Director of Information Systems W/M

Médecins Sans Frontières, international medical humanitarian association founded in 1971, provides medical assistance to populations whose lives are threatened: mainly in the event of armed conflict, but also epidemics, pandemics, natural disasters or exclusion from healthcare. The French section is present in around thirty countries.

MSF OCP is seeking its next Director of Information Systems (IS) to start in November 2026.

Mission:

As head of the Information Systems department - which is organized around a deputy director and several centers of expertise - you will play a key role in defining and steering the organization’s IS strategy, covering applications, infrastructure, networks, and communications, both at headquarters and in the field. As a member of the Executive Committee, you will contribute to the organization’s strategic orientations and help translate them into digital initiatives, projects, and services that meet the needs of teams and operations.

In particular, you will support the implementation of the ambitions outlined in the OCP 2026–2031 strategic orientations. Working in close partnership with the business functions, you will lead the organization’s digital transformation and promote the effective use of data, digital tools, artificial intelligence, and new forms of knowledge sharing to support decision-making and operational action.

Guided by a vision centered on service quality and user needs, you will support these transformations by striking the right balance between innovation, harmonization, resource sharing, cost control, and vulnerability reduction. In this role, your priorities include strengthening cybersecurity and risk management, clarifying data governance and architecture, evolving the application portfolio, and improving project governance. In this way, you ensure the consistency, performance, security, and continuity of the information system, while guaranteeing solutions and support mechanisms tailored to the specific constraints of the field.

You also play a major role in structuring and developing the IT sector in the field, with the aim of sustainably strengthening capacities as close as possible to operations.

Within the international governing bodies of the MSF movement, you represent OCP and participate in defining common policies and solutions that address medical and operational priorities and the organization’s specific needs.

Main responsibilities:

Reporting directly to the Executive Director, the position’s main responsibilities include:

Defines and steers OCP’s information systems strategy

• Develops the IS strategy for headquarters and the field and ensures its implementation through policies and a roadmap.

• Ensures that defined objectives are met.

• Collaborates with other departments to develop OCP’s overall strategy and oversees its implementation and accountability.

Organizes service quality, governance, and the evolution of the information system

• Oversees the management of the IS project portfolio in close collaboration with business functions, from requirements gathering through to implementation.

• Defines the architecture and organization of information flows and assesses the necessary investments.

• Contributes to data governance and ensures data quality, accessibility, and protection.

• Defines the enterprise architecture strategy for the application landscape, ensuring alignment with business needs and seamless interoperability across systems.

• Ensures adherence to best practices in project and application governance.

Ensures the security, continuity, and risk management of information systems

• Ensures the implementation of information system security and data protection policies.

• Ensures the availability and quality of IT services, adapted to field constraints (poor connectivity, adverse conditions).

• Organizes the continuity and recovery of critical services, as well as the response to major incidents.
• Contributes to international initiatives
• Represents OCP within the movement’s international IT platforms and bodies.
• Helps define MSF’s international IT policies and strategies, ensuring they align with OCP’s priorities.

Manages and develops the department

• Sets the direction, defines objectives, and leads the department’s various units, including those in the field, using a matrix management approach.
• Mentors, advises, and supports staff; ensures a positive work environment and fosters their professional development.
• Manages the department’s human, financial, and organizational resources and oversees budget monitoring.
• Defines the strategy for developing and strengthening IT capabilities across field operations.

Profile:

Education and Experience:

• At least five years of experience in a similar position, or at least seven years in a leadership role within information systems.
• Proven experience in strategic planning, project management, and leading IS teams within a multi-site, international organization.
• Knowledge of the nonprofit or humanitarian sector is desirable; experience in international and multicultural environments is appreciated.
• Advanced degree in computer science (master’s level), engineering school, or equivalent qualification.

Languages:

·        Advanced proficiency in French and English required (C1)

Skills and aptitudes:

• Strategic vision and ability to translate the organization’s strategic direction into an IT roadmap.
• Proficiency in project management and multi-project portfolio management, as well as in information systems and infrastructure security.
• Good knowledge of IT architecture and enterprise systems (ERP, CRM, Office 365, etc.).
• Proficiency in governance, quality, and data protection issues.
• Change Management and Digital Transformation.
• Management of multidisciplinary teams and skills development.
• Budget management, resource allocation, and supplier management.

Requirements:

• Inclusive and engaging leadership, with a service and user-oriented approach.
• Active listening, teaching skills, and ability to communicate and present trade-offs in a structured manner.
• Team spirit and ability to collaborate in a multicultural, inclusive, and diversity-respecting environment.
• Analytical and synthesis skills.
• Ability to anticipate issues, prioritize tasks, and identify and implement solutions.
• Sense of responsibility, decision-making ability, organizational skills, attention to detail, and autonomy.
• Strong commitment to team well-being, with a proactive and rigorous approach to psychosocial risk prevention and safeguarding, ensuring a healthy, safe and supportive working environment for all team members.

MSF expects all its staff to embrace its professional and collective values, as well as its associative culture, and to actively uphold them in their work.

Employment conditions

Status: Permanent contract. Managerial position based in Paris with frequent visits to MSF sites.

Conditions:

€80K gross per year based on 13 months.

22 days RTT per year. Health insurance covered 100% by Médecins Sans Frontières. Restaurant vouchers of 12€ (covered 60% by Médecins Sans Frontières). Reimbursement of 50% of the public transport ticket.

Expected starting date: Novembre 2026

At MSF, we value diversity and strive for an inclusive and accessible working environment. We encourage all suitably qualified people to apply, regardless of their ethnic, national or cultural origin, age, gender, sexual orientation, beliefs, disability or any other aspect of their identity.

MSF pays very close attention to the protection of the personal data of its members, staff and people wanting to join the association. The data collected in the course of your application will be processed in a fair and high quality manner, only by the staff in charge of recruitment, wherever in the world they may be working for an MSF entity. For more information on the processing of your personal data and your rights, please see our privacy policy.

Only selected candidates will be contacted.