Director of Operations (f/x/m) – Brussels – MSF Belgium

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 vision, priorities and resource choices
• Lead, together with the other DO, the operational translation of OCB’s Strategic Ambitions 2026–2031 into clear priorities and resource choices, and steer the development, implementation and monitoring of the Strategic Priorities and OPS action plans with operational teams and relevant departments
• Define, elaborate and follow up operational and medical strategies with CODIR colleagues and operational leadership
• Steer OCB’s operational portfolio in line with its Strategic Ambitions and geographical focus, lead regular reviews of relevance, results and resource use to guide prioritisation, adaptation and resource allocation, and decide on exploratory projects and project openings, reorientations and closures within the agreed decision-making framework
• Oversee the annual operational budget approved by the Board of Directors and its follow-up, and decide on the allocation of funding and human resources in line with the Operations Department’s decision-making processes, multi-year and annual budgets, and human resources framework, while balancing planned operational investments, emergency response capacity and flexibility to respond to emerging humanitarian needs
• Manage, support, coach and evaluate the Operations Coordinators and Head of E-pool, ensuring effective leadership, strategic decision-making and accountability for their operational portfolios, and provide guidance or intervene at country level when required by major operational challenges or escalated decisions, while respecting the responsibilities delegated to Operations Coordinators
• Manage, support, coach and evaluate the Coordinator of the Security Risk Management Unit, and retain institutional responsibility and decision-making authority for security risk oversight across the operational portfolio, including final authority, with the General Director, over critical decisions concerning the continuation, suspension or withdrawal of teams operating in insecure environments
• Ensure, in close collaboration with the Security Risk Management Unit, strategic oversight of security policies and their implementation across operations, while differentiating the DO’s global decision-making authority, the Operations Coordinators’ accountability for day-to-day security management at country level and the SRMU’s technical advisory role
• Ensure that critical security decisions are informed by SRMU technical advice and supported by appropriate security risk assessments, mitigation measures and monitoring arrangements
• Manage, support, coach and evaluate the Operations Monitoring & Management Support Officer, Duty of Care Coordinator and future Deputy DO
• Ensure that the Operations Department has the organisational structure, management capacity, competencies and resources required to deliver its operational priorities, including identifying capability gaps and developing management and leadership capacity
• Ensure the implementation of Duty of Care, Safeguarding, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and an anti-racist approach for all staff, with active support to reduce barriers for women in the workforce
• Ensure coherence between operational ambitions and OCB resource policies within the DO team, foster a cohesive, collaborative and supportive departmental culture, exchanges among cells and a horizontal peer culture, and lead strategic meetings with departments to strengthen interdepartmental cohesion and collaboration
• Ensure effective operational governance and management systems, including coherent operational planning, monitoring, review and decision-making processes, consistent implementation across operational teams and continuous improvement based on operational experience and organisational learning
• Support and follow up specific dossiers agreed within the DO team, and work on internal dossiers to enhance operational debate, interdepartmental collaboration and collective reflection within strategic platforms and departmental and cross-departmental meetings
• Contribute actively as a CODIR member and participate in regular meetings of the OCB Board of Directors, MSF Belgium and OCB partner sections
• Contribute, together with the other DO, as an active member of RIOD and MedOpDir, supporting the successful strategic leadership of these MSF platforms
• Represent OCB at internal and external meetings, on MSF international platforms and with the media

REQUIREMENTS

Education and Experience

• Master’s degree or equivalent professional experience
• Medical, para-medical profile and / or degrees in Public Health, Epidemiology is a strong asset
• Minimum 7 years of international experience with Médecins Sans Frontières in and across multiple countries of operations
• At least 5 years of senior management experience, including at country level (eg. Country Coordinator or Country Medical Coordinator) and headquarter levels

Competencies

• Excellent context and humanitarian analysis skills and proven security management
• Analytical and strategic thinking with demonstrated talent for identifying, and improving complex work processes and set-ups
• Demonstrated ability to manage complex operational portfolios & crisis situations, assess performance, prioritise investments and make strategic resource allocation decisions.
• Dynamic and proactive, problem-solving aptitude, creativity and initiative
• Strong communication skills (both oral and written) at various levels, for often non-experts (pedagogical skills)
• Strong ability to be an active team leader and player; to manage and organize teamwork, promoting trust and enthusiasm
• Demonstrated capacity to negotiate with different internal and external stakeholders
• Ability to remain effective and exercise sound judgement under pressure
• Adaptability across diverse operational contexts, cultures and working environments
• Demonstrable commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion and cross-cultural awareness
• Ability to lead organisational changes, strengthen management systems and foster organisational learning and continuous improvement
• Adherence to MSF principles and to our values: Respect, Transparency, Integrity, Accountability, Trust, Empowerment
• All MSF staff are required to uphold MSF’s Behavioural Commitments and safeguarding principles, ensuring that their conduct reflects respect, integrity, accountability, and a zero-tolerance approach to sexual exploitation, abuse, harassment, and abuse of power. They must contribute to a safe and inclusive working environment and apply MSF’s “do no harm” principles in all interactions
• MSF’s position recognises safe abortion care is an essential medical act to save lives and reduce suffering, and all candidates must feel at ease to support this

Languages

• Proficiency in English, both written and spoken, is mandatory
• Other commonly used languages in MSF (French, Spanish, Arabic, Portuguese) are a strong asset

Other

• Willingness and availability to travel frequently; essential mobility between headquarters and project locations, including travel to partner sections and other Operational Centres

CONDITIONS

• Expected start date: 10th of May 2027
• Location: Brussels (Belgium)
• Mobility: up to 30% in different contexts of intervention
• Type of contract: Open-ended contract with a 4-year mandate (extendable for max. 2 more years) – Full-time
• Salary according to OCB Head Office salary grid
• Meal Vouchers – Hospital Insurance – Pension Plan – 100% reimbursement for public transportation costs

Deadline for applications: 1st of December 2026

How to apply

➢ Submit your application via the 'Apply here' button on the vacancy page

➢ 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 ready to upload (in PDF format)

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

The position is only open to candidates with previous MSF experience!

No MSF experience? Check out other job offers on our website.

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