About the Role
MSF is an international, independent medical humanitarian organization. We are a non-profit, self-governed worldwide movement of more than 63,000 people.
We provide emergency medical assistance during armed conflict, natural disasters, outbreaks of deadly diseases and assist those who are excluded from healthcare. MSF delivers care based on need and when we see injustice, we speak out. We are an organization that remains impartial, knowledgeable, and effective, and this is what makes the difference between life and death.
People are our priority. At Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)/Artsen zonder Grenzen, we are committed to an inclusive culture that encourages and supports the diverse voices of our employees. We encourage diverse applicants including individuals of all gender identities, ages, sexual orientations, nationalities, races, religions, beliefs, social and marital status, people with different abilities and all other diversity characteristics and how they work together.
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) at MSF has been developed as a service to MSF operations since 2013. In January 2021, GIS services were transformed into an intersectional Centre of Expertise and Services serving the full MSF Movement. The GIS Centre is coordinated from Geneva and operates as a network of internal and external partners across multiple locations.
GIS core mission is to support informed decision-making through better spatial comprehension, enhancing the focus of health services around patients, and increasing the impact and efficiency of MSF's regular and emergency interventions. The GIS Centre provides an intersectional operational support system through a framework of dedicated tools and services that is reliable, agile, adapted to emergency contexts, and efficient.
Each Operational Centre (OC) has a dedicated GIS Advisor who serves as the GIS focal point for the OC and is a full member of the GIS Centre. GIS Advisors are the keystone of the GIS network: they convey their OC's operational needs and realities to the GIS Centre, and act as ambassadors of GIS services and best practices within their OC. Highly embedded in operational contexts, they are best placed to provide the most relevant and adapted support to MSF operations.
Main responsibilities
The GIS Advisor's main objective is to ensure that GIS-related operational needs are met and that good practices in GIS are implemented in OCA. As the GIS focal point for OCA, the Advisor constitutes the link between the OC and the GIS Centre, linking OCA operational needs with GIS Centre services, standards, products, and strategy, monitoring requests, progress of work, and service delivery. As a full member of the GIS Centre network, the Advisor actively participates in shaping the GIS strategy and is accountable for its implementation within OCA. The GIS Advisor is functionally managing OCA’s GIS Specialists and Flying GIS and supports both regular and emergency operations.
Responsibility distribution
Business Analysis (20%): Identification of domains of support, initial business requirements with end users, field liaison and visits
Business Support (20%): First-line support within OCA for GIS products, services and tools; technical support for GIS deployments, functional management of OCA’s GIS Specialists and Flying GIS.
Learning and Development (20%): Coordination of GIS training activities; planning and delivery of training sessions; integration of GIS into other sector trainings
Change Management and Communication (35%): Promotion of GIS products and services; identification of collaboration opportunities across sectors
GIS Strategy and Governance (5%): Participation in the GIS Working Group; coordination with the OC GIS Middle Manager on strategic GIS topics; contribution to the movement-wide GIS strategy
Main activities
At OCA Headquarters
Accountable for GIS strategy implementation in OCA and contributes to overall OC strategy elaboration
Accountable for GIS good practices implementation and contributes to their definition and documentation
Promotes GIS within OCA, in particular the 'GIS under-log' scheme
Conveys OCA's operational needs and field realities to the GIS Centre
Represents OCA in the GIS Working Group and the Stakeholders & Users Committee
Participates in the coordination of GIS trainings and is responsible for planning and delivering training sessions
Contributes to the GIS Centre annual plan of action, its definition and implementation
Manages and coordinates GIS internships and/or volunteer GIS staff within OCA
For specific sectors:
Assesses sector needs and identifies sectors for potential GIS collaboration
Integrates GIS into other sector trainings and supports cross-departmental capacity building
For field users and coordination:
Gathers and prioritises field requirements, conducting initial user requirements analysis
Liaises with the GIS Centre Product Owners for detailed requirements on complex products
Provides technical support for GIS field deployments
Ensures first-line responses to field requests and participates in support for the use of GIS tools
Monitors requests, progress of work, and delivery, ensuring that OCA's GIS operational needs are met
Internal OCA relations
Operations including ESD, OSCAR, Logistics, Medical and L&D Department, country coordination teams, regional structures, Field GIS Specialists, HQ Flying GIS
GIS Centre relations
GIS Centre Management Team, GIS Advisors, Product Owners, technical team, partner sections, GIS Working Group
External relations
GIS Centre partners (academic institutions, industry, solution vendors)
Humanitarian GIS community and external actors
GIS and geospatial conferences and networks
Candidate profile
This role is based in MSF-Netherlands HQ in The Netherlands; the candidate must be either already based in The Netherlands or willing to re-locate.
Education
University degree in geography, geomatics, spatial data science, epidemiology, or engineering
Post-graduate degree or vocational training in GIS, remote sensing, or a mapping-related discipline required
Experience
Minimum 2 years of field missions in humanitarian contexts, including emergency settings
Minimum 2 years of project management experience
Minimum 4–5 years of experience in the GIS domain, spanning multiple areas (e.g. cartography, data management, field data collection, operational analysis)
Demonstrated experience working with complex or multi-source spatial datasets in operational or field contexts
Experience with GIS platform governance, tool deployment, or data model management — asset
Experience with MSF operations (asset)
Experience in an HQ support or operational function (asset)
Skills and technical competencies
Excellent communication, coordination, and information management skills
Strong team-working capacity
Planning, organisation, and priority-setting
Analytical thinking and sound judgement
Ability to provide technical support and expert advice
Innovation and creativity in problem-solving
GIS needs assessment and requirements definition, ability to translate operational questions into spatial problems
Proficiency in GIS suites e.g ESRI (strong asset)
Languages
Fluent English (C1) - compulsory
French (B2) - compulsory
Dutch – asset
Personal qualities
Solution-oriented, pragmatic, and proactive
Good listening and analytical skills
Strong sense of organisation
Pedagogical and effective communicator
Able to work with multidisciplinary and multicultural teams
Open, curious, and adaptable
We offer
This is a permanent role. We always start off with a 12-month contract, with the intention of renewing based on performance.
A dutch contract with a gross monthly salary ranging between 4,269- and 5,877-euros gross per month. The exact salary depends on relevant work experience.
Main benefits:
30 paid vacation days annually, contingent upon full-time employment status.
A competitive pension scheme
8% holiday allowance, paid out with the salary every year in May
Commuting allowance & work from home allowance
Hybrid working option with a minimum of 3 days in the office, based on full-time employment.
Learning & Development has your back—with plenty of opportunities to grow your skills through exciting trainings and courses, both in-house and beyond
Application
If you recognise yourself in this profile, we welcome you to apply directly via our website and upload a letter of motivation + Curriculum Vitae (in English) as one combined document.
Deadline for application is
26
July 2026 at 23:59 CET.
Show more
Show less