Policy Officer – Illegal Wildlife Trade

Policy Officer – Illegal Wildlife Trade, C5(L)

The British Government is an inclusive and diversity-friendly employer.  We value difference, promote equality and challenge discrimination, enhancing our organisational capability. We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. We do not discriminate on the basis of disability, race, colour, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation, age, veteran status or other category protected by law. We promote family-friendly flexible working opportunities, where operational and security needs allow.

Job Category: Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Policy & Political roles)

Job Subcategory: Global Issues Team

Job Description (Roles and Responsibilities) 

This is a short-term policy officer role based in Hanoi, Vietnam, to provide capacity and support to the Vietnamese Government to assist in implementing wildlife trade commitments in CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) and other forums, including the actions Vietnam pledged to the Hanoi Conference on Illegal Wildlife Trade and bring forward ideas to the London Conference on IWT in 2018.

This is a fascinating policy area where the post holder will have the opportunity to work closely with a wide range of international partners and demonstrate a wide range of skills, helping to develop policy/content and strategy, securing meaningful engagement from key stakeholders.

The post holder will be based in the Vietnam CITES Management Authority (MA) Office, Vietnam Ministry for Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD,). They will also be expected to work closely with the UK Embassy in Hanoi. The role will require someone with excellent people and project management skills. They must have demonstrable knowledge of the illegal wildlife trade, ideally including in South East Asia and CITES. This role requires excellent communication skills, influencing and negotiating abilities, attention to detail, and the ability to solve problems. They will have to be able to deal with a wide range of stakeholders of varying seniority, knowledge levels and backgrounds. The policy officer will be supported by an administrative officer.

Roles and responsibilities / what will the jobholder be expected to achieve?

• You will work under the direct management of the Director of the Vietnam CITES MA and collaborate closely with Vietnam CITES MA, MARD and key international partner countries and organisations.
• Support international cooperation activities within the scope of work of Vietnam CITES MA, including support for CITE compliance and in implementing activities pledged to the Hanoi Statement. Liaise with British Embassy and London office in the handover and run up to the London Conference on IWT.
• Support the implementation of CITES in Vietnam to ensure the effectiveness of the work in tackling IWT
• Build capacity within the CITES MA and British Embassy IWT team, including Identifying and designing learning and development opportunities for embassy and CITES MA staff.
• Draft grants proposals to obtain project funds, oversee and implement projects, including evaluation of ongoing and planned project activities, and donor reports. 
• Communicate with public audiences and the media to help raise the profile of CITES MA and wildlife trade issues in Southeast Asia. Draft press releases and original content for IWT website. Keep abreast of the trends within the wildlife trade environment in Vietnam and Internationally. Provide technical inputs, vision, strategic focus, and operational guidance as necessary for the further development and implementation of CITES MA programme and projects at both country and regional levels.
• Represent Vietnam at CITES meetings and in other relevant fora, including drafting briefs and reports to meetings, interventions, preparation and presentations at side events and side meetings.  Act as international and inter-agency focal point to CITES MA: open and maintain channels of communication between CITES MA and relevant NGOs, international and regional government agencies.
• Working under the direct management of the Vietnam CITES MA for day-to-day task assignment, you will provide regular and ad-hoc reports to the Vietnam CITES MA. You will also provide support and add resilience to the work of the UK Embassy, Hanoi, including the provision of regular updates on Vietnam’s activity in the field of IWT, under the approval of the Vietnam CITES MA. You may also be required to input into other relevant briefing material.
• Other tasks as requested

Essential qualifications, skills and experience 

• Demonstrable knowledge of, and experience of working on, the issue of IWT
• Experience of working in or closely with governments, and international fora
• Knowledge and experiences in CITES

Desirable qualifications, skills and experience 

• Ability to work under pressure
• Ability to work effectively in a multi-stakeholder environment
• Ability to extend the network for international engagements

Required competencies 

Seeing the Big Picture, Leading and Communicating, Collaborating and Partnering, Engaging Internationally

Application deadline: 25 January 2018

Grade: C5 (L)

Type of Position: Fixed Term, Full-time

Working hours per week: 45

Region: Asia Pacific

Country/Territory: Vietnam

Location (City): Hanoi

Type of Post: British Embassy

Number of vacancies: 1

Starting monthly salary (VND): 100,422,000

Start Date: 26 February 2018

End Date: 25 November 2018

Other benefits and conditions of employment 

Learning and development opportunities (and any specific training courses to be completed): The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is committed to developing its staff. There will be opportunities for formal training alongside collaborating with a wide range of colleagues delivering on-the-job learning;

Additional information 

Only applications received through our web-based system will be considered. Please visit this link to apply: https://goo.gl/jp2usY

All applications must be received before 25 January 2018 at 23:55 Vietnam Standard Time.

Incomplete application forms will not be taken into consideration, so please ensure you provide the information requested. We regret to advise that we will only be contacting short-listed candidates. Applicants called for an interview will be assessed on the core competencies listed above.

Interviews for this position will commence during the week of 05 February 2018.

The successful candidate should be able to start as soon as possible.

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