Program Officer

Position: Program officer 
Affiliation: Wildlife Conservation Society – Vietnam Program 

Background:  

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is a US nonprofit, tax-exempt, private organization 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, and presence in 64 nations, 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 has been working to address wildlife trade in Vietnam for nearly a decade by developing broad relationships with the Forest Protection Department (FPD), CITES Management Authority (MA), Police, Customs, the Supreme People’s Procuracy, and many other agencies and individuals. We have established a well-respected presence in the country, and have generated a wide range of reliable data on a number of wildlife trade issues, including commercial wildlife farming, illegal wildlife trade dynamics in Southern and Central Vietnamese provinces, and cross-border trade with China in Quang Ninh Province. We have trained over 750 law enforcement officers from a range of agencies in wildlife crime investigation and enforcement techniques, and distributed a number of technical handbooks and guides. We have assisted central agencies to review and propose criminal intelligence analysis systems, inter-agency agreements, and national legislation, and have supported bi-lateral dialogues between Vietnam, Lao PDR, Cambodia, and Indonesia

Scope of work:  The Program Officer is responsible for projects addressing  the cross-border wildlife  trafficking from  Vietnam  to  China including the planning, design, implementation, and monitoring of project activities.  

Main responsibilities: The Program officer is responsible for executing assigned works in the following fields to ensure the program and projects in northern Vietnam and bordering areas with China function smoothly and at maximum effectiveness: 

•  Development  and  implementation  of  activities  to  strengthen  law  enforcement  of  the  illegal wildlife trade in Vietnam  (e.g.  training  programs, information management, inter-agency co-operation  mechanisms,  wildlife trade and law enforcement effectiveness  monitoring  systems,  coordination of wildlife trade surveys and  investigation, guidelines  for  placement  of confiscated animals);
•  Development  and  implementation  of  surveys  into  the  wildlife  trade  in  Vietnam  to  provide reliable data for the formulation/revision of policies and interventions for tackling illegal trade;  
•  Provide high quality written technical reports and summaries in English and Vietnamese;
•  Technical  and  creative  input  to  the  development  of  WCS  program  activities,  projects  and strategies (including activity planning, design, budgeting, and fundraising) in Vietnam;
•  Ensure internal and external reporting (financial and narrative) is completed to schedule;
•  Development and maintenance of good relationships with local partners/stakeholders;  •  Act as WCS’s representative at provincial and national level as required;

Duty station:  Hanoi (40% travel to Quang Ninh, Hai Phong and Lang Son)
Start date: June 2014

Desired qualifications:  

This position is for a Vietnamese national with a University degree in a related field with good English and Vietnamese language skills and at least 2 years of work experience in a similar position with an international organization or NGO. In addition, candidates with the following competencies are preferred:  

•  Work experience in the environment/development sector or law enforcement agency; 
•  Experience in financial/staff management, fundraising and donor reporting; 
•  Knowledge  on  illegal  trafficking  of  wildlife  or  other  black  market  commodities  (e.g.  Humans, narcotics, weapons); 
•  Ability and experience with relevant government agencies, donors and other partners; 
•  Advanced computer skills (e.g. Statistics programs, GIS). 

Interested applicants should send a cover letter and current CV to:  

Ms. Nguyen Thu My– Finance & Human Resource Officer 
Wildlife Conservation Society, Room 1302, Thanh Cong tower, 57 Lang Ha, Ba Dinh, Hanoi 
Email: [email protected]  

Deadline for Applications: 30 May 2014 

Only short listed candidates will be contacted