Program Officer

Vacancy Announcement

Position: Program Officer

Reports to: Law Enforcement Assistance (LEA) Team Leader

Location: Ha Noi

Country Program: Viet Nam

Team/Division: Law Enforcement Assistance

Position Type: Full-time

Internal liaison: WCS Viet Nam’s Team Leaders, regional CWT team

Expected travel: Approximately 50%

Organization Background:

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is a US non-profit, tax-exempt, private organization established in 1895 that saves wildlife and wild places by understanding critical issues, crafting science-based solutions, and taking conservation actions that benefit nature and humanity. With more than a century of experience, long-term commitments in dozens of landscapes, presence in nearly 60 nations, and experience helping to establish over 150 protected areas across the globe, WCS has amassed the biological knowledge, cultural understanding and partnerships to ensure that vibrant, wild places and wildlife thrive alongside local communities. Working with local communities and organizations, that knowledge is applied to address species, habitat and ecosystem management issues critical to improving the quality of life of poor rural people whose livelihoods depend on the direct utilization of natural resources.

WCS Viet Nam Program Overview:

WCS has been working in Viet Nam since 2006, focusing on strengthening the commitment, capacity and actions of the government of Vietnam to combat wildlife trafficking. Through support and cooperation to executive and judiciary sectors, including Ministry of Public Security, Supreme People’s Court, Supreme People’s Procuracy, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and the National Assembly, it has provided and shared intelligence on criminal wildlife networks which help generate well-informed decisions in enforcement operations. WCS Viet Nam have generated a wide range of reliable data on a number of related issues on illegal wildlife trade, trained and briefed about 3,300 law enforcement officers, policy makers, journalist, researcher and managers at nation-wide in investigation and enforcement techniques, legal barriers and distributed a number of technical handbooks and guides. It has assisted central agencies to review and propose necessary changes to national legislation, criminal intelligence analysis systems, inter-agency cooperation. WCS has also facilitated Government to Government dialogue through multilateral and bi-lateral collaboration efforts, between Viet Nam and Asian, African and Latin American countries, to detect and response to illegal wildlife trade networks. Its wildlife health expertise has been leveraged to address unregulated wildlife trade and mitigation of pandemic threats, through collaborative research, training, and policy development.

Job Summary:

The Program Officer will be an important part of the WCS Viet Nam Counter Wildlife Trafficking (CWT) Team, helping to form strong relationships with trusted law enforcement partners in support of identifying and dismantling Wildlife Trafficking Networks. The Program Officer will be one of a few who will be responsible for maintaining wildlife trafficking data, following up and verifying from different sources including other WCS offices and/or trusted law enforcement partners. This position requires self-motivation and innovative thinking, supporting WCS CWT Teams in a single mission of disrupting and dismantling illegal wildlife trafficking networks.

Responsibilities:

Establishes and maintains working relationships with trusted law enforcement partners.
Conducts internet-based open source research gathering information about wildlife trafficking activities in support of other WCS Offices and trusted partners;
Monitors wildlife trafficking data in coordination with trusted partners; tracking the process from the point of information sharing to the investigation, prosecution and conviction, as appropriate;
Develops and monitors projects and their work-plan and budget;
Contributes to project-tracking and performance reporting for law enforcement assistance activities
Performs other tasks as assigned by the direct supervisor.

Minimum Requirements:

Vietnamese national with a minimum a four-year college/university degree; or masters degree.
Minimum two years of surveying, monitoring experience in any of the following: wildlife trafficking, human trafficking, drug trafficking, arms trafficking and anti-terrorism subject.
Proficient in written and verbal communication skills in the English language.
A good command of another language, e.g. Chinese, French, Portuguese, would be an advantage;
Ability to work in a team atmosphere.
Self-motivation, minimal supervision and good organization, time management skills.
Fluency in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint);
Knowledge of analysis software or GIS application is an advantage.

Application Process: Interested candidates, who meet the above qualifications should apply online via this link: https://forms.gle/1Kzq7F7ruY4R3jxX7 latest by 23:59 of 22 Feb 2020.

WCS is an equal opportunity employer and the organization complies with all employment and labor laws and regulations that prohibit discrimination in hiring and ensures that candidates from all backgrounds are fairly and consistently considered during the recruitment process. We are dedicated to hiring and supporting a diverse workforce. We are committed to cultivating an inclusive work environment and look for future team members who share that same value. The organization provides equal employment opportunities for all qualified candidates. The organization does not discriminate for employment based on age, color, disability, gender identify, national origin, race, religion, sexual orientation, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by laws and regulations.

Tags: WCS