Policy Officer
IUCN SSC Human-Wildlife Conflict and Coexistence Specialist Group
Full-time, 12 months
The IUCN SSC Human-Wildlife Conflict & Coexistence Specialist Group is an interdisciplinary expert-based advisory group and think tank that supports professionals, organisations and governments working on human-wildlife conflict and coexistence (HWCC) by providing interdisciplinary guidance, resources, and capacity building. Founded in 2016, the Specialist Group (SG) was established to foster links between policy, science, and communities, and assimilate knowledge and capacity for human-wildlife conflict and coexistence management.
To help achieve this, we are recruiting a Policy Officer to support the Chair and the SG in ongoing science-policy bridging work, including coordinating and engaging on policy matters with the major biodiversity conventions, as well as governments around the world in their efforts to develop national policies for the management of HWC.
Responsibilities: The role of the Policy Officer will be to:
coordinate the SG’s inputs into the UN CBD Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework and COP15, EU biodiversity policy and other global or regional treaties and policies
help to draft and coordinate inputs for policy documents by the SG to inform or influence policy on HWCC and the SG’s coordination of IUCN Resolution (WCC 2020 Res 101)
prepare and maintain a new dedicated policy page and library section on the SG’s website
support the Chair in communications with CBD Secretariat, WCMC Biodiversity Indicators Partnership, and other multilateral bodies on matters related to HWCC policy
participate in and/or help organise meetings and webinars on HWCC policy, laws, and monitoring topics, help build HWCC policy-related resource pages and content
facilitate science-policy bridging, including building links between capacity-building outputs of the SG (guidelines, technical resources, training courses), policy and implementation
coordinate the SG’s regular communications with government Focal Points, providing information, inviting to events, answering queries, etc
Qualifications: Candidates must have substantial knowledge of biodiversity policy which may have been acquired via a postgraduate degree, thesis or research on biodiversity policy, and/or prior work experience in this subject areas. Knowledge of the topic of human-wildlife conflict would be beneficial but not a requirement if the candidate has a demonstrated strongly interdisciplinary understanding of biodiversity conservation. The Policy Officer needs to be highly organized, skilled at researching information and processing communications, and able to produce clear and well-written drafts of technical documents. The working language will be English, knowledge of additional UN languages is advantageous but not a requirement.
Position: This is a full-time position, initially for 12 months, based in the UK (location flexible), and with a remuneration of between £23,500 - £26,000 per year depending on experience. The jobholder will be employed by Jamma International and seconded to the IUCN SSC Human-Wildlife Conflict & Coexistence Specialist Group, reporting to its Chair. The work may include the opportunity for some travel, although this is not a requirement. Applications should include a cover letter as an attachment and a CV, and be sent to the HWCCSG Programme Officer at info@hwctf.org. The application deadline is 24 October 2022.