Country Representative

Intersectional Legal Department (ILD) focal point

Operations

Develops relevant strategy and ensures the efficient and effective coordination and management of the MSF Intersectional Protocol Office (PO), for implementation of the Host Country Agreement (HCA) by all MSF sections present in the country, in close collaboration with the Country Representative (CR) the Intersectional Legal Department (ILD) and the HCA Board (composed by all representatives of MSF sections in the country).

This is achieved through:

1. Advising, defining, developing and coordinating relevant HCA procedures and providing internal support to MSF teams in implementing procedures and processing benefits derived from the HCA.
2. Engaging with external stakeholders including political and high-levels, as well as technical and mid-levels of the Government’s administration and any other relevant interlocutors on any matters related to the implementation of the HCA.

1.General HCA implementation

• Develop and define common administrative procedures to ensure consistency with the common MSF representation under the HCA, and benefit from the privileges and immunities granted by the HCA including: immigration, importation, tax exemptions, medical license, among others.
• Follow-up and analyze political, legal and economic context with possible implications on MSF, periodically update a risk analysis and update context analysis if needed; and liaise with counterparts in other International Organizations / Diplomatic Missions / HCA holders to align practices and analysis
• Develop HCA implementation strategy and vision to reduce administrative bottlenecks and overcome specific challenges.
• In coordination with the CR, draft and implement a stakeholder engagement strategy to secure the HCA implementation with external stakeholders, and directly develop and maintain technical networking, undertake negotiations with government representatives / administrations (at political and high-level, as well as technical and mid-level) as may be required to facilitate smooth implementation of HCA benefits;
• Keep up to date all documentations (procedures, guidelines, SOP, archiving, tracking tools, list of key contacts) related to HCA implementation, and provide relevant trainings to technical teams;
• Ensure all necessary statutory/compliance reports to Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) (or other relevant Ministry) and relevant administrations are done in a timely manner and of high quality (vetted carefully); acting as the first line technical advisor and focal point on relational and compliance issues of MSF with the MoFA, and more generally with other concerned Government ministries and departments;
• Work closely with MSF teams to support day-to-day implementation of relevant HCA procedures, including to face ad-hoc queries and solve blockages, providing technical advice (with close support of the ILD) and ensuring a coordinated approach across MSF sections;

2. PO coordination and management

• Support PO team in the organization of their tasks, suggest changes and identify needs and resources;
• Accompany and support the LO team in potential changes in procedures and tools;
• Follow-up, support, evaluate and coach each member of the PO team and ensure staff planning and coordination, promoting constructive team spirit;
• Draft the annual PO budget, follow up and manage running costs.
• Represent the PO team and guarantee smooth communication with all stakeholders (MSF or external) involved in HCA implementation.

3. Reporting - Information and Knowledge management – Visibility

• Provide regular reports (at minima annual and quarterly) on the activities of the PO to the CR, the ILD and the HCA Board;
• Have monthly meetings with his/her supervisors (ILD and CR) and organize and chair quarterly meetings with the HCA Board and share minutes with conclusions and action points;
• Accountable for producing draft minutes of each high-level meeting, contribute to update the logbook on external contacts;
• Ensure PO digital and paper record management and keep archive with official correspondence up-to-date, globally providing and maintaining institutional memory for the context on the HCA and related matters;
• Disseminate tools of the PO with regular HCA workshop, adequately brief incoming coordinators and lead/ facilitate intersectional meetings between HR, Finance, Supply, etc;
• Actively participate to the SHIELD project under ILD supervision and liaise with other PO in other MSF mission countries to build up MSF knowledge and best practices on HCA implementation.

University Degree in International Relations, Political Studies or Management, Public Administration, or Diploma in a similar discipline with working experience in similar role;

4 years relevant experience in management of administrative matters such as tax, customs, immigration – Experience with MSF (or comparable entity such as international organization) is an asset. Legal exposure an asset

Written and verbal fluency in English + local official language with translation skills

High computer literacy, good knowledge of administrative procedures

• Excellent analysis skills, capacity to think out of the box and solution-oriented / problem solving attitude, methodical and organised, flexible and ability to work under pressure,
• Strong general and people management / coordination skills,
• Diplomacy, excellent communication skills (with multiple internal and external high level interlocutors), capacity to supervise and coordinate interdisciplinary positions/platforms and develop user-friendly tools and processes,
• Commitment to MSF principles