Consultant to Support Strengthening of Law Enforcement Capacity and Coordination Counter Wildlife Trafficking

Consultancy: Statement of Work

September 21, 2020

Program - USAID Wildlife Asia

USAID Wildlife Asia seeks to significantly reduce wildlife crime in Southeast Asia and China by employing a comprehensive regional cooperation approach. Specifically, Wildlife Asia will (i) Reduce consumer demand for wildlife and wildlife products in target areas; (ii) Strengthen regional law enforcement capacity and coordination; (iii) Increase commitment to addressing counter wildlife trafficking (CWT); and, (iv) Support the USAID Regional Development Mission for Asia’s (RDMA’s) coordination of regional CWT stakeholders and efforts to strengthen the US Government (USG) interagency CWT initiatives.

USAID Wildlife Asia is based in Bangkok, Thailand and the geographic scope includes all ASEAN countries, with a focus on the Lower Mekong (Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia) and China. The species of primary interest are elephants (ivory), pangolins, rhinos (rhino horn), and Asian big cats. The project will soon begin its fifth and final year of implementation.

Position Summary

Freeland, as one of the main sub-contractors under USAID Wildlife Asia, is recruiting for a Hanoi-based Consultant to support activities focused on strengthening law enforcement capacity and coordination counter wildlife trafficking. The consultancy will start in early October, 2020 with an expected level of effort not to exceed a maximum of 120 days until the end of June, 2020. This will equate to approximately 3 to 4 days (or about 25-30 hours) per week with some flexibility in terms of time inputs expected. The Consultant will report to USAID Wildlife Asia’s Senior Technical Advisor.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities

• Lead the process of institutionalizing USAID Wildlife Asia’s Counter Transnational Organized Crime (CTOC) and Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) training packages with the Vietnam People's Police Academy
• Support the integration of USAID Wildlife Asia’s tools and materials (CTOC, OSINT and pangolin identification materials) with other law enforcement agencies in Vietnam as Customs and Environmental Police Department as appropriate;
• Coordinate and maintain a close working relationship with USAID Saving Species including providing updates on progress, sharing information, and coordinating the implementation of activities where appropriate and relevant.
• Help develop and strengthen partnerships and working relationships with partners and government counterpart agencies in Vietnam.
• Support USAID Wildlife Asia’s Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist with the collection of information that contributes to reporting on the program’s indicators.
• Assist with USAID Wildlife Asia’s communication activities including developing success stories, contributing to the calendar of events, and helping to promote international wildlife days.
• Assist with the preparation of quarterly and annual progress reports, and the preparation of annual work plans including associated support documents and materials such as budgets, Gantt charts, and timelines.
• As requested, support USAID Wildlife Asia’s demand reduction team to disseminate and promote key messages, and the Legal and Policy Reform team with research, analysis and synthesis of information pertaining to the legislative and policy framework in Vietnam.
• Support the team with the drafting of letters and other correspondence to USAID Wildlife Asia’s counterpart agencies and partners, and in the preparation of workshop reports, talking points, concept notes, event forms, draft agendas, travel requests and other related documents.
• Represent USAID Wildlife Asia at training workshops, meetings, and other events and report back as needed, assist with taking notes during weekly team meetings.
• Assist senior team members in responding promptly to requests from USAID for information, program statistics, or background rationales.
• Assist with translation from Vietnamese to English and vice versa (both written and spoken) as required, and provide logistics and operations support to USAID Wildlife Asia team members and other program related personnel when in Vietnam.
• Undertake any other duties as assigned by the Supervisor.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor and/or Master’s degree preferably in a field related to conservation and development.
• Minimum 6 years of experience in donor-funded contracts and/or project coordination ideally including training and capacity building initiatives.
• Knowledge and working experience with government agencies especially law enforcement in Vietnam and the region an advantage.
• Experience supporting USAID programs preferred.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Fluent Vietnamese and superior English written and verbal communication skills with ability to provide translation/interpretation support.
• Ability to work effectively in a multi-cultural, multi-disciplinary team.
• Capacity to work under pressure, independently and to meet deadlines.
• Able to work effectively with the Microsoft office suite (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint).
• Readiness to travel within the region and internationally as required.
• A passion for protecting the environment and safeguarding biodiversity important.

Qualified candidates are invited to apply by submitting their CV and cover letter to [email protected] by September 27, 2020. Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted.