Mr José Sousa-Santos is the Pacific Policy Fellow with the Australia Pacific Security College at the Australian National University. His area of expertise and research is transnational crime, regional security and non-state actors in the Pacific Islands and Southeast Asia.

José has previously held positions as the subject matter expert (transnational crime and terrorism) with the executive cadre for the United States Pacific Command and Special Operations Command Pacific Cooperation Against Transnational Threats programme and Pacific Area Security Sector Working Group (2015-2019); the Senior Associate Regional Security Southeast Asia and the Pacific at Victoria University (2019-2020); and in 2020-21 was a Visiting Fellow with the Australian National University Cyber Institute.

Mr Sousa-Santos was formerly an advisor to HE Dr José Ramos-Horta during his terms as prime minister and president, and a lead analyst with the United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT) Joint Mission Analysis Centre.

In 2007 he was nominated for the United Nations Sergio Vieira de Mello Human Rights Award for achievements in the area of community conflict mediation and dispute resolution during the Timor-Leste 2006 crisis and received numerous commendations from the United Nations Police for investigative work on transnational crime (human trafficking).

Mr Sousa-Santos sits on the Pacific Reset Advisory Group and is a member of the New Zealand Volunteer Service Abroad Council. He is a doctoral scholar at the Joint Centre for Disaster Research at Massey University on the nexus between transnational crime and climate insecurity in the Pacific Islands region, and holds a degree in Master of International Relations from Victoria University of Wellington. Mr Sousa-Santos formerly served with the Australian Defence Force and is the founder and managing director of Strategika Group.

He has written and published widely on transnational crime and regional security issues.