General Director

Context & mission
Médecins Sans Frontières is an independent, international medical and humanitarian organization that provides care to people in need, people affected by natural or man-made disasters, and victims of armed conflict, without discrimination and without regard to race, religion, creed or political affiliation (MSF Charter).
The General Director of MSF Switzerland / Operational Centre Geneva (OCG) is the organization’s highest executive authority and is responsible for implementing its medical-humanitarian social mission in line with MSF’s Charter, values and humanitarian principles, and with the orientations set by the General Assembly, Board of Directors and OCG Congress.

Tasks & Responsibilities
Strategic Leadership
Provide overall strategic leadership to ensure the effective delivery of MSF Switzerland / OCG’s social mission, in line with MSF’s Charter, values and humanitarian principles.
Lead the development, implementation and monitoring of the multi-year strategic ambitions, in close collaboration with the President, Board of Directors, the OCG Congress and the Management Team.
Maintain a permanent strategic reflection on the stakes, constraints and dilemmas of medical-humanitarian action in a rapidly evolving global environment.
Appoint, lead, coordinate and evaluate members of the Management Team, ensuring strong cohesion and collective responsibility.
Ensure effective coordination between headquarters, hubs and field operations, and the availability of relevant, high-quality information to support decision-making.
Lead organisational risk analysis and ensure the definition and implementation of mitigation measures, particularly in relation to staff security, safety and critical incident management.
Governance, accountability and risk management
Ensure regular reporting on strategy implementation, organisational performance, risks and challenges.
Ensure organisational oversight of risk analysis and mitigation, including safety and security risk management, critical incident governance and duty of care, with appropriate reporting to governance bodies.
Ensure organisational compliance with legal, regulatory, statutory and MSF internal frameworks.
Financial Stewardship
Ensure sound financial management, including budgeting, reporting, auditing and internal controls, in line with legal requirements and MSF rules.
Integrate financial considerations and impact assessments into strategic and operational decision-making at all levels.
Movement Leadership, partnership and external representation
Actively participate in the MSF Movement’s Executive Committee (Core-ExCom)
Collaborate with General Directors of other Operational Centres, the International Secretary and partner sections to strengthen coherence, synergies and complementarities across the Movement.
Represent OCG internationally and contribute to debates on humanitarian positioning and operational challenges, while safeguarding OCG’s interests and promoting movement-wide strategic priorities.
Develop and maintain strong relationships with partner sections, ensuring OCG’s full integration within the MSF Movement.
Represent MSF Switzerland / OCG externally with donors, Swiss authorities, international institutions, humanitarian actors and, when relevant, the media, in line with associative positions and MSF principles.
People, culture, duty of care and inclusion
Ensure HR policies and practices support fair and socially responsible working conditions, staff wellbeing and professional development at all levels.
Ensure the existence, independence and effective functioning of mechanisms to prevent, report and respond to abuse, discrimination and misconduct, including safeguarding concerns, in line with MSF standards and duty of care.

Your profile
Education
Advanced university degree in medicine, public health, humanitarian affairs, political sciences, management or a related field, or equivalent senior-level professional experience.
A medical or health-related background, or a demonstrated and sustained engagement with medical-humanitarian action, is a strong asset.
Strong alignment with MSF’s social mission, charter and humanitarian principles, including a patient-centred approach.

Experience
Extensive senior leadership experience in a complex and large international non for profit organisation, in the humanitarian or medical-humanitarian sector. Solid understanding of the mechanimsm and processes relevant to organizations, such as human resources, operations, finance etc.
MSF experience is a major asset.
Experience in executive or senior management roles, including General/Executive Director or Director of a major organizational function.
Demonstrated experience engaging with and overseeing medical-humanitarian operations with the ability to operate in highly insecure working environment.
Exposure to ethical, access and security dilemmas.
Experience working within associative or multi-layered governance structures.
Demonstrated experience leading organisational change, transformation or strategic reform.
Strong background engaging with external stakeholders (donors, governments, UN agencies, partners) in politically sensitive environments.

Languages
Fluency in English and French. Swiss German (or German) and or Italian an asset. Additional languages are an advantage.

Skills/ Technical competencies
Excellent leadership and organisational skills, with the ability to lead inclusively and decisively in complex, high-pressure environments.
Strong strategic planning, execution and organisational performance management skills.
Proven operational leadership, including process optimisation, resource allocation and cross-functional coordination.
Solid understanding of governance, compliance and risk management frameworks.
Demonstrated ability to work effectively with a Board of Directors, respecting the specificities of associative and executive roles and ensuring constructive complementarity and clear accountability.
Strong financial literacy at management level, including budget oversight.
Excellent oral and written communication skills, including at senior external representation level and in cross-cultural contexts.
Ability to motivate, coordinate and lead large and diverse teams, including through participatory, empowering and accountable leadership parctices.
Strong listening skills and sound judgement.
Capacity to delegate, empower and hold teams accountable, fostering ownership and leadership at all levels.
Demonstrated commitment to high ethical standards, integrity and accountability, aligned with MSF’ Behavioral Commitments and Management Values.

Terms of employment
Full-time position 100% (40h/week)
Open-ended contract (mandated position, 3 years, renewable once)
Working place: Geneva, Switzerland

Ideal start date: August 2026
Gross annual salary (for 100%): from CHF 176’436 to CHF 188’052 (salary commensurate with equivalent experience and internal salary grid)
Paid vacation: 25 days per year, prorate temporis, plus any Swiss public holidays falling within the contract period.
Pension plan: pension contribution covered 3/4 by MSF, 1/4 by staff member.
Relocation package if moving from a different country to Switzerland.
Frequent international travel, including field visits to conflict zones. This could be adapted depending on the personal circumstances and reasonable accommodation.
The position requires high availability and flexibility, balanced with responsible leadership of personal well being and role modelling of sustainable working practice.
Given the highly visible nature of the role, the GD is expected to demonstrate exemplary personal and professional conduct, full aligned with MSF’s behavioral commitments and management values.

How to apply
The application deadline is 8th of March
We reserve the right to close this vacancy earlier if we receive a sufficient number of quality applications.
APPLY : https://medecinssansfrontieressuisse.recruitee.com/o/general-director