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Aquatic Life Institute

Executive Director

Title: Executive Director 

Grade: Full-Time (Approximately 40 hrs/week)

Location: Flexible (Preferably operates in US-based time zone)

Reports To: Aquatic Life Institute Board of Directors

The overarching aim of the Aquatic Life Institute is to support and accelerate activities that positively impact aquatic life. ALI aims to become a central and pivotal organization in efforts to improve the welfare of farmed fish globally. ALI will also work to reduce the number of wild fish used for fish feed and their suffering at the time of catch by working with certifiers, the industry, existing nonprofits, and legislators.

Primary Work Function: The Executive Director works to oversee and facilitate the timely accomplishment of key projects as defined by themself and the Aquatic Life Institute’s board. In the future, the role could manage full-time research analysts and more staff, if needed. 

The Executive Director will be charged with: 

  • Overseeing the research agenda and advising on funding opportunities. 

  • Managing day-to-day functions of ALI initiatives, including management of staff and coalition building among nonprofits, academic institutions, and regulatory bodies.

  • Becoming a go-to resource on farmed fish movement issues and opportunities.

  • Identifying and facilitating creative approaches to supporting collaboration in the space.

  • Exploring lobbying/legislative action opportunities.

  • Building relationships with major donors that support them in growing their giving.

Additional Major Duties and Responsibilities:

  • Working closely with the Institute's founder (William Bench), including a weekly check-in call. 

  • Identifying grant opportunities, vetting those opportunities, and tracking those grants. 

  • Monitoring trends and movement shifts to identify the best areas of action.

  • Being familiar with research issues of interest such as important points of uncertainty about environmental enrichment or a policy initiative in this space.

  • Actively participating in movement calls, discussions, working groups, and Slack channels outside of the Aquatic Life Institute. 

  • Constantly having a 10,000-foot view of the movement landscape.

Job Qualifications:

  • A passion for Aquatic Life Institute's core values.

  • Experience and interest in developing and maintaining strong working relationships with major stakeholders.

  • Strong self-direction, self-motivation, and ability to work with minimal supervision.

  • Experience in strategic visioning, mapping, and movement building.

  • Management experience, including an understanding of how to delegate and share responsibility. 

  • The ability to work effectively with ideologically diverse partner organizations (from vegan-only to those promoting humane farming).

  • Strong written and oral communication skills, especially the ability to explain one’s views clearly.

  • Curiosity about and ability to rapidly acquire knowledge in areas beyond current expertise.

Preferred Attributes (we encourage you to apply even if you don't meet these):

  • Graduate-level academic education in a relevant field.

  • Familiarity with fish welfare and the fishing industry.

  • Familiarity with the animal advocacy movement and its strategies.

  • Familiarity with effective altruism.

Compensation:

This is a full-time (approximately 40 hours/week) role with an hourly rate that is commensurate with experience and performance. In addition, the Executive Director will be eligible for a yearly KPI-based bonus.

To apply, please contact: william@ali.fish