Job purpose and context

Since its establishment in 2018, MSF Lebanon has transitioned from a regional hub to a recognized institutional entity, focusing on Lebanon's medical, communications, human resources, operational support, and advocacy potential. The team has made substantial progress in rooting MSF in Lebanon and the MENA region, building its identity and Arabic voice, and contributing to the development of its international mobile workforce. MSF Lebanon has defined the following 3 overarching strategic pillars:

1. Institutional Rooting, ensuring that key target audiences recognize and accept MSF as a well-known, credible, trustworthy, and independent medical humanitarian organization in Lebanon and the wider MENA/WANA region. 

2. Operational Support, providing relevant technical and strategic support to operations, benefiting from the expertise and resources available in the region. 

3. Movement Contribution, launching and supporting initiatives to optimize resources and improve intersectional collaboration in and from the MENA/WANA region to enhance MSF operations.  

Today MSF Lebanon consists of a Human Resources team with a core mandate to secure and develop a mobile workforce from the region deployable to MSF operations worldwide, a Communications team that provides communication advisory and capacity to meet MSF’s institutional and support operational communication needs, a Finance, Compliance and Support team who is responsible for the financial reporting and operational legality of the BO together with intersectional facility management; a Medical Support Unit with a speciality in Epidemiology and Public Health Policy Advocacy, in addition to a growing operational support team including a decentralized medical unit (MEMU) that is focused on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) in MSF’s global portfolio in addition to a regional technical support team (METSU). 

MSF Lebanon comprises of around 50 staff (including decentralized positions) from which most of them are located in Beirut with a smaller team in Cairo.

The Communications and Media officer is part of the MSF’s Lebanon Branch Office Communications and Public Engagement department and reports to the Regional Media Manager.

Under the supervision of the Regional Media Manager the main purpose of the role is to:

• Contribute to the implementation of the media engagement strategy. This includes developing and maintaining a media network of local, regional, and international journalists in Lebanon, Egypt, and the MENA region in collaboration with MSF’s press officers in Dubai, and Amman, and engaging effectively with journalists to ensure proper dissemination of MSF content in traditional and new media.
• Contribute to media monitoring, and develop media mapping for specific countries in the MENA.
• Support MSF's operations in Egypt and Lebanon by facilitating the implementation of their communication activities, which include content production, media relations, digital dissemination, and event management, among others. 

Accountabilities
Media Relations:

• Ensure the timely and effective dissemination of MSF public communications content to local, regional, and international outlets, including press releases, emergency updates, articles, and other materials.
• Act as a point of contact for local and regional media inquiries, ensuring timely and accurate responses.
• Liaise with MSF’s operational communications colleagues in the MENA region and around the world to channel specific media requests and identify relevant spokespeople. 
• If needed, adapt MSF’s communication products for media use by editing, repackaging, and contextualizing content to meet the needs and formats of diverse media channels.
• Proactively identify opportunities for covering MSF’s stories and news by leveraging existing MSF content and generating new, region-specific thematic. 
• When needed, draft press releases, op-eds, media briefings, and other communication materials.
• Facilitate journalists’ field visits to MSF projects in collaboration with MSF’s operational communications team. 
• Organize media briefings, press conferences, and other media activities.

Digital integration:

• Strengthen MSF’s digital presence by leveraging media relationships to publish MSF news on their digital platforms.
• Ensure a cohesive approach to traditional and digital media engagement, optimizing content for online distribution.
• Develop collaborative initiatives with media organizations, including co-branded campaigns, feature stories, and special reports.

Monitoring and Reporting:

• Regularly monitor MSF’s mentions in local and regional media, providing comprehensive weekly press reviews that highlight key political, humanitarian, and health-related news in the region.
• Evaluate the performance and impact of media strategies, producing regular reports on media coverage, key metrics, and qualitative analysis of MSF’s visibility.
• Develop reports on the media and communications landscape relevant to MSF, identifying misinformation, disinformation, and narratives that could impact MSF’s reputation and perception.

Operational Communications support:

• In close coordination with the Communications Adviser and the Head of Mission, contribute to the implementation of the communications strategy for the Egypt mission, including identifying opportunities to communicate.
• Contribute to/or coordinate the production of communication activities, tools, and products (press releases, leaflets, brochures, posters, radio spots, articles, photos, videos, and events), based on the mission needs. 
• Process media inquiries related to MSF’s mission in Egypt, monitor and report on local media, and flag significant articles, trends, news, or reports of importance for MSF.

Other 

• Provide media and communication briefings to MSF’s staff and spokespeople.
• Work closely with the international recruitment team and medical department to coordinate media engagement activities responding to their needs.

Provide direct support to MSF’s operational communications teams in Lebanon, MENA and beyond through detachment or gap-fill opportunities.

Key Interactions

Internal stakeholders: Communications Team members, BO departments (Medical, HR, Advocacy); operational communications team in Lebanon, MENA, and around the world, MENA Press officers Working Group, MENA Coms Hubs; MSF media teams around the world. Operational and Medical teams in Egypt.

External stakeholders: Journalists, editors, correspondents, media influencers, freelancers.