The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) saves wildlife and wild places worldwide through science, conservation action, education, and inspiring people to value nature. WCS envisions a world where wildlife thrives in healthy lands and seas, valued by societies that embrace and benefit from the diversity and integrity of life on earth. WCS seeks to conserve the world's largest and most ecologically intact wild places. These places are home to more than 50 percent of the world's biodiversity and sustain over 300 million of the world's poorest people.
This position will be initially assigned to work with the WCS Central Africa Region, specifically in Bukavu (South Kivu Province, DRC) to focus on the programmatic security needs of the WCS DRC Country Program. The DRC program is one of the largest in the WCS Global Portfolio in terms of budget and staffing. The DRC program has a Kinshasa office and manages extensive field project operations in the east of the country (including Ituri and North and South Kivu provinces). Thereafter, this position will prioritize and focus on the remaining regional programmatic security needs in Africa, Asia and the Americas.
The Regional Security Manager is accountable for developing and implementing procedures, communications, and training to safeguard WCS personnel, assets and operations within WCS’ Global Conservation Program. This position is responsible for improving security readiness, awareness, intelligence collection, analysis and dissemination, and providing the necessary advice and training to enhance security of our staff, assets, and operations throughout all program regions. The Regional Security Manager will also be responsible for reviewing existing crisis management plans and providing guidance as needed to make sure all plans are current and effective.
Key Relationships
Reports to: WCS Regional Director for Central Africa and the Executive Director of Risk Management & Insurance
Direct Reports: None
Key Relationships:
Country Program Directors and all senior programmatic staff, and members of the WCS Global Crisis Management Team
Key Responsibilities
- For the first 6-12 months of this assignment, the priority will be to identify, document, analyze and prioritize programmatic threats and risks affecting the safety and security of WCS staff, visitors, and assets within the WCS DRC Country Program. Thereafter, the position will continue to monitor, evaluate, support and respond to the programmatic security needs of the DRC Country Program and provide similar support as needed to the remaining regions of the WCS Global Portfolio.
- Work collaboratively with all Regional Directors for the purpose of developing and managing a regional security strategy
- Enhance WCS’s ability to receive, evaluate and react to threat intelligence and to analyze local, regional and global trends
- Prepare and deliver communication tools and training modules to disseminate regular security briefings and create broader awareness and responsiveness of staff to safety and security
- Design, implement and monitor threat mitigation strategies, including personnel risk management, asset management and communications protocols, in cooperation with all country directors
- Provide guidance and support to all country directors on building a more robust response to program security including guidance on applying for external funding to support near and long-term comprehensive security initiatives
- Perform regular onsite audits of all programmatic security infrastructure and procedures
- Assist all country directors with the recruitment and/or designation of staff best suited to oversee security processes within in each country program
- Coordinate and assist in the investigative responses to security incidents
- Participate on the Global Crisis Management Team
- Assist country programs with increasing its local participation in security networks (such as OSAC and INSO) for the purpose of creating a broader security awareness exchange with other NGO security resources
- Assist the Executive Director of Risk Management and Insurance in providing annual progress reports on the state of security for each region to include all accomplishments, short and long-term security goals and budget guidance
Qualifications required
- A minimum of 10 years of increasing security responsibilities with a multi-national organization with operations in remote high-risk environments
- Thorough knowledge and experience applying security principles and practices in threat identification, management and mitigation, incident response and investigation, facility hardening, hostile environment first-aid, kidnapping and hostage survival, site perimeter protection; access and control policy management, transportation security in hostile environments, counter-surveillance techniques, crisis management response, and intelligence collection and dissemination
- The ability to maintain a thorough awareness of the intent and capabilities of criminal organizations within each region that engage in wildlife poaching and trafficking
- Verbal and written fluency in English and French is required
- Strong computer skills (MS Office, MS Excel and MS PowerPoint or similar applications)
- Ability to work independently with extensive travel to remote regions
- Previous law enforcement and/or military experience within central Africa is desired
- Previous experience of working with an international NGO is desired
- Bachelor’s degree in a security or law enforcement related discipline is desired. Master’s level degree is preferred
- Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively both orally and in writing with an emphasis on training and public presentation to a very broad range of audiences; apply sound judgment in ambiguous situations; effectively manage change, working effectively with and through others to achieve required results; establish and maintain effective interpersonal relationships
- Committed to the mission of the Wildlife Conservation Society
To apply:
Please send a copy of your CV and a cover letter to: the WCS Africa Program at africaapplications@wcs.org, and mention Regional Security Manager in your subject header. Candidates must also apply online via the WCS career portal by searching job title at: https://www.wcs.org/about-us/careers.
Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.
