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

CRDF Global organizes a wide variety of programs focused on maritime sanctions evasion, cryptocurrency, North Korean IT worker schemes, cybersecurity, and counterproliferation finance (CPF), including online training modules, multilingual presentations, and educational discussions for global audiences. Areas of 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, shadow fleets, ship-to-ship transfers, fraudulent flagging, vessel and port maintenance and inspection, and compliance measures for shipbrokers and chartering services to prevent engagement in activities linked to the DPRK, Russia, and/or Iran.
• Financial institutions’ and banks’ responsibilities for complying 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.
• Create country-specific presentations and training regarding sanctions enforcement, counterproliferation finance, theft of sensitive intellectual property, or cyber operations.
• We expect any materials developed on the above topics to be high quality and presentable to an audience of professionals in the public and private sectors.

As such, CRDF Global requires on-going, flexible, and lasting partnerships with experts in the field.

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

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., and European sanctions concerning the DPRK, Russia, and/or Iran; illegal ship-to-ship transfers; regulations and due-diligence requirements for shipbrokers 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 private- and public-sector audiences worldwide, both in person and online through live webinars, e-courses, and other asynchronous training methods.
2. Researching and providing detailed reports on the DPRK, Russia, and/or Iran’s sanctions evasion tactics and methods to circumvent laws and regulations.
3. Developing tools and/or documents for relevant staff at targeted institutions related to strengthening their capacity to prepare for and identify DPRK, Russian and/or Iranian sanctions evasions tactics.
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. Assistance with developing daily readouts during events, e.g., providing short summaries and key points of each presentation and discussion.
8. Delivery of 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, funder, and other parties as necessary to coordinate successful implementations. Also attending lessons learned calls to discuss how to improve future engagements.

Proposals must be submitted electronically in PDF or Word format, with the cost proposal provided 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 | 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