Chief Operating Officer

Description Term of Employment: Full-time, Exempt Reports to: Executive Director Location: Remote (U.S.-based) Who We Are The Animal Legal Defense Fund’s mission is to protect the lives and advance the interests of animals through the legal system. The Animal Legal Defense Fund accomplishes this mission by filing high-impact lawsuits to protect animals from harm, providing free legal assistance and training to prosecutors to assure that animal abusers are held accountable for their crimes, supporting tough animal protection legislation and fighting legislation harmful to animals, gathering data about and advocating for effective regulation of animal exploitative industries and providing resources and opportunities to law students and professionals to advance the emerging field of animal law. Role Description The Chief Operating Officer (“COO”) is a member of the ALDF Senior Leadership Team and implements and oversees operations necessary to advance ALDF’s mission. The COO primarily will be responsible for enhancing the internal operations and infrastructure necessary for ALDF’s continued success and growth, as well as for directly managing the Human Resources, Technology, and Operations teams. This role will be responsible for ensuring the efficient, effective functioning and administration of the organization, advancing organizational growth and effective internal communications, optimizing resource allocation, while maintaining and building an excellent culture. The COO will supervise and coach a team of leaders and professionals and provide strategic guidance and support to the Executive Director, Leadership Team, and all staff members who report into and are stakeholders of the Operations functions. How You Will Make a Difference Oversee the Human Resources, Technology, and Operations teams, managing the Directors of each of these departments and working with them to set department strategy, vision, and culture, as well as hiring, training, supervising, mentoring, and developing team members. Determine and formulate policies and provide overall direction for ALDF operational activities in partnership with your department Directors and team members. Direct and implement business objectives to ensure optimal operations, maximize returns on investments, and increase inter-departmental collaboration and productivity. Identify opportunities to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of internal operations. Collaborate with ALDF’s Chief Financial Officer regarding shared services between the Human Resources and Finance departments, such as Payroll. Work with your team leaders, the Executive Director, and Senior Leadership Team to prepare reports for key stakeholders such as the Board of Directors. Direct the financial and budget activities for your teams, maximize outcomes, and increase efficiency. Work with the Senior Leadership Team and Directors to execute the annual budget planning process for your teams and monitor progress throughout the year. Confer with fellow leaders and staff members to discuss issues, coordinate activities, and resolve problems. Work with other members of the Senior Leadership Team to assess organizational risk and implement measures to ensure compliance and mitigate risk. Ensure that ALDF is operating in a manner that reflects sound controls, high mission impact, and manageable workloads for staff. In partnership with the Senior Leadership Team, drive a positive, productive, and inclusive work environment at ALDF. Oversee the development and implementation of practices that support a healthy culture across the organization, including strong internal communications and supporting the HR Director and other leaders in executing strategies that continuously improve ALDF’s culture. Cultivate a positive and collaborative working relationship with fellow Leadership members and Programs staff, and support the Human Resources, Technology and Operations Directors in building strong cross-functional internal relationships. Serve as an engaged and active member of the Senior Leadership Team and participate in and contribute to ALDF initiatives and processes. Advise the Executive Director and Board on questions of organizational sustainability and other matters. Oversee the development and implementation of programs and projects relating to infrastructure, Human Resources, Technology, and Operations and take the lead on internal change management for such initiatives. Oversee the implementation and compliance with relevant ALDF policies, including record retention, technology use, employment and labor, communications standards. Maintain a working knowledge of significant developments and trends in the fields of animal law. Performing other duties as assigned. Please note, this job description is not intended to be a comprehensive list of all duties and responsibilities of the position, which are subject to change in order to best advance ALDF’s strategic objectives