Director of Development and External Relations

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an international humanitarian organization that provides impartial medical care to people affected by conflict, epidemics, disasters, or exclusion from health care in over 70 countries. We welcome candidates who bring a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences to join us in working toward MSF’s common mission.

Job Purpose and principal accountability

The purpose of this role is to mobilize Hong Kong society - public, media, institutions and communities in active support of MSF’s humanitarian medical mission, protecting MSF’s reputation and enabling engagement that converts into sustained fundraising performance across channels and donor types. The role operates at the meta level: ensuring the engagement ecosystem (Fundraising, Communications, Outreach/Events and Digital) functions as a single integrated system with shared priorities, consistent narrative, aligned KPIs, and disciplined governance.

The role is accountable for MSF Hong Kong-based public positioning, brand and narrative, income-generation performance, and data-led engagement across Hong Kong and Singapore mass-market channels. It is also the Local Spokesperson and leads crisis communications and reputation stewardship in Hong Kong. The Director leads through department heads setting direction, approving strategies, arbitrating trade-offs, and holding leaders accountable for delivery rather than directly executing campaigns or operational programmes.

1. Communications

Set and approve MSF Hong Kong’s overarching narrative and positioning ensure coherence with MSF Identity and Positioning Framework across all engagement functions
Ensure communications are designed with Fundraising and Digital to move audiences through the supporter funnel from awareness to retention
Govern brand standards, executive tone and reputational risk, acting as final approver for sensitive or high risk positioning
Define public affairs positioning and media escalation rules, act as spokesperson when needed, and ensure media strategy effectively supports agreed mobilisation outcomes
Build trust and credibility by using thought leadership and flagship content to strengthen brand affinity and drive public mobilisation
Define and govern KPIs that link communications effectiveness to mobilisation and fundraising outcomes, ensuring disciplined performance management and continuous improvement.
Lead crisis communications governance for Hong Kong, ensuring clear decision rights, fast approvals, and effective execution under Executive Director oversight

2. Fundraising & Development (Income Generation)

Review, challenge and approve the Fundraising Strategy to ensure alignment with MSF principles, section wide priorities and the overall engagement strategy
Endorse income targets, investment assumptions and KPIs, and remain accountable for fundraising performance through clear governance with the Head of Fundraising
Ensure Fundraising, Communications, Digital and Outreach operate as one end to end supporter system with clear handoffs across the funnel
Make portfolio level investment and prioritisation decisions to maximise ROI, sustainability and organisational coherence
Ensure fundraising growth complies with legal, ethical and reputational standards, escalating material risks to protect trust and independence
Own engagement wide data governance, standards and decision frameworks, while delegating fundraising system optimisation to the Head of Fundraising

3. Digital Strategy, Transformation & Oversight

Define and lead a single, coherent digital strategy across all channels and distributed owners
Set and govern digital KPIs to drive acquisition, engagement, retention, ROI and brand outcomes ensuring measurement reliability, performance cadence, and escalation routines
Consolidate and steer digital investment across teams ensuring shared platform strategy, consistent optimization principles, and avoidance of fragmented channel tactics
Ensure an integrated digital campaign operating system is in place (audience priorities, funnel design, testing roadmap, measurement standards), with delivery owned by functional leads in Fundraising/Communications/Outreach and embedded digital specialists
Translate digital performance insights into clear strategic decisions for senior leadership
Sponsor experimentation and new channel development while upholding ethical, legal and reputational safeguards

4. Financial Management & Governance

Develop, consolidate and oversee annual budgets covering fundraising, communications, digital and outreach/events ensuring alignment with the section-wide plan and strategic priorities
Identify trade-offs and reallocate resources across the portfolio to maximise efficiency and impact within approved authority
Ensure accurate forecasting and scenario planning through disciplined assumptions and escalation
Ensure legal, financial and procurement compliance across fundraising and communications
Contribute to risk management processes and ensure audit actions are completed and closed
Provide decision oriented financial and KPI reporting to governance stakeholders for scale/stop/shift decisions

5. People Leadership & Culture

Model Management Team values and behaviors that reinforce a culture of Agility, Collaboration, Collaboration, Solidarity, Integrity
Promote MSF’s humanitarian medical identity and consistently connect day-to-day work to the social mission, strengthening purpose, integrity, and pride in impact
Foster a culture of cross-team collaboration, learning, and shared accountability across Fundraising, Communications, Outreach and distributed digital capability
Enable experimentation within clear guardrails (ethics, brand, compliance), and institutionalise learning loops so evidence drives improvements (scale/stop/shift)
Lead organisational change with clarity, stable priorities and sustained delivery through improved ways of working
Coach and develop high-performing leaders; build a strong leadership bench and ensure consistent leadership standards across the engagement portfolio
Own the engagement portfolio’s performance cadence, ensuring goals, feedback and development align with MSF values and strategic priorities

6. Coordination, Escalation & Delivery Governance (Office-wide Enablement)

Define how priority segments are mobilised offline, clarifying target audiences, engagement modalities, and each activity’s role in the supporter journey
Set and approve the portfolio strategy for major events, ensuring each activity contributes measurably to the overall engagement strategy
Set clear upfront success metrics for all outreach and events, linking outcomes to agreed KPIs and measurement plans
Hold the Outreach team accountable for delivery, budgets, risks and learning, ensuring strong alignment with Communications, Digital and Fundraising
Ensure post-event evaluation is systematic, and translate findings into portfolio decisions to improve effectiveness over time
Sponsor new offline platforms and approaches to expand reach and deepen mobilisation, while safeguarding narrative coherence, ethics and mission integrity
Represent MSF in priority local and international forums to inspire, mobilise support and advance strategic objectives
Act as the default Local Spokesperson for high-impact outreach moments, signature events and sensitive topics, upholding MSF principles and reputational safeguards

The Ideal Candidate 

Relevant academic background (Master’s or equivalent preferred) in Business Administration, Marketing, Communications, or a related field
Senior leadership experience leading multi-disciplinary teams through change (communications, fundraising, digital/marketing)
Demonstrated success designing and delivering integrated engagement strategies with measurable outcomes (income, engagement, brand)
Strong performance management capability: KPIs, forecasting, budget oversight, and corrective actions
Deep understanding of best practice digital engagement and marketing, including acquisition/retention, ROI measurement and experimentation
Strong communications leadership: narrative strategy, media/PR management, crisis communications, and executive counsel on reputation risk
Track record of data-led decision making; ability to establish data governance, integrity and effective use of insights
Excellent written and spoken English; Cantonese and/or Mandarin desirable depending on audience and spokesperson needs (TBC).
Commitment to MSF’s mission, principles and values
Compliance with MSF policies and any applicable local employment/operational requirements
Experience in humanitarian/INGO sector and/or large-scale mass-market fundraising
Experience working across multiple markets (HK + Singapore) and complex stakeholder environments.
Established media network and spokesperson experience on complex issues
Advanced degree or equivalent experience in a relevant discipline

This role is recruited on a rolling basis and applications will close once the right candidate is found. Early applications are strongly encouraged.

How To Apply

MSF Hong Kong will offer a remuneration package of 12 months basic salary benchmarked in INGO with no discretionary bonus. Interested parties, please send your letter of motivation, full resume, expected salary and date of earliest availability by e-mail to recruitment@hongkong.msf.org. All information collected is solely for recruitment purpose and will be treated in strict confidence. Please read the “Personal Information Collection Statement” before providing any personal data to Médecins Sans Frontières (HK) Limited.

MSF HK&F is committed to zero-tolerance of abusive behaviours including sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment (SEAH), harassment, discrimination, exploitation, aggression, abuses of power and resources, and misconduct related to case management. All offers of employment will be subject to satisfactory references and appropriate screening checks. By submitting an application, candidates acknowledge and accept this recruitment procedures.

MSF HK&F acknowledges the principles of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the workplace. We actively encourage applications from individuals of all backgrounds, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, or any other personal characteristics. We value the unique perspectives and experiences that each person brings and strive to create an environment where everyone feels respected, supported, and empowered to thrive.