Project Support Officer - RETTA (TRAFFIC International)

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

TRAFFIC is implementing a four-year project ‘Reducing trade threats to Africa’s wild species and ecosystems (RETTA) through strengthened knowledge and action in Africa and beyond’. The project’s purpose is to strengthen actions to conserve and protect wildlife populations, areas of high biodiversity, and communities in Africa threatened by illegal and unsustainable wildlife trade, with a particular focus on trade to Asia. The project is organised around five inter-related work streams:

• Increasing the quality, breadth, depth and timeliness of information – i.e. the knowledge base – on markets for, and illegal and unsustainable trade in, wildlife and wildlife products from Africa; 
• Improving the targeting, design and effectiveness of actions to reduce illegal and unsustainable trade in African wildlife using analyses and outputs bringing together data from this project with information from other sources;
• Supporting innovation and scaling up of successful approaches to identifying and reducing illegal and unsustainable trade;
• Encouraging greater information sharing and collaboration to implement actions to reduce illegal and unsustainable wildlife trade;
• Ensuring effective, adaptive management of the programme of work supported through funds from Arcadia and strict adherence to all financial management and reporting procedures

Characteristic Duties 

This position provides support to the management of the project to ensure that relevant team members operate effectively, on time and according to project and donor requirements. The Project Support Officer will work closely with the Project Leader, TRAFFIC Operations teams in Africa and the UK, and the wider project team. The Project Support Officer is a key contact point for project implementation and reporting. 


Specific Duties

• Supporting project co-ordination and management;
• Assisting with technical and quality control for work, including reviewing text, budgets, reports;
• Tracking progress in development of the design and delivery of the Arcadia project;
• Liaising with the TRAFFIC Operations Team on budget and contract coordination;
• Reviewing project budget, project workplans, and relevant internal project management tools and contributing as requested;
• Providing training and support on project management practices and project implementation tools and procedures to project team staff;
• Attending project meetings and events as requested;
• Coordinating, facilitating and reporting back on calls, meetings and workshops as required;
• Coordinating with the project team on day-to-day project administration including scheduling meetings, writing minutes and agendas and circulating reference material in advance of meetings;
• Ensuring deadlines are tracked by establishing a monitoring system and alerts for the project team; 
• Supporting project monitoring and evaluation;
• Creating and maintaining files for the projects within the filing system at TRAFFIC (both hard and soft copies);
• Assisting project staff with project support duties such as logistics and travel;
• Preparing and reviewing supporting documentation for external audits;
• Compiling, reviewing and editing of project reports and annual workplans, and overseeing timely submission to the donor;
• Supporting in the development of communications materials relevant to the project;
• Supporting development of donor-related proposals;
• Provision of information on the project as and when required from other TRAFFIC staff;
• Any other duties relevant to the role.