Medical and Health Jobs in Nairobi
Job Description
Company: Médecins Sans Frontières
Location: Nairobi, Kenya
Job Type: Full-Time (Open-Ended Contract)
Start Date: As Soon As Possible
Application Deadline: 9 December 2026
🌍 About MSF Eastern Africa – Medical and Health Jobs in Nairobi
Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) is an international medical humanitarian organization providing life-saving healthcare in conflict zones, epidemics, and disaster settings.
MSF Eastern Africa serves as a regional hub, supporting:
- Human resources and staff recruitment
- Medical and operational support
- Communications and fundraising
- Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI)
- Staff wellbeing and safeguarding systems
🩺 Job Overview
The Head of Staff Health & Wellbeing Unit (SHU) provides strategic leadership and oversight of MSF’s staff health, mental health, and wellbeing systems across Eastern Africa and MSF Ubuntu operations.
This role ensures that all MSF staff have access to high-quality medical, psychological, and psychosocial support before, during, and after assignments in humanitarian contexts.
🔑 Key Responsibilities
🧭 Strategic Leadership
- Lead the long-term strategy for staff health and wellbeing systems
- Develop policies, frameworks, and SOPs for staff health and medical evacuations
- Drive innovation in staff safety, duty of care, and risk management
- Act as focal point for regional and global staff health coordination
🏥 Clinical & Operational Oversight
- Oversee staff health service delivery models across MSF operations
- Manage medical evacuations, referrals, and crisis response systems
- Ensure continuity of physical and mental healthcare for MSF staff
- Provide clinical oversight for complex health and psychosocial cases
🧠 Mental Health & Psychosocial Support (MHPSS)
- Lead mental health and psychosocial support systems
- Ensure early identification and referral of psychological risks
- Coordinate post-incident psychological recovery and reintegration
🚨 Crisis & Incident Management
- Lead response to medical emergencies, critical incidents, and evacuations
- Coordinate with HR, security, and medical teams in high-risk contexts
- Ensure structured post-incident follow-up and care systems
🤝 Partnerships & Coordination
- Build partnerships with health institutions, insurers, and MSF operational centers
- Represent MSF in high-level internal and external forums
- Coordinate with providers such as International SOS and insurers
📊 Organizational Development
- Strengthen staff wellbeing and resilience programmes
- Lead recruitment, training, and development of SHU teams
- Provide clinical supervision and mentorship
⚖️ Safeguarding & Compliance
- Ensure compliance with data protection and OSH regulations
- Enforce MSF safeguarding policies on SEAH prevention
- Support investigations and reporting of abuse or misconduct cases
🎓 Qualifications & Requirements
Education
- Medical degree (MD or equivalent required)
- Tropical medicine qualification (advantageous)
Experience
- 6–8+ years in health service management or humanitarian healthcare
- Experience in medical coordination or health advisory roles (MSF preferred)
- Strong leadership in multicultural and complex environments
Technical Skills
- Knowledge of humanitarian health systems and MSF operations
- Strong understanding of medical ethics and psychosocial care (MHPSS)
- Experience in crisis response and medical evacuation systems
Core Competencies
- Strong strategic leadership and decision-making skills
- Excellent communication and stakeholder engagement abilities
- Strong people management and team development experience
- Ability to work under pressure in high-risk environments
- Commitment to MSF humanitarian principles and values
Languages
- English (mandatory)
- French, Arabic, Swahili or other languages (advantage)
💼 Benefits & Working Conditions
- Open-ended international NGO contract
- Annual leave: 25 days + additional leave benefits
- Pension contribution: 10% of basic salary
- Medical & disability insurance (international coverage)
- Flexible working hours & hybrid work options
- Relocation support (where applicable)
- School fee support (eligible dependents)
- Annual home leave travel (for international staff)
- Continuous learning & global career mobility
📍 Work Environment
- Based in Nairobi, Kenya with regional travel
- Exposure to global MSF operations and humanitarian missions
- Collaborative, multicultural, and mission-driven environment
📩 How to Apply
- Submit CV + Motivation Letter (in English)
- Apply via official MSF recruitment portal only
- Applications without motivation letter will not be considered
⚖️ Equal Opportunity & Safeguarding
Médecins Sans Frontières is committed to:
- Equal opportunity and inclusion
- Zero tolerance for exploitation, abuse, and harassment
- Strict safeguarding and background verification processes
All applicants must pass rigorous vetting and compliance checks.
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