TRAFFIC, the international wildlife trade monitoring network, works to ensure that trade in wild animals and plants is not a threat to the conservation of nature. We actively monitor and investigate wildlife trade and provide information to diverse audiences worldwide as a basis for effective conservation policies and programmes. TRAFFIC is a strategic alliance of the World-Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). It is organised into six regional programmes.
The Khetha Programme will co-ordinate a consortium of partners in creating enhanced regional coordination around shared resources based on effective implementation of community based natural resource management policies, improved law enforcement and interagency co-operation. Activities will focus on enhanced community-based approaches to address illegal wildlife trade and providing support to law enforcement and will be implemented through a range of civil society and government partnerships through the support of USAID.
TRAFFIC’s role in the Khetha Programme is to provide oversight and leadership on wildlife trafficking research initiatives that will raise awareness of illegal wildlife trade within the criminal justice systems of South Africa and Mozambique and provide information that support the efforts of relevant agencies and other stakeholders. TRAFFIC will primarily collaborate with WWF Mozambique (WWF-MZ), the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) and government partners in both Mozambique and South Africa.

LOCATION: Given the Covid situation, there is some flexibility on location of the position. As the level of effort will primarily be on research conducted in Mozambique, the Project Manager will ideally be based close to the WWF South Africa office in White River.

Characteristic Duties

The successful candidate will manage research on illegal wildlife trade in priority species within Mozambique, guide similar work in South Africa, coordinate research activities in both countries and guide dissemination of the results to inform mitigation efforts. Based on research findings, the executant will collaborate with other consortium partners and ensure efficiency in project implementation.


Specific Duties

1. Oversee targeted research into trade dynamics of products associated with priority species from GLTFCA, with a focus on elephants and rhino.
• Assist partners in ongoing research design and planning for studies on illegal wildlife trade dynamics to guide law enforcement efforts;
• Facilitate training of project staff;
• Support development of questionnaires, memoranda of understanding, letters to government officials and other stakeholders, and provide guidance on methods of engagement with research target groups or individuals;
• Manage data entry processes into the TRAFFIC Wildlife Trade Information Management System (WiTIS) including the validation and cleaning of data;
• Conduct analysis on CITES and Customs data and provide support on data analysis;
• Support TRAFFIC analysts in the analysis of relevant WiTIS data, including the development of maps, link-charts and similar visualisations of quantitative data;
• Assist in the sourcing and entry into WiTIS of incident data and in the analysis of wildlife trade linked to e-commerce and social media platforms
• Provide guidance to CITES Scientific and Management Authorities in both countries on implementation linked to Khetha Programme priority species.

2. Identify and share tools and approaches for relevant partners to use in investigations and prosecutions to address the wildlife trafficking issues identified in the research activities under the project.
• Identify and collaborate with existing and potential partners working on wildlife trafficking to assist in Programme activities (UNODC, ICCWC, ARINSA, TRACE and others), and facilitate collaboration with Khetha implementing partners;
• Engage with international institutions and networks linked to wildlife forensics, chain of custody, evidence handling and crime scene investigations and facilitate collaboration with Khetha implementing partners;
• Assess opportunities for use of new tools and processes supportive of tackling wildlife crime such as tracking financial flows, addressing money laundering and the use of asset forfeiture;
• Provide guidance to Khetha implementing partners and other stakeholders on key tools, processes and initiatives, linked to illegal wildlife trade including:
a. Internet based tools and training or awareness programmes
b. Land, sea and air port related tools and systems
c. Policy and legal tools such as prevention of organised crime legislation
d. SADC-TWIX
e. Best practise approaches in anti-corruption efforts
• Provide guidance and support on illegal wildlife trade related awareness-raising initiatives for criminal justice system officials in both countries.

3. Provide programme management support from TRAFFIC into the broader Khetha Programme
• Travel to Maputo, Mozambique on a regular basis to provide support to the WWF MZ wildlife trade officer;
• Provide guidance and support in the design, development and review of written and other project outputs including but not limited to Power Point presentations, short papers, reports and posters;
• Manage the translation process (English/Portuguese) for all data, documents, reports and other written outputs under the research programme of work;
• Support and consolidate relationships with potential project collaborators;
• Monitor adherence to TRAFFIC’s research and data management protocols;
• Prepare project technical reports for submission and collaborate with the TRAFFIC Senior Finance Officer on project financial reports;
• Provide necessary monitoring and evaluation information as indicators and participate in monthly MEL processes;
• Work closely with the WWF southern Africa wildlife trafficking technical hub lead on activities in the landscape;
• Participate in Khetha Management Committees meetings, Technical Committee meetings, Regional Learning meetings and other processes as appropriate.