Job opportunities

We currently have one vacancy available, details below.

TITLE:               Timber Trade Programme Officer, TRAFFIC East/Southern 
                             Africa

REPORTS TO:      Regional Director – TRAFFIC East/Southern Africa

DURATION:         36 month fixed-term with the possibility of extension and an
                         expected start date of June 2013.

LOCATION:         Primarily Windhoek, Namibia with occasional visits to Pretoria, South                         Africa

SALARY RANGE: USD40,000 – USD45,000 per annum dependent on skills and
experience 

CLOSING DATE FOR APPLICATIONS:   27th May 2013

TRAFFIC is seeking a Timber Trade Programme Officer for its regional East/ Southern Africa Programme. The Programme Officer will play a pivotal role in developing TRAFFIC East/Southern Africa’s regional timber trade programme and will be responsible for the implementation of timber trade related projects in the region. The Programme Officer will be responsible for implementation of a timber trade project in northern Namibia on the border with Angola and Zambia.  It is anticipated the staff member will work in both South Africa and Namibia.

BACKGROUND

TRAFFIC, the 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 World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and is an international network, organised into eight regional programmes.

DUTIES

The Programme Officer will play a key role in developing and implementing the East/Southern Africa elements of TRAFFIC’s Timber trade sub-programme, working in close collaboration with other TRAFFIC’s offices and TRAFFIC´s partners WWF, the global conservation organization, and IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

The Timber Trade Programme Officer will, amongst others, be responsible for the co-ordination and implementation of activities to be conducted as part of a Southern African Science Service Centre for Climate Change and Adaptive Land Use programme (SASSCAL), funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) in Namibia. This project seeks to increase available knowledge on trade dynamics of timber, represented by Kiaat, Pterocarpus angolensis, extracted from miombo woodlands and associated socio-economic factors by collecting baseline data amongst primary industry stakeholders and promote sustainability of indigenous forest and timber industry in Namibia, and neighbouring countries, through the development of an appropriate legality framework.

SPECIFIC DUTIES

• Leads in the development and planning of TRAFFIC East/Southern Africa’s regional timber trade programme, including proposal development, project design, liaising with potential donors, and implementation of projects and formulating appropriate policies and recommendations on timber trade controls, FLEGT and related policies;Lead in the co-ordination and implementation of TRAFFIC East/Southern Africa’s activities under the BMBF - funded Timber Trade project in Namibia, including planning and design, technical and financial reporting, communication and monitoring;
• Leads specific TRAFFIC East/Southern Africa projects, in particular those dealing with timber governance and timber trade;
• Provides technical assistance, data analysis, scientific information and research support to TRAFFIC East/Southern Africa staff, to the Timber Trade Programme Leader, TRAFFIC International, to other staff working on timber trade within the TRAFFIC Network, and to related national and international agencies and organizations, including formulation of recommendations for TRAFFIC, WWF and IUCN, SADC, the African Union, government agencies, and others appropriate audiences;
• Contributes to and co-operates with internal and external monitoring and evaluation activities, as well as reporting;
• Communicates the nature and results of the work that TRAFFIC undertakes and represents TRAFFIC at designated international meetings and conferences, and reports on these meetings;
  Supervise assigned TRAFFIC staff and consultants as directed;
• Representing TRAFFIC at national, regional and international meetings, and other events as appropriate and after consultation with the Regional Director of TESA.
  Other tasks related to TRAFFIC’s global conservation programme as agreed with the TRAFFIC East/Southern Africa Regional Director.

REQUIREMENTS

• Post Graduate University qualifications in ecology, forestry, resource management, environmental policy, criminology, resource auditing or similar;
• Significant professional experience (minimum 5 years) in international wildlife conservation preferably with government or an international Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) / Inter-Governmental Organization (IGO);
• Relevant and proven experience in project management, i.e. co-ordinating larger projects, incl. overseeing a number of staff/consultants and managing project budgets and reporting;
• An established track record in formal capacity building and mentoring aimed at building governance transparency and conservation skills in the sub-region;
• Experience in working with the private sector an advantage; 
• A good understanding of international conservation laws and agreements, with focus on forestry and timber trade governance issues and regulations, including the different elements of the EU FLEGT Action Plan (Voluntary Partnership Agreements, illegal timber trade regulation, timber legality verification systems etc.), and of other relevant regulations and legislation such as the US Lacey Act and the CBD’s Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC);
• Strong fundraising skills including the development of project concepts and proposals;
• Strong research and analytical skills, and an ability to articulate complex issues clearly;
• Strong networking skills and communication skills and ability to work in different cultural contexts;
• South African and or Namibian citizenship or permanent resident status would be an advantage;
• Willing and able to travel within East/ Southern Africa and beyond;
• Fluency in spoken and written English; Portuguese and French language skills would be an advantage.

SUPERVISION: Supervises consultants and TRAFFIC Staff as required. 

APPLICATIONS

Applicants are asked to submit their CV and a covering letter in English.  The letter must specifically address the job requirements in the order presented above.  Applicants should further provide the names/contact details of three referees, including one recent employer.

Applications should be submitted, preferably by email with the subject header "Job Application: TESA Timber Trade Programme Officer", before 27th May 2013 to:

Regional Director
TRAFFIC East/Southern Africa
c/o IUCN East and Southern Africa Regional Office
PO Box 11536, Hatfield, Pretoria 
South Africa
e-mail: trafficESA@traffic.org

For further information about TRAFFIC visit our website at http://www.traffic.org.