Design officer

MSF develops medical-operational guidelines to support staff in providing quality health care and rapid emergency response in humanitarian contexts for over 25 years. MSF international guidelines are regularly updated and published in digital and print. They are based on extensive practical experience from MSF programs, recommendations published by the World Health Organisation and other leading medical institutions, and evidence based on research and scientific literature. The International Guideline Publications (IGP) team was established to ensure the quality production of MSF guidelines. There are currently around 30 international guidelines in the MSF guidelines library, accessible at medicalguidelines.msf.org, some produced in multiple languages (English, French, Spanish, Arabic) and a selection with open access to the public.

The Design officer is a member of the International Guidelines Publication team of MSF International. They are under the direct supervision of and report to the Guidelines team’s Manager. Collaboration with the Guideline’s team members and the IGP stakeholders is essential.       

The Design Officer is responsible for ensuring high quality design, layout, and publication of MSF’s international guidelines in both print and digital formats. The role primarily focuses on desktop publishing (DTP) activities and contributes to improving the clarity, consistency, and usability of guideline content. The Design Officer liaises with the printing agency on technical aspects of printing and publication.

The position provides design support to IGP team members, offers guidance and training on the use of the content management system and gives input into the improvement of design, layout, and publishing workflows.

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• Carry out desktop publishing (DTP) work for MSF’s medical operational guidelines (typically 200–500 pages), integrating large volumes of text, tables, figures, algorithms, and references;

• Design, develop, and maintain layout templates and style frameworks for current and future guidelines, ensuring consistency across print and digital formats;

• Import, format, and style content according to defined typographic standards (fonts, sizes, styles, columns, spacing), ensuring consistency and readability;

• Apply advanced longdocument layout techniques (master pages, paragraph and character styles, automated tables of contents, indexes, crossreferences, footnotes/endnotes);

• Conduct thorough self‑review and quality checks of all DTP and layout work prior to submission for review and validation;

• Optimise layout systems and workflows to support efficient updates, reuse, and long‑term maintenance of guideline documents;

• Support the production and maintenance of multilingual versions of guidelines, ensuring consistency across languages and formats;

• Ensure high quality of final documents;

• Manage files related to layout updates, revisions, and new editions, ensuring consistency and accuracy.

• Prepare and convert final documents for printing, ensuring compliance with technical and quality standards;

• Communicate printing specifications for new guidelines (colour, binding, paper, etc.) to the printer and request press proofs prior to printing;

• Review and validate press proofs to ensure accuracy and quality before production.

• Publish digital versions of the guidelines through the CMS;

• Update the ‘Updates’ page and publish guideline updates;

• Ensure that guidelines ready for order are uploaded to the external sales platform and that all related information is accurate;

• Liaise with the printing agency to ensure consistent print quality, including participation in regular quality review meetings.

• Provide design support to authors and editors, advising on the use of visual aids (graphs, infographics, flow charts) to enhance guideline content;

• Redesign and improve existing graphical elements to ensure clarity and effectiveness;

• Conduct user testing to understand user needs and behaviours and assess proposed improvements prior to publication;

• Propose and develop new digital and print design outputs to meet project requirements;

• Liaise with external providers and the IGP Manager to explore and implement improvements to print and digital guideline products;

• Work closely with the Digital Platform Officer to deploy improvements on the website and application;

• Create visual communication materials, availability permitting.

• Prepare layout templates and instructions for authors, editors, and translators;

• Create and update documentation on the use of the content management system;

• Provide training, guidance, and support to the team and other CMS users.

• Participate proactively in bi‑weekly meetings and provide regular updates on progress;

• Contribute to the annual Guidelines team plan of action and multi‑year planning;

• Participate in budget forecasting, mid‑term reviews, and reporting;

• Contribute to transversal projects within the Guidelines team.