Chief Operating Officer
About The Position
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an independent international organization that provides medical care to the people who need it most. The organization cares for people affected by conflict, disease outbreaks, disasters, and social exclusion in more than 70 countries. MSF offers medical humanitarian assistance solely based on need, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, or politics. Our international project teams include medical, logistical, and administrative staff, most of them hired locally and working with their own communities. Our actions are guided by medical ethics and the principles of independence, impartiality, and neutrality. We also bear witness and speak out about the experiences of our colleagues and patients. MSF USA is one of 24 sections supporting the global movement, primarily through staff recruitment, fundraising, advocacy, and communications. We welcome candidates who bring a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences to join us in working toward MSF’s social mission. Role Overview The Chief Operating Officer (COO) is a core member of MSF USA’s executive leadership team. The COO provides enterprise-level leadership across all operational functions, ensuring that MSF USA’s systems, processes, and infrastructure support its mission, scale, and future sustainability. This role is responsible for MSF USA’s day-to-day operations, providing oversight of the full suite of internal operational functions, including, but not limited to, finance, procurement, technology, systems, and facilities. The COO leads through complexity, champions cross-functional coordination, and ensures that MSF USA delivers with integrity, efficiency, and equity. The COO also partners closely with the Board of Directors and the Association, advising on risk, governance, and performance, and serves as a visible and influential voice in institutional planning and organizational stewardship.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree required, graduate degree in management, public administration, finance, systems, or related field preferred.
- Minimum 10 years in senior internal operational leadership roles within a complex nonprofit, global organization, or hybrid environment.
- Demonstrated experience overseeing finance, systems, procurement, and digital operations at an enterprise level.
- Strong change leadership experience, particularly across systems transformation, risk management, and organizational design.
- Proven success partnering with Boards of Directors and executive leaders on governance, risk, and strategy.
- Experience managing and mentoring senior-level operational leaders.
- Deep commitment to ADEI&B and embedding equity principles into operational strategy and design.
- Familiarity with international humanitarian organizations or mission-driven global systems.
Responsibilities
- Lead and oversee MSF USA's daily operations, ensuring functional excellence and alignment across internal systems.
- Ensure that core operating areas; including HR, legal, finance, procurement, technology, risk, and facilitiesfunction in a coordinated and scalable way.
- Serve as a key thought partner to the core MT, contributing to strategic planning, institutional transformation, and governance engagement.
- Partner with the Board of Directors, presenting updates on internal operational performance, institutional risk, and strategic alignment.
- Provide executive oversight for enterprise-level initiatives such as systems modernization, operational risk mitigation, and organizational readiness.
- Support internal accountability frameworks, cross-departmental coordination, and internal crisis response infrastructure.
- Supervise the senior leadership of the internal operations functions
- Strengthen equity-centered operational practices, integrating ADEI&B into MSF USA’s systems, processes, and decision-making.
Stand Out From the Crowd
Upload your resume and get instant feedback on how well it matches this job.
What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Executive
Number of Employees
5,001-10,000 employees
