Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF WaCA) is recruiting a Community Engagement Officer for its Emergency Pool, based in Abidjan, in Ivory Coast. The position is on a 100% renewable fixed-term contract, with start-up as soon as possible and deployments at short notice in all areas of the organization. The application deadline is 8 November 2026 at 18:00 GMT.
Presentation of MSF WaCA
Established in 2019, MSF WaCA is MSF’s first headquarters in Africa. It was born from the desire to reinvent the movement after more than 50 years of humanitarian action, with more access to care, more responsiveness and more proactivity. MSF, founded in 1971 and awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1999, provides assistance to people affected by conflict, epidemics, disasters or exclusion from health care.
The organization affirms an African roots and values local expertise. It strongly encourages applications from women and persons with disabilities, and applies the principles of Safe Recruitment, which ensure transparent, fair and respectful processes.
Your mission in the Emergency Pool
The person in charge ensures that every MSF WaCA emergency response is understood, accepted and co-constructed with communities from the very first days. The emergencies concerned are epidemics, population displacements, conflicts, natural disasters and nutritional crises.
He or she designs and manages the community engagement strategy, from entering the community to passing. The aim is for people to be informed, listened to and involved in alerting, access to care, prevention and feedback. This approach reinforces MSF’s acceptance, the safety of teams and the medical impact of the response.
The position is attached to the Emergency Coordinator (or Emergency Project Coordinator). It receives technical support from the Community Engagement Referent.
Key responsibilities
Community entry and acceptance (from the first 72 hours to 2 weeks)
Carry out a rapid evaluation of community engagement: legitimate interlocutors, existing relays, perceptions of the crisis and MSF, barriers to access to care. Conduct introductory meetings with community leaders and authorities, and negotiate acceptance and access with the Emergency Coordinator. Translate findings into operational recommendations: location of sites, schedules, patient circuits, staff profile, key messages.
Community Emergency Engagement Strategy
Develop the action plan (objectives, target groups, activities, indicators, resources, budget) and integrate it into the response plan. Apply the minimum community engagement package urgently and adapt it to the type of crisis: cholera, measles, meningitis, Ebola, mpox, diphtheria, displacement, conflicts, floods. Co-construct, pre-test and adjust health promotion messages with communities. Support mass activities (vaccination, active case finding, distributions) and manage refusals and hesitations.
Community Alert, Rumors and Feedback
Establish with the epidemiology and medical teams a community alert system based on relays and key informants. Monitor rumors, analyze trends every week and respond quickly to misinformation. Create an accessible, secure and confidential complaints and feedback mechanism from the outset, tailored to people with disabilities, and direct sensitive complaints to appropriate channels.
Inclusion, protection and dignity
Ensure the participation of marginalized groups in consultations and decisions. Integrate gender, protection and the "do no harm" principle into all activities. Facilitate community dialogue in situations of tension, with the Emergency Coordinator and the Security Focal Point.
Team management
Recruit, train, supervise and support the community engagement team: supervisors, health promoters, community relays, mobilizers. Organize daily planning, field supervision and debriefings. Evaluate performance and identify potential profiles for the emergency pool.
Coordination, reporting and handover
Bring the community perspective into everyday decisions with medical, epidemiology, Watsan, logistics, HR, security and communication teams. Represent MSF, if relevant, in the coordination mechanisms in CREC and accountability. Monitor indicators, contribute to sitreps and prepare exit strategy. Document lessons learned to enrich MSF WaCA’s emergency tools.
Candidate profile
Education: University degree (Bachelor or Master) in public health, community health, social sciences (anthropology, sociology), communication for development or equivalent field. Training in CREC or emergency community engagement is a major asset.
Experience: 2 to 5 years in community engagement, health promotion, CREC or accountability, including at least 2 years in emergency humanitarian response; proven experience in responding to epidemics and/or acute crises; experience in setting up feedback mechanisms and community alert systems; experience managing multidisciplinary and multicultural field teams. Prior experience with MSF or another international humanitarian organization is a major asset, as is an experience in West and Central Africa.
Skills: Community-centred posture, based on listening and co-construction; work under pressure in an insecure context; mastery of participatory rapid assessment tools, rumour monitoring and feedback mechanisms; negotiation, mediation and diplomacy; management, training and rapid team building; analysis and writing; availability for short notice deployments, adherence to MSF principles, the Code of Conduct and prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse (AS).
Languages: French current essential, English of professional level. Knowledge of local languages in the intervention areas is an asset.
Information technology: Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, SharePoint). Mobile data collection tools (KoBoToolbox/ODK) are an asset.
Our advice for a successful application at MSF WaCA
Place your emergency experiences at the top of the CV. Detail the outbreaks or crises you have worked on, your duties, the size of your teams and the results achieved. Give concrete cases of feedback and alerting: if you have set up a complaints mechanism or a community alert system, describe it (context, tools, results). Show that you are co-building with communities, for example with a case where listening to a group changed an operational decision. Highlight your availability for short notice deployments in the cover letter. Take up the vocabulary of the trade: CREC, accountability, PEAS, acceptance and KoBoToolbox/ODK must appear when they correspond to your practice. Value your languages: French and English are required, and any local language spoken in the intervention areas counts.
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