GIS Advisor

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. 

 

Information 

If you are interested in this post and would like additional information, please contact Ali Hamdan (Recruitment Specialist) at ali.hamdan@amsterdam.msf.org