MSF Ubuntu OD Council Support Officer at Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF)

About MSF Ubuntu

The MSF movement is a vibrant movement made up of people from all corners of the world, who share a common purpose. These people come together into associations –owned by members. The associations make sure that MSF remains true to its purpose, principles and values and help shape the future of the MSF Movement. MSF Ubuntu is a proposed new Operational Directorate (OD), with association members from MSF Southern Africa and Eastern Africa.  The members elect the Board of Directors who then form a Council, who govern on their behalf. The OD Council is the main governing body for MSF Ubuntu. It appoints the Executive Director, provides oversight and guidance for MSF Ubuntu and works to guarantee that the MSF principles are respected. The Council delegates implementation of the strategy to the Executive Director and management team (MT), who run the organizations’ day-to-day.

Rationale/Objective for Position

The Council Support Officer role works closely with the Co-Chairs of the MSF Ubuntu and the chairs of different council sub-committees to enable the council members to exercise their legal obligations for the oversight of the organization. The Council Support Officers works closely with the executive to ensure there is effective council/executive communication and that decision making is informed in a timely and accurate way. The Council Support Officer is also responsible for administrative support to council members as required.

The Council Support Officer also liaises with the association leads of MSF EA and South Africa to coordinate member engagement and ensure synergy between Ubuntu associative activities and that of the respective associations.

This position will be hierarchically and functionally accountable to the MSF Ubuntu OD Council.

Tasks & Responsibilities

• Agenda setting, collation of meeting papers, preparation of minutes and maintenance of the action log to ensure that Council meetings (in person, hybrid and fully remote) are efficient, productive and enable the council members to exercise their legal obligations in the running of MSF Ubuntu.
• Provide administrative support to council members as required (e.g. travel arrangements, diary management for MSF Ubuntu engagements) to ensure that council members are able to participate fully in MSF Ubuntu governance activities.
• Maintain high standards of document control and ensure quality archiving of meeting papers and minutes, while responding to requests for documentation.
• Lead continuous improvement projects to identify enhancements in MSF Ubuntu's processes related to the Council.
• Supporting, facilitating, and coordinating the development and drafting of policies directly affecting council members, ensuring fairness between policies for council members and staff, while acknowledging justified variations. This ensures the creation of a coherent suite of policies for council members that aligns with the broader MSF Ubuntu policy framework.
• Plan the annual governance calendar ensuring that key governance moments are scheduled throughout the year to coordinate effectively with MSF Ubuntu’s planning and reporting cycles and to enable the council members to meet their legal and regulatory obligations in the running of the organisation.
• Secretariat to the council sub-committees (eg Audit and Risk Committee, Nominations Committee, Remuneration Committee, Safeguarding and Duty of Care Committee, Motions Committee etc) including agenda setting, collation of meeting papers, preparation of minutes and maintenance of the action log to support the effective governance and decision-making where functions have been delegated from the Council to Council sub-Committees.
• Support council members onboarding and development, with a view to ensuring that the council has access to capacity building required to effectively run the organization and work with council members to identify and implement appropriate learning and development for council members to ensure that the council continues to be effective.
• Support the council's social engagement and the internal communication needs of the Chair and council, including maintaining up-to-date governance information on the MSF Ubuntu website and internal portal. 
• Fulfill other responsibilities or project work within the Governance and Associative teams of MSF Southern and Eastern Africa, supporting team members as needed to contribute to the overall success of the function. 

Qualifications

Experience

• Qualification in, or experience of governance, servicing Board and committees, ideally within a charity or not-for- profit setting,
• Experience of maintaining systems and records in a governance or committee environment.
• Experience of taking minutes at formal board or management level meetings.
• Planning skills particularly scheduling the flow of business through governance structures.
• Knowledge of governance structures and inter-dependencies within a multi-centric or similarly complex organization.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in the English language including the production of briefings, governance papers, policies and internal communications and quality assuring that produced by others.
• Experience in the practical use of personal IT equipment and Microsoft Office 365 suite. Ability to effectively collaborate and communicate within a hybrid working environment utilising Teams, SharePoint, One Drive and Yammer.

Competencies

• Ability to work autonomously and to deadlines, prioritizing own workload and multi-task. Prioritize competing demands and manage expectations from multiple stakeholders.
• Ability to work autonomously and to deadlines.
• Ability to navigate boundaries between executive and governance responsibilities appropriately and sensitively.
• Ability to actively listen, understand and accommodate the views of others while still achieving policy objectives and asserting legal, regulatory, contractual or other non-negotiable points tactfully.
• Ability to work flexibly switching between topics as required.
• Ability to remain focused and calm under pressure in order to deal with ambiguities and conflict.
• Interpersonal and oral communication skills, with proven ability to work cooperatively in a networked organisation.
• Ability to build and maintain effective working relationships with colleagues across the organisation using diplomacy, tact and empathy.
• Ability to think systemically and structure information and work flow.
• Ethical judgement, critical thinking and ability to analyse risk and issues to produce recommendations.