an intercultural environment 
• Good team player with flexibility, creativity, and empathy
• Ability to establish and retain positive working relationships (internally and externally)
• Good networker
• Capacity to work within agreed timeline and ability to prioritize activities/task
• Very organised and solution oriented
• Strong cross-cultural awareness and adaptability

Languages

• Proficiency in English, both written and spoken, is mandatory 
• Good knowledge of French is an asset 

CONDITIONS

• Expected starting date: As soon as possible
• Location: Brussels (Belgium); Nairobi (Kenya) or Dakar (Senegal) where other members of the MSF Academy are based could be discussed*

* The contractual terms and conditions will be established according to the residency of the candidate, the          place of work, legal constraints and in respect of MSF standard function and salary grids

• Mobility: 1 to 2 MSF project visits per year 
• Contract type: Open-ended contract – Full-time
• Salaryaccording to MSF HQ grid
• Meal Vouchers - Hospital Insurance (DKV) – Pension Plan – 100% reimbursement for public transportation costs
• Adhere to the MSF principles and to our managerial values: Respect, Transparency, Integrity, Accountability, Trust and Empowerment
• Adhere to the MSF Behavioral Commitments

Deadline for applications: 13th of March 2025

How to apply?

Submit your application via the 'Apply here' button

You will be directed to the online application form for this position 

It should take 5-10 minutes to complete. Thank you in advance for having your CV and motivation letter in English ready to upload (preferably in PDF format).

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Position only open to candidates with previous experience with MSF ("Médecins Sans Frontières")!
No MSF experience? Check out other job offers on our website

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