Working at Médecins Sans Frontières

Overview

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) provides emergency medical humanitarian care in conflict zones, epidemics, disasters and settings where health systems have collapsed. It is an independent, largely privately funded movement of operational centres and partner sections, which is why the same role can be advertised by different MSF entities with different application routes.

Field recruitment covers two broad groups: medical and paramedical profiles including doctors, surgeons, anaesthetists, nurses, midwives, epidemiologists, pharmacists, laboratory and mental health staff, and non-medical profiles including logistics, water and sanitation, supply, finance, human resources and project coordination. Headquarters and regional offices recruit technical advisers and support functions.

Assignments are typically time-bound field placements, frequently in insecure or remote locations, with defined rotation and rest arrangements. Locally hired staff make up the large majority of the workforce in each project country.

Organization profile

MSF's identity comprises of independence, impartiality, neutrality and témoignage, speaking out about what its teams witness, and is part of the selection conversation. Candidates are asked how they would work within those principles in practice.

Working conditions are demanding with harsh environments, security constraints, long hours, and frequently non-family postings. In exchange, clinical and logistics staff get an unusual degree of responsibility early. Availability matters as much as credentials. MSF asks for minimum assignment lengths, and flexibility on destination substantially improves the chance of a placement.

Recruitment at a glance

56 vacancies advertised in the last 12 months in our database.

Grades and levels

Contract types

Where the roles are

How to apply

Apply through the MSF section or operational centre named in the vacancy, which is commonly the section covering your country of residence for international field pools, or the country office for locally recruited posts.

For field pool applications, meet the stated baseline before applying. The required professional qualification and post-qualification experience, a minimum availability period, willingness to work in insecure contexts, and the language requirement. French, Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese or Russian alongside English significantly widens the projects open to you.

Recruitment for the international pool usually involves screening, an information session, a competency and motivation interview and a technical assessment with the relevant adviser. Acceptance places you in a pool rather than in a specific job. The actual assignment follows when a matching project need arises, so keep your availability updated.

Salary and conditions

UN Global Jobs does not publish salary, allowance, benefits or contract-condition guidance for Médecins Sans Frontières. Pay and conditions differ by grade, contract type and duty station, and they change over time. The authoritative statements are the ones in the vacancy notice and in the offer made by the organisation, which is where you should verify them. Where a vacancy notice states pay, we reproduce it on the listing; where it does not, ask the recruiting team before making commitments.

Sources

Vacancy figures on this page are calculated from notices published by MSF entities and collected by UN Global Jobs. Organisational facts are taken from MSF's own published material.