Work at Wild Animal Initiative

 

Operations Director

 

Applications closed

As of 18 January 2022, we are no longer accepting applications for this position.

This is an archived copy of the job description for your reference.

 

Basics

Job title: Operations Director

Department: Operations

Application period: December 20, 2021 to January 17, 2022

Earliest start date: February 28, 2022

Application materials:

  • A one-page resume concisely describing your educational, professional, and other relevant experiences (PDF).

  • A one-page cover letter that, together with your resume, makes a compelling case for your fitness for the position (PDF).

  • Brief responses to the following prompts:

    • "Describe a time when you demonstrated attention to detail to complete a task successfully. After completing the task, how did you determine if the approach you took was appropriate?"

    • "Imagine you are WAI’s Operations Director in the following scenario: A donor has offered to donate a parcel of real property located within the United States to Wild Animal Initiative as a charitable gift. You have been asked by the Executive Director to provide a recommendation on whether or not WAI should accept this gift. What factors would you investigate to develop your recommendation?"

  • Submit an application using this form.

Revision note, Jan. 14, 2022: This job posting has been revised to include the short answer questions above as part of a test we are conducting on the value of requiring resumes and cover letters in our hiring applications compared to the value of requiring only responses to 1-2 short answer questions. Applications submitted prior to this revision do not need to be resubmitted and will be evaluated alongside all other applications submitted prior to this date.

 

About our mission

Wild Animal Initiative is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit working to understand and improve the lives of wild animals. 

Even in nature, most wild animals struggle to survive every day. Unfortunately, preserving habitats or species does not guarantee that animals themselves have good lives. At Wild Animal Initiative, we believe we have a responsibility to act to improve the well-being of wild animals, whether they live in captivity or somewhere else. 

Yet, responsible action requires sound science. There is still so much we don’t know about which animals are sentient, what their lives are like in the wild, and how we can responsibly help them. Our work supports the study of wild animal welfare by funding cutting-edge science, supporting the careers of researchers in the field, and contributing original research.

The success of our mission depends on the diversity of our team. We are looking to work with people that approach our mission as an inherently inclusive endeavor and celebrate the differences of others. We strongly encourage people of every color, religion, age, origin, class, citizenship, parental status, disability status, genetics, veteran status, sexual orientation, and gender to apply. Note that we are unfortunately not able to sponsor work visas at this time and require candidates to already be eligible to work in the jurisdictions where they live or will live by the start of their employment.

Please feel free to reach out to Executive Advisor Mark Onley at mark.onley@wildanimalinitiative.org if:

  • You have any questions about our hiring process or open positions;

  • You would like to help us find excellent candidates to join our team; or

  • You are interested in working with us in a capacity not listed below (in which case, a resume and some details about your professional interests would be helpful to receive).

Thank you for considering Wild Animal Initiative as the next part of your vocational journey, we hope to hear from you!

 

Terms of employment

Location:

  • Full-time remote

  • U.S. preferred. Must be able to work with colleagues in U.S. Pacific, Central, and Eastern time zones on most days of the week. Must be able to meet with colleagues on U.K. or Central European time a few times a week.

  • Note: We are not able to sponsor work visas and are only considering applicants who are eligible to work in the country they plan to work in.

Reports to: Executive Director

Travel:

  • Potential travel within the U.S. and internationally to attend in-person staff retreats (maximum of two per year and minimum of zero)

  • As desired for professional development (e.g. attending in-person conferences or training workshops)

Salary: $62,784 to $76,736

Benefits:

  • Comprehensive health and dental insurance.

  • Four weeks of paid vacation, 12 holidays, and two weeks of sick leave.

  • A fully remote work environment that allows you to choose when and where you work.

  • A friendly, open work culture that encourages feedback, collaboration, experimentation, and evidence-based innovation.

  • Opportunities for advancement as our team and programs continue their growth trajectory.

  • Note: This benefit structure is what we use for our U.S. staff and largely similar to what we offer to many non-U.S. staff, but may be different depending on the legal requirements of the country you work in.

 

Responsibilities

Position mission statement:

As WAI’s Operations Director, you will implement and improve systems to  smoothly shepherd us through our stages of growth, promote a positive and inclusive work culture, administer our finances, and ensure compliance with applicable U.S. and international laws and regulations. Your responsibilities will include executing projects, managing staff, and setting strategy alongside the rest of our leadership.

Supervisory responsibilities:

  • You will oversee, direct, and organize the work of the operations and finance teams. We currently have one part-time employee performing our operations activities, so lots of this work will need to be executed directly by you until more operations staff are hired.

  • You will help ensure our growth plans maximize progress toward our mission, make the best use of available funds, and fit within our organizational capacity.

Core Responsibilities:

  • Leadership: You will be a core member of WAI’s leadership team, which includes the Executive Director and other program directors. You will advise on organizational strategy and governance; provide honest and critical feedback to members of leadership when needed (and solicit it from others); and serve as the expert on our operations needs and growth plans.

  • Culture: You will promote a positive work culture that fosters high levels of staff satisfaction, facilitates continuous improvement in how we run our organization, values inclusivity as a core strategy to be effective and just in our work, and celebrates the different strengths and backgrounds of our staff.

  • Systems improvements: You will set the goals of our operations team; assign responsibilities to achieve our top priorities; and look for ways to improve our administrative systems to better serve our staff and set us up for sustainable growth.

  • Performance: You will establish and monitor staff performance and development goals, including managing our annual performance appraisal process; ensure staff members receive timely and appropriate training and development; and improve the effectiveness of our programs by revamping our current goal-setting process.

  • Finance: You will plan, coordinate, and execute the annual budget process; advise the Executive Director, Board Treasurer, and other managers on financial planning and budgeting; and administer salary adjustments.

 

Qualifications

This role will require you to have the following qualifications:

  • Knowledge of organizational finance, budget process, and operations best practices for nonprofits.

  • Ability to stay connected and communicate clearly in a remote work environment.

  • Ability to manage and grow a small team of remote staff, including giving effective coaching and feedback.

  • Ability to set long-term goals and develop plans to meet them.

  • Knowledge of nonprofit compliance and reporting requirements.

This role might also benefit from you having some of the following qualifications. Even if you don’t have some or all of these qualifications, you should still apply:

  • Ability to assess and improve organizational culture.

  • Empathy for others, willingness to be creative with solutions.

  • Motivated by a desire to improve the lives of wild animals.

  • Proficient with QuickBooks, Google Drive, and Asana.

Credentials and experience:

Note that we do not require any specific academic credentials or prior work experience for you to be considered for this position, as research shows that such requirements can diminish the quality of candidate pools by deterring individuals who would otherwise be a great fit for a role from applying.

 
 

Feel free to email mark.onley@wildanimalinitiative.org with any questions about the role or the application process.