Junior Investigator

African Parks (AP)

VACANCY: Junior Investigator – Majete

STATUS: One-year contract subject to renewal based on performance

African Parks (AP) is a not-for-profit organization that secures a mandate to conserve through Public Private Partnerships with Governments and communities for the rehabilitation and long-term management of protected areas in Africa, and here in Malawi, AP has secured this mandate for the management of Majete Wildlife Reserve, Liwonde National Park and Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve.

An opportunity has arisen for the post of Junior Investigator tenable at Majete Wildlife Reserve in Chikwawa and will report directly to the Chief Investigations Officer and assist in field collection and intelligence gathering to support wildlife crime investigations and other legal processes. This role involves working closely with the intelligence team, conducting structured evidence collection, interviewing, data capture, and liaising with prosecutors to ensure successful convictions within Majete Wildlife Reserve.

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES INCLUDE (but not limited to):

Key Responsibilities

  • Collect official evidence in accordance with legal procedures.
  • Gather and report information as per operational requirements.
  • Utilize multiple sources to obtain intelligence related to conservation and anti-poaching security.
  • Maintain chain of evidence integrity.
  • Conduct source recruitment and development professionally.
  • Maintain strict operational security protocols (OPSEC).
  • Enter information accurately into approved software systems.

Required competences

  • Ability to adapt to all environments and establish effective working relationships with people of different ages, genders, ethnicities, or religions.
  • Dispose over exceptionally strong social skills
  • Must speak Chichewa and English.
  • Experience in law enforcement or conservation is highly desirable.
  • Strong critical thinking and ability to work calmly and quickly under pressure, both individually and as a team
  • Organisational and planning skills.
  • Ability to work well in a team and to work independently.
  • Exceptional time management skills.
  • Flexible and adaptable to dynamic situations.
  • Good oral communication skills.
  • Confident and discreet.
  • Willingness to work outside office hours and during weekends when the operational situation requires to
  • A high level of integrity and trustworthiness

Key measures and targets

  • Establish and manage a formal and effective source network to ensure a continuous stream of relevant, timely and actionable information related to the park’s Priority Intelligence Requirements. In close collaboration with the other members of the Intelligence Unit, identify Intelligence gaps and develop strategies and investigation plans to address these gaps.
  • Identify and activate appropriate external sources of information within the Unit’s scope of authority.
  • Handle and document evidence, robustly maintaining the chain of evidence.
  • Identify and process forensic material.
  • Support raids, plan, participate and conduct effective research to further the work of the Unit and Law Enforcement.
  • Assure that all source handling activity, information collection missions and operations are conducted in accordance with the AP’s Intelligence Program Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
  • Conduct Open source (OSINT) and social media (SOCMINT) investigations
  • Carry out all tasks within the law and in accordance with AP Intelligence Program and Unit’s Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).

Qualifications & Requirements

  • Trained with qualifications as defined by national law for investigators.
  • Background experience in law-enforcement investigations will be added advantage
  • Valid motorbike driver’s license.
  • Strong understanding of legal procedures and evidence handling.
  • Ability to work in challenging field conditions with high ethical standards.

Special Conditions.

African Parks is an equal opportunity Employer.

Applicants should submit their CVs with a covering letter clearly stating how their skills and experience meet the requirements of the position. At least three traceable referees should be included, but copies of certificates are not required at this stage. Applications should be emailed to recruitMalawi@africanparks.org by 16h00, 27th February 2026. Only short-listed candidates will be acknowledged

Should you not hear back from us within 2 weeks after closing date, please take it that your application was unsuccessful