Chief Operating Officer Full Time

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 and mission.

Requirements

We are Looking for Candidates With:

• Strong leadership experience in a non-profit setting, which can take many forms. Preference for 10+ years of progressively responsible experience in a leadership capacity in at least two relevant areas of responsibility (Administration/ Operations, Human Resources, Technology). Preference for non-profit leadership experience and experience within a legal or law firm setting. We understand that candidates may not have direct experience with all of these responsibilities, and direct experience with each of these responsibilities is not required.
• 5+ years in a formal people leadership role, with a track record of modeling inclusive leadership for high performance teams.
• A bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Management, or related field, or equivalent experience. Preference for advanced study in comparable areas (e.g., MBA, MA, or JD).
• An understanding of and demonstrated commitment to the mission of the Animal Legal Defense Fund. Additionally, a demonstrated understanding of how legal action advances the organization’s mission.
• Exceptional leadership skills and experience expressing a vision for the organization and inspiring alignment to that vision.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including communicating with a variety of internal and external stakeholders. Strong listening and relationship building skills.
• Excellent problem solving, critical thinking, and decision-making abilities.
• Empathetic interpersonal and conflict resolution skills, with the ability to work collaboratively with others in a team-oriented environment and with external partners.
• The ability to implement vision, think strategically, creatively problem solve, and exercise good judgment and self-control.
• A commitment to working with integrity.
• Experience with basic software applications, including Outlook, Word, Excel, and internet browsers. Experience with Salesforce preferred.
• The ability to travel periodically for staff meetings and retreats (estimated 1-3 trips annually). Additionally, the COO must be available for periodic travel to conferences, training, Board meetings, and donor meetings as required.

We Offer Competitive Compensation With Excellent Benefits, Including

• Starting annual salary of $203,838 for most geographic locations.
• For candidates located within 25 miles of Washington D.C., Cotati, CA, or Los Angeles, starting salary is $214,567
• For candidates located within 25 miles of New York City or San Francisco, starting salary is $225,295.
• To ensure salary equity, we do not negotiate salary outside of the published starting rate. Rate is determined by role, using set geographical factors.
• Comprehensive health care, dental, life and vision benefits (100% employer paid); Flexible Spending Account (FSA) and Dependent Care Account (DCA) are also available.
• 192 hours of PTO.
• 19 paid holidays.
• 1-month paid sabbatical after 5 years of continuous employment.
• 16 weeks of paid parental leave.
• 401k plan with a maximum 5% employer contribution match after one year of employment.
• Alternative work schedules (at manager’s discretion).
• One-time remote work allowance of $750.
• Annual professional development reimbursement of up to $1,000.

Maintaining a healthy work/life balance is a core value for the Animal Legal Defense Fund.

Additional Information

This is a U.S.-based position. In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete the required employment eligibility verification form upon hire.

ALDF is an equal opportunity employer and committed to providing an employment environment which is welcoming of persons from diverse backgrounds and free from unlawful discrimination and harassment, and in which all legal rights of our employees are recognized and protected. ALDF conducts all internal and external operations, programs, and employment-related decision making (including hiring decisions) without regard to actual or perceived race, ancestry, color, religion, national origin, citizenship, immigration status, sex or gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, or related medical conditions), gender identity or expression, political affiliation, disability or medical condition (including physical, intellectual, or psychiatric), sexual orientation, marital status, military or veteran status, genetic information, age, or other protected category, and in compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local anti-discrimination and anti-harassment laws.

Consistent with the organization’s mission, our events are free of animal products and byproducts.

The application deadline for this position is July 1, 2026. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, so we encourage applicants to apply early as we may make a decision before the deadline closes.