Seeking DPRK, Russia, and Iran Sanctions Evasion Experts – Individual

CRDF Global organizes a wide variety of programming centered around maritime sanctions evasion, cryptocurrency, North Korean IT worker schemes, cybersecurity, and counterproliferation finance (CPF)—including online training modules, multi-language presentations, and educational discussions—for a global audience. Programming and expertise include but are not limited to:

• Workshops to train port authorities to enforce UNSCR (United Nations Security Council Resolution) sanctions on the DPRK and/or Iran, and U.S., Canadian, and EU sanctions on Russia.
• Maritime sanctions-evasion prevention topics such as ultimate beneficial ownership, the shadow fleet, ship-to-ship transfers, flag hopping, vessel and port maintenance and inspection, and compliance by ship brokers and chartering services to prevent engagement in activities linked to the DPRK, Russia, and/or Iran.
• Financial institutions’ and banks’ responsibilities to comply with UNSCR sanctions, including building effective sanctions-compliance frameworks, taking preventive measures to manage risks related to illicit financial activities or procurement networks involving the DPRK, Russia, and/or Iran, and conducting effective enhanced due diligence.
• Counterproliferation finance through fiat and/or virtual currencies, such as blockchain investigations and analysis and money laundering tactics and obfuscation techniques related to the DPRK, Russia, and Iran.
• Expertise in DPRK, Russian, and/or Iranian offensive cyber operations against financial institutions, cryptocurrency exchanges, universities, and research centers; cyber hygiene for nontechnical audiences; cyber incident response; cyber threat hunting; cyberthreat tactics, techniques, and procedures; cybersecurity strategy development and enterprise-wide cybersecurity; and cybersecurity tabletop or interactive exercise development.
• Development of country-specific presentations and training on sanctions enforcement, counterproliferation finance, theft of sensitive intellectual property, and cyber operations.
• Development of high-quality materials suitable for professional audiences in the public and private sectors.

Accordingly, CRDF Global seeks ongoing, flexible, and sustained partnerships with experts in these fields.

 If you are seeking to apply as an organization rather than as an individual, please see the separate REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL: Sanctions Expertise – Organizational.

Types of Engagement Support (include, but are not limited to, the following):

• Development and delivery of presentations, case studies, exercises, and technical material
• Facilitating and/or contributing to technical discussions
• Implementing workshops and trainings worldwide
• Providing consultative services
• Conducting open-source research

RFP Subject Matter Expertise: Maritime sanctions evasion; UNSCR, U.S., Canadian, and EU sanctions concerning the DPRK, Russia, and/or Iran; illegal ship-to-ship transfers; regulations and due-diligence requirements for ship brokers and chartering services; UNSCR sanctions compliance for financial institutions and cryptocurrency exchanges; anti-money laundering related to the DPRK, Russia, and/or Iran; blockchain investigations and analysis; forced North Korean labor overseas; cyberattacks by DPRK, Russian, and Iranian actors against financial institutions; and cyberattack investigation and attribution.

The selected Subject Matter Expert(s) (hereafter, “SME(s)”) would be expected to provide contracted services such as, but not limited to:

1. Building, tailoring, and delivering curricula and interactive exercises for public- and private-sector audiences worldwide, both in person and through live webinars, e-courses, and other asynchronous training methods.
2. Researching and providing detailed reports on sanctions-evasion tactics used by the DPRK, Russia, and/or Iran and methods used to circumvent applicable laws and regulations.
3. Developing tools and documents for relevant staff at targeted institutions to strengthen their capacity to prevent, identify, and respond to sanctions-evasion tactics involving the DPRK, Russia, and/or Iran.
4. Communicating and collaborating with CRDF Global to develop and deliver related trainings around the world.
5. Offering outreach assistance, such as leveraging SME networks and contacts to assist CRDF Global with participant recruitment and selection for global trainings.
6. Leading training implementation, including delivering curriculum developed, answering questions from participants, and providing follow-up guidance as requested by participants.
7. Assisting with daily event readouts, including concise summaries and key points from each presentation and discussion.
8. Delivering an after-action report that summarizes observations, successes, lessons learned, and recommendations for future programming on the relevant topic.
9. Providing reporting, such as financial reports, with all relevant documentation (e.g., receipts, invoices, travel documentation, etc.), weekly and/or ad-hoc check-ins by phone or video conference during project planning and implementation, and final project reports including recommendations for next steps.
10. Attending and participating in regular meetings with CRDF Global staff, the funder, and other parties as necessary to coordinate successful implementation, as well as lessons-learned calls to identify improvements for future engagements.

Proposals must be submitted electronically in PDF or Word format; any cost workbook should be submitted in Excel format. Proposals must be emailed to Massoud Ahmad (mahmad@crdfglobal.org), Shakeela Amaj (samaj@crdfglobal.org), and Greg Kelly (gkelly@crdfglobal.org) no later than 5:00 PM EDT on October 16, 2026.

CRDF Global reserves the right to disqualify any proposal submitted after the submission deadline.

The subject line of the email must read:

[Insert name of submitter] CRDF Global RFP Submission_Sanctions Evasion SME