Specialist, Corruption Prevention

Specialist, Corruption Prevention (Green Corruption programme) – Malawi
Place of work: Lilongwe, Malawi
Employment rate: 100%
Start date: Mid-January 2026
Contract type: 2 year with possibility of extension
Other: This is a full-time position based in Lilongwe and open in priority to Malawi nationals/residents. Candidates nationals/residents of other African countries and willing to relocate to Lilongwe will also be considered.

Basel Institute on Governance
The Basel Institute on Governance is a hands-on centre of competence dedicated to promoting good governance and countering corruption for a more peaceful, just and sustainable world. Established in 2003 in Basel, Switzerland, the Institute works with partners worldwide to advance knowledge, practice and policy on anti-corruption, asset recovery and business integrity. With field operations worldwide, it has some 150 staff covering 32 nationalities. The Basel Institute is an Associated Institute of the University of Basel.

The Basel Institute’s Green Corruption programme focuses on applying our in-house expertise and experience in relation to the prevention of corruption and the enforcement of anti-corruption and anti-money laundering standards to the environmental sector. The programme covers corruption and financial crime related to the illegal trade in wildlife, forestry and timber products, fish and minerals including critical minerals.

Job description
The Specialist, Corruption Prevention will be part of the implementation team for projects on corruption prevention in Malawi’s wildlife and forestry sectors. The projects are implemented with funding from the UK Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) through the Illegal Wildlife Trade (IWT) Challenge Fund. They aim to prevent corruption in wildlife conservation efforts by:

1. empowering Institutional Integrity Committees (IICs) and internal auditors to reduce corruption vulnerabilities in environmental agencies;
2. drawing on lessons from a database of best practices; and
3. facilitating South-South support through the first-ever Global Wildlife Corruption Prevention Support Network.

Building on our previous project in Malawi and well-established institutional relationships, the in-country Specialist, Corruption Prevention is expected to provide technical assistance to environmental and other relevant agencies to (1) identify and mitigate corruption risks; as well as (2) implement mitigation and other internal control strengthening measures into the partner agencies’ systems with a focus on wildlife conservation and forestry sectors.

The Specialist, Corruption Prevention is also expected to assist the partner agencies in Malawi to actively contribute and benefit from the peer-review system in the Global Wildlife Corruption Prevention Support Network. Counterpart agencies from Indonesia, Madagascar, Bolivia and Ukraine will participate in this support network.

The technical assistance will be provided through, among others: training, mentoring, review of and advisory on improvements to corruption prevention policy/initiatives/plans/systems.

Key responsibilities

Advisory work

• Become familiar and build on the previous assessments and activities of the Green Corruption programme on process-focused corruption risk assessment and internal control review in Malawi.
• Adapt existing methodologies on corruption prevention from the Basel Institute to the environmental government sector in Malawi.
• Jointly with partner agencies, conduct and select priority business process mapping, corruption risk assessment, and risk evaluation.
• Develop corruption prevention measures in cooperation with government agencies engaged in corruption prevention efforts.
• Provide inputs to new and adjust existing anti-corruption plans and policies.
• Develop risk treatment plan/mitigation measures.
• Advise and mentor the government agencies in the implementation of above mitigation measures.
• Coordinate, liaise and bolster inter-agency coordination in the context of Institutional Integrity Committees of relevant partner agencies and the Anti-Corruption Task Force of the Inter-Agency Committee on Combating Wildlife Crime (IACCWC).
• Develop written products in collaboration with partner agencies and with guidance from colleagues of the Green Corruption team, such as guidance materials, Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), TORs, etc.
• Design and conduct trainings and other awareness and capacity building events on corruption prevention.
• Document corruption prevention efforts to be fed into the Global Prevention Support
  Network.
• Share best practices and experiences with other members of the Institute’s team and other partners as relevant.
• Contribute virtually to other relevant engagements outside of Malawi in the context of the Global Prevention Support Network.

Reporting and coordination

• Provide all relevant inputs required for monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of the project.
• Prepare regular reporting for government (if applicable) and donors.
• Facilitate and support coordination between in-country partners and Basel Institute’s experts in programme planning, implementation and reporting.
• Coordinate closely with the Green Corruption team at headquarters for guidance on the implementation of activities, including coordination with the Programme Manager/Officer in allocating and managing resources for the delivery of the activities in Malawi.

Stakeholder engagement and fundraising

• Liaise with government partners, other in-country DEFRA-funded projects and other programme stakeholders to coordinate corruption prevention projects in Malawi.
• Together with the in-country Senior Specialist, Financial Investigations, participate in coordination meetings, brainstorming sessions and workshops on behalf of the Basel Institute.
• Contribute to the development of Basel Institute knowledge products such as blogs and publications as agreed with the Basel Institute leadership.
• Participate in fundraising efforts to broaden and extend engagements.

Qualifications and skills

• University degree in public policy, public administration, business management, law, accounting or other relevant degrees.
• At least five years’ experience in corruption prevention, risk management or internal controls, either in government or the private sector.
• Experience working with government environmental agencies is an advantage.
• Very good understanding of government internal functioning and corruption prevention instruments in Malawi (e.g. NACS II, IICs, etc.).
• Ability to relate risk management concepts to non-experts.
• Experience in training on corruption prevention is an advantage.
• Excellent English presentation and writing skills.
• Proficiency in MS Office, Google Workspace and MS Teams.

Offer

We offer an interesting and rewarding working environment with a proactive, dynamic and international team spirit. The work is both routine and varied, and offers scope for initiative and innovation. The salary is competitive.

Application

Please submit your application at your earliest convenience, but no later than 19 December 2025, using the following link: https://intranet.basel.institute/job/apply/63. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

*** Why work with us? Watch this video to find out more. ***

Equal opportunity employer

The Basel Institute is an equal opportunity employer. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, colour, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, non-disqualifying physical or mental disability, national origin, veteran status or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, merit, and business need.

Get detailed job description here