Essential Criteria

Médecins Sans Frontières Australia / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) recruits medical, administrative, and logistical professionals, to provide medical care to people in crisis in more than 70 countries worldwide. Every year, around 3,000 MSF field staff provide lifesaving medical assistance to people who would otherwise be denied access to even the most basic health care.

The essential criteria is an overview of the minimum requirements for working overseas with MSF. Please note, these can change without prior notice in response to organisational needs. 

Make sure you refer to your specific profession on the who we need page for detailed information on the technical skills required of your profile.

Essential Criteria

To work overseas with MSF, every applicant must meet the following requirements:

Uphold the goals and values of MSF

Adhere to the MSF charter and to our managerial values: Respect, Transparency, Integrity, Accountability, Trust and Empowerment.

Commitment to MSF

We are seeking candidates who are intending to have a long term commitment to MSF and either want to advance their career, progressing to more senior roles in MSF and/or who are available for assignments on a regular basis, such as once every year or every second year.

Language skills

Commitment to learn a second language, or ability to do so at the level of B2 or higher. Languages in demand are French and Spanish. Arabic, Portuguese or Russian are also an asset.

Experience working in remote, low resource and low tech settings

Clinical/work experience in environments with limited human resources, materials and equipment.  Access to electricity can be unreliable, running water may not be available, medical and other equipment may be in short supply and computer systems may be basic. Must be flexible, creative and able to work autonomously.

Experience and interest in supervising and training others

Most assignments will involve supervision or management of teams and will require experience in: capacity building, training, planning and administration.

Ability to cope with stress

Many MSF projects are located in or near conflict areas. The environment is often chaotic and you will face various challenges. International staff must be able to cope with stress in a difficult and unpredictable environment and work under pressure.             

Interpersonal skills

Good interpersonal communication skills is a must; able to keep a pragmatic, positive and constructive mindset despite challenges faced.

Work in a diverse team

The ability to work and live in multicultural and multidisciplinary teams in contexts that are often complex, unstable and isolated, requiring strict respect for the local culture, teams and security rules in force.

PROFESSION-SPECIFIC CRITERIA

To find more details information on the technical skills for for your profession, please visit who we need to find the job profile page relevant to you.

Register for recruitment updates

If you're interested in staying up-to-date with the roles we're recruiting for, then sign up to receive regular email updates about our medical humanitarian projects and find out what to expect when working overseas with MSF.