The illegal trade in wildlife and wildlife products has grown exponentially in recent years, largely driven by corruption and weak governance, rising demand in Asia, growing wealth, and expanding trade routes. Wildlife traffickers exploit the increasing connectivity of global transportation and gaps in law enforcement to minimize the risk of detection and undermine the rule of law.

High value goods such as rhino horn are primarily trafficked in air transport. As Africa is home to significant rhino populations, Southern and Eastern African airports are particularly vulnerable to wildlife trafficking and compromised governance due to the risk of corruption.

This project will improve the detection of trafficked products at points of departure through the use of automated detection technology. This project aligns with the South Africa, Kenya, and Namibia government’s efforts to address wildlife trafficking and in particular rhino poaching and horn trafficking as a priority crime. The key enforcement stakeholders in these countries regarding wildlife crime and anti-smuggling will either be directly engaged or coordinated with, depending on their roles and responsibilities.

The overall goal of this project is to reduce the ability of criminal groups to carry out and profit from poaching and trafficking of protected animals and their body parts originating from or transiting Africa.

Characteristic Duties:

The successful candidate will carry out technical and logistical project work and coordinate the planning, communication, and implementation of programmatic activities. The Project Officer will work closely with the GLO Project Manager, other TRAFFIC staff, and WWF partners to ensure that the project team operates effectively, on time and according to the donor’s requirements. The Project Officer is the key contact point for project implementation and reporting.

Specific Duties:

•Responsible for engagement with partners and other agencies, as relevant, to support the delivery of recommendations to, and commitments of stakeholders involved in auto detection efforts within the aviation sector;
•Coordinates the planning, communication, and implementation of programmatic activities for TRAFFIC under the INL funded Automated X-ray Scanner Imager Detection to Counter Wildlife Trafficking Project;
•Communicates the work and results to interested institutions including the TRAFFIC Network, partners, and donors, and identifies opportunities for collaboration;
•Responsible for engagement with private sector and government partners leading on the development of technology for wildlife detection and reporting;
•Coordination and communication between relevant stakeholders working towards the development of wildlife detection technology;
•Responsible for coordinating the Project Steering Group for the wildlife detection technology application project, including developing and updating project documents as required;
•Responsible for coordinating the Informal Working Group on Auto Detection of Wildlife in Air Transport;
•Review budgets and TORs;
•Supports the review of deliverables against agreed TORs;
•Contributes to the development, review and quality control of INL project material, including reviewing outputs and reports;
•Work directly with field project personnel, donors, consultants and others to facilitate coordination, communication and regular reporting of activities;
•Convene, facilitate and report back on calls, meetings and workshops (virtual and in-person) as required.
•Represent TRAFFIC and INL with internal and external audiences as assigned.
•Contribute to the identification of, and engagement with other initiatives that can support the sustainability of the INL project;
•Support the identification of synergies with existing and/or future opportunities within TRAFFIC offices from the outputs of this project;
•Coordinate with the project team on day-to-day project administration;
•Ensure deadlines are adhered to;
•Support project monitoring and evaluation;
•Provide support as required by TRAFFIC Finance and Administration team during external audits;
•Compile, review and edit project reports and annual workplans,
•Support the development of communications materials relevant to the project;
•Provision of information on the project as and when required from other TRAFFIC staff;
•Any other duties relevant to the role.