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Ref.
2026/RCFWA/16280

Job offer type
Experts

Type of contract
Service contract

Activity sectors
Global threats and organized crime

Deadline date
2026/10/11 23:59

Duration of the assignment
Long term

Contract
Freelancer

Duration
12 mois renouvelable

Mission description

The Regional Coordinator for West Africa operates under the operational direction and guidance of the Maritime Component Lead and reports administratively to the Project Manager. The Regional Coordinator is responsible for coordinating and overseeing the implementation of project activities and initiatives in the targeted West African countries, in close coordination with the relevant national and regional stakeholders. The Regional Coordinator also provides technical expertise and leads capacity-building activities within the assigned area of responsibility.

List of task to be assigned:
Strategy

  • Develop a thorough understanding of the challenges/threats/opportunities in the area.
  • Provide strategic, technical inputs as well as coordination support to the Maritime Component
    Lead, the Project Coordinator and UNODC Senior Regional Coordinator.
  • Ensure dissemination of relevant information and difficulties (top-down and bottom-up)
  • Be responsible, in consultations with the key experts, of elaborating the work plan for the
    countries in Africa.
  • Propose and actively participate to the elaboration of the regional action plan and transregional
    activities.

Implementation of activities

  • Prepare the Terms of reference of project’s activities, liaise with EF project assistant for
    logistics and draft the mission report.
  • Demonstrated ability to deliver training and provide technical expertise and facilitation during
    workshops, seminars and capacity-building activities.
  • Identify the needs for short term expertise (terms of reference).
  • Manage short term experts mobilised for activities in the region and ensure quality control of
    deliverables.
  • Contribute to drafting official reports.
  • Contribute to the preparation of the different internal meetings.
  • Provide inputs and information related to Communication and Visibility.
  • Provide necessary inputs and information related to monitoring and evaluation accountability
    and learning activities, including the collection and reporting of project indicators.
  • Identify delays, bottlenecks and implementation risks and propose corrective measures.

Partnerships

  • Ensure representation of the project in the region and be the focal point for the local
    stakeholders and international partners active in the region.
  • Develop relations with other international projects and initiatives in the area related to the
    maritime component.
  • Participate in maritime related events (conferences, webinars...) in the region to ensure
    visibility of the project.
  • Identify local stakeholders (agencies, ports, ministries, regional actors…) and support the
    development or reinforcement of partnerships and relations with them.



Project or context description

UNODC, INTERPOL, Expertise France and FIAP, under the lead of UNODC, will implement a project financed by the European Union dedicated to support the disruption of illicit trafficking via containers, aviation and maritime routes, with a specific focus on drugs, firearms and wildlife trafficking. Further commodities including but not limited to CBRN material, waste, minerals, timber, cash etc. will also be addressed based on country and route-level assessments. Expertise France and FIAP are responsible for the maritime component of the project, in continuity with the actions of the SEACOP programme. Expertise France will be in charge for implementing the component of the project in West Africa and in the Caribbean, and FIAP will be responsible for implementation in Latin America. The maritime component has a budget of 5 million euros, out of the 20 million euros total for the project (42 months of implementation).

Illicit trafficking directed towards the European Union increasingly moves through interconnected transport modalities, including airports, seaports, riverine corridors, land borders and postal or parcel systems, supported by sophisticated criminal networks operating across regions and commodities. Trafficking flows involve illicit drugs, wildlife, firearms and other commodities, often moving along supply chains that shift rapidly in response to enforcement pressures.

To address these challenges, the project will focus on the following outcomes:

Outcome 1: The operational effectiveness of law enforcement authorities to identify, target, search and interdict illicit commodities trafficked through containerized, air and maritime transport is enhanced through strengthened intelligence and enforcement capacities.

Outcome 2: National, cross-modal and multi-stakeholder coordination for the disruption of illicit trafficking is strengthened across transport modalities and commodities.

Outcome 3: International cooperation, information sharing and participation in cross-border law enforcement operations at regional and trans-regional level are strengthened.

Outcome 4: The use of technology, digital tools and secure information-sharing mechanisms by law enforcement authorities is enhanced to improve intelligence-led border management.

While global in scope, the project will initially concentrate its efforts on a targeted set of countries in Latin America, the Caribbean and West Africa, selected for their strategic importance along key illicit trafficking routes towards the European Union, with one country in each region serving as a regional hub to facilitate coordination and impact. At the same time, the intervention is designed with built-in flexibility, allowing for the potential expansion to additional countries or regions in response to evolving trafficking trends, identified operational needs and strategic priorities.

While Expertise France and FIAP will focus their efforts on capacity building in the analysis, identification, and search of suspicious vessels, the project is designed with an integrated approach. The maritime component will contribute to all Outcomes.

The team is composed of a Project Coordinator and a Maritime Component Lead, both under the supervision of the Head of Division based in Expertise France’s Paris HQ. The operational structure includes two Regional Coordinators positions: one covering West Africa and one covering the Caribbean. The Project Coordinator is also supported by a Project Assistant.

The Regional Coordinator for West Africa will be based in Abidjan and will carry out missions in West Africa, and more occasionally, in Europe and Latin America/Caribbean.

Required profile

Knowledge and skills:

  • Professional background in maritime security, law enforcement, coast guard, navy or customs,
    with demonstrated knowledge and practical experience in addressing illicit trafficking, in
    particular drug trafficking in the maritime domain.
  • Good understanding of illicit trafficking issues (trans-Atlantic), particularly maritime
  • Good understanding of European Union and EU Member States' security and defence
    cooperation.
  • Good understanding of the cooperation/development aid environment.
  • Fluency in English, French, written and oral.
  • Proficiency in Spanish and/or Portuguese is an asset.
  • Proficiency in project management fundamentals (needs identification, action plans, budget,
    deadlines, indicators, etc.).
  • Team spirit and ability to work remotely, within a team deployed in several countries and to
  • Diplomatic skills
  • Reporting and drafting skills.

Professional experience:

  • Minimum of 15 years of professional experience in positions related to combating maritime organised crime/illicit maritime trafficking, particularly cocaine trafficking.
  • Professional experience within public administrations such as law enforcement agencies, police, customs, navies, port authorities, etc.
  • Experience in diplomacy, political representation, and high-level political discussions.
  • Strong professional experience in complex project management (strategy, planning, and implementation processes requiring coordination among a wide range of stakeholders with divergent interests) and in the planning, coordination and implementation of activities across a region.
  • Proven experience in capacity-building for national partners.
  • Experience identifying and supervising experts.

Additional information

Application:

All applications must be sent in English via Expertise France's GEX recruitment platform and must include the following documents: 

  • CV, including 3 professional references, max 3 pages

  • Cover letter

The position may be filled on a consultancy basis or through an umbrella company.

Selection criteria for applications

The selection process for candidates will be based on the following criteria :

  • Candidate’s training/skills/experience
  • Candidate’s skills linked with the expert mission
  • Candidate’s experiences linked with the expert mission
  • Candidate’s expected linguistic understanding
  • Candidate's knowledges related to local context (country or region intervention)
  • Candidate’s understanding of cooperation project stakes

Deadline for application : 2026/10/11 23:59

Expertise France is the public agency for designing and implementing international technical cooperation projects. The agency operates around four key priorities :

  • democratic, economic, and financial governance ;
  • peace, stability, and security ;
  • climate, agriculture, and sustainable development ;
  • health and human development ;

In these areas, Expertise France conducts capacity-building initiatives and manages project implementation, leveraging technical expertise and acting as a project coordinator. This involves combining public sector expertise with private sector skills to drive impactful results. 

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