General Logisticians

The general logistician ensures the smooth running of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) projects, by overseeing all activities and safety measures for anything that is neither medical nor administrative. Their responsibilities are wide-ranging and include rehabilitating hospitals, supervising locally hired staff, organising transport, cold chain management, maintenance of vehicles and communication systems, and local or international supply management. 

Thanks to their creativity and inventiveness, general logisticians find solutions to issues in our projects, where many unexpected situations can arise. General logisticians are reactive and agile to address the needs. General logisticians can progress within MSF, with various training opportunities to move into higher-responsibility roles including logistics team leader and logistics coordinator.

ACTIVITIES

  • Organisation of the project‘s infrastructure: small-scale construction and refurbishment works, basic water, hygiene and sanitation activities.
  • Supervising and training logistics teams and locally employed and/or international personnel: watchpersons, drivers, hospital logisticians, technicians, etc.
  • Management of the supply chain required by the project: stock management, local and international procurement, monitoring and warehousing deliveries of supplies and equipment, and procurement.
  • Management of equipment including procurement, installation, maintenance and supervision of equipment used for IT, radio communications, vehicles, generators, etc.
  • Implementation of safety management procedures, in collaboration with the project coordinator and the coordination in the capital, providing logistical support to medical teams.
  • Working with medical teams and project coordinators to define operational strategies and logistical objectives of a project.
  • Administrative responsibilities associated with the above tasks including tendering, contracts, rosters, and evaluations.

REQUIREMENTS

ESSENTIAL

  • Compliance with the essential criteria for all potential candidates.
  • Secondary education and preferably a technical certificate/diploma or technical university degree, e.g., as an engineer
  • Practical skills and experience in at least two of the following: mechanics, energy and electricity, procurement and supply chain management (including cold chain), construction, water and sanitation, IT systems management/radio and communications equipment, warehousing and stock management
  • Technical experience – ability to understand technical requirements and solutions and able to quickly learn the basics of all technical domains/trades; as examples:
    •  Has technical hobbies / DIY (bike mechanic, vintage vehicles, web master, house renovation, radio amateurs, member of a repair café)
    •  Curiosity to understand how things work and find the adequate expertise
    •  Interest and general understanding of different trades
    •  Understand the interdependency between different technical domains/trades
  • At least two years of experience in organising a multidisciplinary activity and/or managing a team running technical or support activities. Below are some examples (not exhaustive):
    •  Generalist engineers with experience leading technical projects (that includes management of teams)
    •  Event organiser/manager/worker (festivals, media, camps, scouting, group travels, etc.), experienced in coordinating large teams
    •  Owners: people who have set up and managed their own company/business (managing people) with tech background
    •  General managers: hands-on, small/mid-size company where people had to deal with a variety of problems and issues (administration, bookkeeping, staffing, equipment breakdown, emergency situations requiring action)
    •  Workers/volunteers in emergency or risk-averse settings (ambulances, firefighters, mountaineering, 
    scuba diving, organizing emergency services, military service, etc.)
    •  Workers/volunteers working in remote settings (farming, oil platforms, submarines, scientific expeditions, offshore sailing or certified professional sailors, etc.)
  • Professional experience in people management, supervision and administration
  • Computer skills including Microsoft Office applications (in particular excel, word)
  • Available for assignment for a minimum of nine months or longer

DESIRABLE

  • Administration experience in finance, human resources, project or event management
  • Experience with pump and generator maintenance

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SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION 

Please apply if your skills and experience match the requirements above and the essential criteria for working overseas. Allow approximately 1 hour to complete to application.

Before starting the application, please prepare the following:

  1. CV 
  2. Motivation letter
  3. Skills assessment form

Meet some of our general logisticians