Operational Safeguarding Manager

We are looking for passionate candidates ready to contribute to our humanitarian mission.

Below, you will find the job details and the qualifications we are looking for.

Inclusivity and Diversity at MSF Do your qualifications and experience not exactly match all requirements of the job?

At MSF OCG, we are committed to an inclusive culture that supports and amplifies the diverse voices of our staff members.

We strive to create workplaces where teams of people with diverse backgrounds, characteristics, perspectives, ideas and experiences work together to advance MSF's social mission and create better outcomes for our patients and the communities we work with.

We understand that some people may hesitate to apply for employment if they don't meet all listed job requirements.

Research shows that this is especially true for women.

If you believe your profile is a good match for this position, we invite you to apply even if you don’t fulfil every listed qualification.

We encourage applications from individuals of all genders, ages, sexual orientations, ethnicities, background, religions, beliefs, ability status, and all other diversity characteristics.

MSF does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of discrimination or harassment, including sexual harassment.

All selected candidates will undergo reference checks.

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 MSF movement is built around 5 operational centres supported by 24 sections and offices worldwide.

MSF Operational Center Geneva (MSF OCG) is one of these centres.

OCG is strengthening its institutional safeguarding capacity.

As part of this evolution, the former Abuse and Behavior Unit will become the Safeguarding Unit, reflecting MSF’s commitment to the four pillars of safeguarding: prevention, detection, reporting, and response.

The Safeguarding Unit will be reinforced by two Safeguarding Advisors and a Case Management Lead.

The Safeguarding Advisors will provide technical expertise and support departments in developing policies, tools, and solutions that advance safeguarding objectives.

The Case Management Lead will ensure the timely, effective, and high‑quality management of complaints and reports received by the Unit, including allegations of abuse, fraud, and corruption.

In parallel, the Operational Department will establish an Operational Safeguarding Manager position.

This role will lead the implementation of safeguarding across programmes, provide strategic support to operations, and coordinate the deployment of the flying safeguarding team to support the achievement of safeguarding objectives according to the context and needs of each mission.

• Tasks & Responsibilities
• Lead the operational implementation of safeguarding across all programs, ensuring that safeguarding principles and technical standards, safeguarding risk assessments, and mitigation measures are effectively embedded into day‑to‑day operations.
• In collaboration with the flying team, guide and provide technical support to program teams in developing, operationalizing, and monitoring the implementation of the Mission Behavior Fundamentals, ensuring these measures are consistently applied and effectively integrated into operation department and programs including safe recruitment, safe programming, detection and local reporting mechanisms for patients, care takers and communities’ members
• Mobilise, coordinate and deploy dedicated flying teams and provide technical safeguarding support in the rollout of the Mission Behavior Fundamentals and safeguarding priorities, in collaboration/concertation with the operational teams.
• Develop a program support model with dedicated locally appointed safeguarding human resources that ensures projects benefit from technical safeguarding expertise at both project and coordination levels.
• Ensure that local programme dedicated resources are supported by both coordination and the flying referents through technical guidance and oversight of safeguarding implementation.
• Work in synergies and in a functional mode with the OCG head of safeguarding to ensure coherence and alignment with OCG positioning technical safeguarding standards, and organisational priorities
• Work in collaboration with deployed safeguarding staff and country teams to produce detailed country‑level safeguarding situation and risk analyses that inform strategic decision‑making, prioritise safeguarding actions in accordance with organisational objectives and operational realities, and oversee the implementation and effectiveness of safeguarding measures.
• Represent the Operations Directorate in internal and external meetings requiring operational and technical safeguarding input, analysis, or coordination related to the OCG Safeguarding Plan at programme level.
• Support any internal communication requesting the accountability of ops department in regards to safeguarding.

Your profile

• Education: Master Degree or equivalent in a field relevant to this profile (e. g. law, social or organisational sciences, psychology, social work etc.) an asset
• Experience: 5 to 10 years of experience in humanitarian projects management in MSF.

Similar validated experience in technical expertise in the related field, preferably in non‑governmental, charity or international organisations.

• Languages: Fluency in English and French are required. Knowledge of another language (Arabic, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish) is considered an advantage.

Skills & Personal Abilities

• Project management, organisation & accountability
• Management, Integrity & Ethical Judgement
• Risk Assessment & Mitigation
• Compliance & Policy Adherence
• Leadership, team management, active listening and organisational skills
• Delegation
• Cultural sensitivity
• Terms of employment
• Full‑time position 100% (40h/week)
• Open‑ended contract
• Working place: Geneva, Switzerland, with frequent travel for field visits
• Swiss residency while under contract mandatory (because of the frequent travel)
• Ideal start date: As soon as possible
• Gross annual salary (for 100%): from CHF 102'180.- to CHF 116'484.- (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 support available for eligible candidates.

The application deadline is

We reserve the right to close this vacancy earlier if we receive a sufficient number of quality applications.

Médecins Sans Frontières Switzerland – is recruiting committed professionals for positions at our headquarters and in our field projects.

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