Data Liaison Hub - South Africa

Application Deadline : 30 October - 17:00 CET

Contract Duration

November 2026 - May 2027

Language Proficiency 

Fluency in spoken and written English.  Knowledge of Afrikaans and other local languages.

Location

South Africa

Background

The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC) is an independent civil society organization headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, with a globally dispersed Secretariat working across 43 countries. Founded in 2013, GI-TOC brings together a global network of more than 810 independent experts and a team of over 150 staff dedicated to understanding and responding to organized crime. Through research, analysis, policy engagement and support to civil society actors, GI-TOC works to deepen understanding of organized crime and strengthen effective, rights-based responses. 

The GI-TOC works to:

• Identify, analyse and map criminal trends and patterns of regional instability, and their impact on illicit flows, governance, development, security, conflict and the rule of law.
• Connect and support civil society actors working on organized crime and corruption, and on their links to instability and conflict.
• Strengthen local monitoring and analysis of national, regional and international organized crime and insecurity trends.

Job Summary

The GI-TOC is seeking for a Data Liaison Hub Consultant to support the GI-TOC project ECO-SOLVE: disrupting illicit environmental commodity flows through innovative activities. Environmental crime constitutes a major element of the growth in serious criminal activity and is bound up with threats to global peace and security. ECO-SOLVE has been specifically designed to address these issues hampering current law enforcement responses.

The GI-TOC has built a global monitoring system (GMS) composed of ‘Data Liaison hubs’ in key countries using OSINT and machine-learning approaches to monitor online illicit wildlife markets. The hubs will stimulate local intervention in online wildlife trafficking and support capacity building in local law enforcement, while generating data that can help us understand trends and shape global policymaking. The project will also promote international cooperation to create data that can be used to disrupt other illegal environmental flows.

The Data Hub Liaison will be based in South Africa and assist in the operations of the GMS within the ECO-SOLVE project, with a special focus on South Africa and potentially surrounding countries.

Main Responsibilities and Specific Tasks

• Implementing and Improving Tools: assist in implementing and enhancing machine-learning scraping tools for monitoring IWT in various markets, emphasizing language and cultural insights for non-English detections.
• Monitoring and Intelligence Processing: monitor wildlife trading activities on e-commerce and social media platforms, compile and send regular detections to the global coordination team of the GMS, process intelligence collected at specified intervals and adhere to established criteria.
• Legal Compliance: ensure legal compliance of ECO-SOLVE monitoring activities in operational countries, adhering to national laws, regulations, and data protection legislation.
• Relationship Building: establish and foster trusted relationships with local and regional law enforcement agencies and government counterparts, as well as other relevant civil society organisations. Identify opportunities for capacity building and collaboration. Stay up-to-date with activities of civil society, media organizations, and law enforcement working on environmental crime in the region.

Required Skills and Experience

(R = Required; D = Desired)

The successful candidate will be able to demonstrate the following experience and skills:

• University degree in a relevant field, e.g. criminology, sociology, journalism, intelligence, security, biology etc. (R)
• At least 3-year work experience in a related role, e.g. working for a civil society organisation or in the law enforcement sector, dealing with a diverse range of stakeholders (R)
• Strong networking and outstanding communication skills, and high level of cultural sensitivity, to be able to navigate a diverse range of settings  (R)
• Proficient in English and at least one local language, preferably the dominant local language spoken in the region where they will be based (R)
• Strong analytical skills, experience in desk research and report writing (R)
• Experience in handling quantitative data, including data input, data analysis, and data visualisation, with great attention to detail  (R)
• Strong commitment to confidentiality (in relation to handling sensitive data) (R)
• Openness to learning new skills, with an interest in tech (R)
• Highly organised and self-motivated, with the ability to work independently under limited guidance (R)
• Strong interest in the wildlife (R), including CITES and the Wildlife Trade Regulations (D)
• Experience in field research and conducting interviews (D)
• Experience in gathering intelligence online and/or offline (D)
• Experience in developing, implementing and coordinating online wildlife trade monitoring activities (D)
  

GI-TOC operates a flexible working environment and encourages staff to achieve a suitable work-life balance and supports professional development and learning.

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

The Global Initiatives makes use of BambooHR's ATS system to receive and review your application.  All correspondence related to your application will be sent via our domain globalinitiative.bamboohr.com.