Philippines 13 December 2013: MSF team cleaning a well in Guiuan. The city in eastern Samar is one of the areas hardest hit when typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan swept over parts of the Philippines on 8 November 2013. Apart from running a hospital on the premises of the destroyed district hospital, MSF runs mobile clinics, distributes relief goods and reconstruction material and provides clean drinking water. © Florian Lems/MSF

Water & Sanitation Specialists

From sourcing and delivering clean drinking water to thousands of people displaced by conflict, to siting and building latrines after an earthquake, MSF WATSANs are essential to MSF projects.

Responsibilities

As a water and sanitation specialist with Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), your objective will be to prevent and control diseases transmitted by contaminated water or by poor sanitation or hygiene, both within and beyond the health facilities we run or support. This may include being responsible for the water and sanitation provisions of an entire refugee camp.

Your job will involve maintaining a reliable water supply, constructing or upgrading sanitary facilities and supporting the promotion of hygiene, as well as organizing appropriate medical waste disposal. You will work closely with medical and non-medical staff on the project team. Your work will include training and supervising other team members.

Requirements

  • Technical degree in civil, geological, mechanical or environmental engineering with an emphasis on surface water, underground water, treatment, distribution and discharge
  • Minimum two years relevant post-qualification work experience
  • Experience in managing staff in a multicultural team (supervision and training)
  • Excellent command of English, as well as French (level B2) or another language (Arabic, Spanish). Refer to this evaluation grid
  • Relevant travel or work experience in contexts similar to where MSF works (armed conflicts, disasters, public health emergencies or situations of healthcare exclusion)
  • Available to work six to 12 months

Assets

  • Experience or familiarity with healthcare waste management and vector control
  • Proficiency with Microsoft Office software, including Excel

MSF Core Competencies

  • Behaviour flexibility: Level 2
    • Adapts behaviour to the needs of the situation
  • Teamwork and cooperation: Level 2
    • Shares information and coordinates with team and others
  • Result and quality orientation: Level 2
    • Works towards objectives, preserving established standards
  • Commitment to MSF principles: Level 1
    • Demonstrates knowledge of and accepts MSF’s principles
  • People management: Level 2
    • Gives feedback and sets limits
  • Cross-cultural awareness: Level 3
    • Demonstrates an integrating attitude
  • Stress management: Level 2
    • Manages own stress
  • Understanding of equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI): Level 1
    • Familiarity with EDI concepts and their application in a humanitarian context

Familiarity with EDI concepts and their application in a humanitarian context

To find out more about MSF core competencies, please look here.

You can find a comprehensive view of MSF career paths here.

Before you apply

As you consider applying to undertake an MSF assignment, it is essential that you have a well-informed and realistic personal reflection. Assignments often mean long hours with a heavy workload, basic living conditions, and working and living in often chaotic and volatile environments.

Security and Safety

Because Doctors Without Borders’ purpose is to bring medical assistance to people in distress, the work may occur in settings of active conflict, or in post-conflict environments, in which there are inherent risks, potential danger and ongoing threats to safety and security. MSF acknowledges that it is impossible to exclude all risks, but it does its utmost as an organization to mitigate and manage these risks through strict and comprehensive security protocols.

Please watch this video for information on how MSF manages security.

International staff will be fully informed of the risk associated with a potential assignment before accepting a particular posting. Working for MSF is a deeply personal choice; individuals must determine for themselves the level of risk and the circumstances in which they feel comfortable, based on a full and transparent understanding of the possibilities they may face. Once in the assignment, all MSF staff must strictly observe security rules and regulations; failure to do so may result in dismissal.

Terms of Employment

MSF staff are employees with a salary and benefits. See more information on the terms of employment.

MSF favours at least 2 years of active commitment during which time international staff complete 2 to 4 assignments. There are many possibilities for professional growth within the organization, into the medical, non-medical and coordination streams. For more information on learning and development as well as career opportunities with MSF, see our FAQ.

To learn more about how MSF supports IMGs with EPIC service, free of cost, click here.

Final Thoughts

As you consider applying to undertake an MSF assignment, is it essential that you have a well-informed and realistic personal reflection. Assignments often mean long hours with a heavy workload, basic living conditions, and working and living in often chaotic and volatile environments.

Despite such challenges, thousands of people have worked with MSF over the years and found their experiences in the field to be deeply rewarding, even life-changing. More than anything else, being an MSF international worker means acting in solidarity with people facing unimaginable medical challenges. Your presence alongside people in times of need sends a profoundly meaningful and human message: “You are not forgotten.

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