Senior Program Officer

Procurement Notice: The WCS Viet Nam Program is recruiting a full-time Senior Program Officer, as outlined in the job description below:

Position:

Senior Program Officer

Reports to:

Policy and Law Enforcement Support (PLES) Team Leader

Supervisor to:

N/A

Location:

Country Program:

Team/Division:

Policy and Law Enforcement Support (PLES)

Position Type:

Full time

Expected travel:

Approximately 30% and as required within the country and region if/when needed

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is a US non‑profit, tax‑exempt, private organization established in 1895 in New York City. WCS combines the power of its zoos and an aquarium in New York City and a Global Conservation Program in more than 50 countries to achieve its mission to save wildlife and wild places. WCS runs the world’s largest conservation field program, protecting more than 50 percent of Earth’s known biodiversity;

in partnership with governments, Indigenous Peoples, Local Communities, and the private sector. Its four zoos and an aquarium (the Bronx Zoo, Central Park Zoo, Queens Zoo, Prospect Park Zoo, and the New York Aquarium) welcome more than 3.5 million visitors each year, inspiring generations to care for nature.

WCS has been working in Viet Nam since 2006, focusing on enhancing the commitment, capacity and actions of the government of Viet Nam to tackle the trafficking of wildlife, supporting national partners through developing and implementing highly focused, evidence‑based strategies informed by an in-depth understanding of the dynamics of trafficking and the people involved to reduce the profits of crime and strengthen the risk of capture and sanctions.

WCS Viet Nam have generated a wide range of reliable data on a number of related issues on illegal wildlife trade, trained and briefed about 4,500 law enforcement and judicial officers, policy makers, journalists, researchers and managers nation‑wide and distributed a number of technical handbooks and guides. It has assisted central agencies in reviewing and proposing necessary changes to national legislation, criminal intelligence analysis systems, and inter‑agency cooperation.

WCS Viet Nam has also facilitated Government to Government dialogue through multilateral and bilateral collaboration efforts, between Viet Nam and Asian, African and Latin American countries, to detect and respond to transnational illegal wildlife trade networks. Its wildlife health expertise has been leveraged to address unregulated wildlife trade and mitigation of pandemic threats through collaborative research, training, and policy development.

In the past decade, WCS Viet Nam has also expanded to work with other conservation organizations and public laboratories towards finding and protecting Rafetus Swinhoei in the wild.

Under the supervision of the Policy and Law Enforcement Support (PLES) Team Leader, the Senior Program Officer will contribute to strengthening wildlife protection in Viet Nam through legal analysis, case review, stakeholder engagement, and implementation of WCS’s pioneering, long‑term leadership program – the Wildlife Crime Leadership Initiative (WCLI).

This Job Description is progressive in nature and shall be reviewed and amended from time to time to meet WCS Viet Nam program needs.

• Conduct institutional, policy, and legislative reviews to identify gaps and recommend improvements to wildlife protection, preventing zoonotic diseases and law enforcement frameworks;
• Track national legal developments to identify opportunities for WCS Viet Nam to influence relevant laws and policies;
• Maintain and regularly update the wildlife crime case database, including court verdicts and enforcement outcomes;
• Review selected cases to assess the application of wildlife protection laws and identify challenges in investigation, prosecution, and conviction;
• Provide legal analysis and develop recommendations to strengthen law enforcement responses to wildlife‑related violations;
• Support the implementation of grant‑funded activities related to policy, law enforcement, and international cooperation;