Project and Process Manager

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, advocating for strong enforcement of regulations that protect animals and appropriate regulation of industries that impact them and providing resources and opportunities to law students and professionals to advance the emerging field of animal law.

Role Description:

The Project and Process Manager is an integral part of ALDF’s Operations department and works closely with cross-departmental teams, leading initiation, planning, monitoring, and completion of complex projects and implementations, to ensure they are properly launched, executed on time, within budget and scope, and with optimal team communication and documentation. The Project and Process Manager also analyzes, updates, and oversees operational SOPs, working with both individual staff and teams to ensure understanding, coherence, and compliance with the organization’s protocols, processes, and software tools, as well as leading trainings, as needed.

How You Will Make a Difference:

Project Management

• Lead full-cycle project management process of complex projects and software implementations
• Leads interdepartmental teams to complete projects in a timely fashion, with specificity, accuracy and efficiency
• Manage and track project plans, tasks and deliverables using Asana, ensuring timelines are met, responsibilities are clear and cross-functional teams stay aligned throughout project execution
• Work with project stakeholders to develop project charters, set measurable goals, outline project scope, budget, deliverables, priorities, risk assessment, roles and responsibilities, and logistical protocols for projects and implementations
• Create an internal communications plan for the Operations team and manage the creation of project communication plans
• Set and monitor project budgets, ensuring projects remain on budget and within scope
• Facilitate effective collaboration and communication among project team members, consulting senior staff as necessary
• Implement project reporting cadences to keep team members, managers, and executive staff abreast of all key project milestones, budget updates, potential risks, and project changes
• Lead project initiation and debrief processes, ensuring goals are reviewed and analyzed and all documentation is filed at project conclusions

Process Management, Training & Communications

• Review, analyze, update, and manage operational processes and policies, creating new SOPs as needed
• Develop and lead trainings for new and existing staff to facilitate understanding and adoption of protocols, software, and project management and collaboration tools
• Partner with the Communications team to establish and enforce internal communication standards and cadence promoting clarity and alignment with organizational messaging norms
• Drive cross-functional collaboration by analyzing team workflows and deploying improvements through tools such as Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, Asana and other digital platforms to boost communication and productivity
• Implement, train, and maintain naming conventions of organizational documents, in conjunction with the IT team
• Work closely with Communications and Human Resources to create staff resources outlining work tips, tools, and protocols

Program Support

• Provide input on strategic planning, business plans, and fiscal year budgets for the Operations department
• Serve as thought partner for project management of events, as needed
• Other duties as assigned

Requirements

Required Qualifications:

• A bachelor's degree in business or a related field is preferred. In lieu of a degree, a minimum of 5 years of project management experience may be considered equivalent.
• 3+ years of project management experience involving full project lifecycle management including initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and closure
• PMP or similar certification from an accredited organization is strongly preferred
• Experience leading a software implementation including gathering business requirements and providing post launch support
• Familiarity with project management methodologies such as Agile, Waterfall, Scrum, etc.
• Experience with legal project management is preferred
• Strong team management, strategic thinking, problem solving and negotiation skills
• Excellent facilitation, presentation, and leadership skills
• The ability to work independently, manage multiple priorities and meet deadlines
• A collaborative partnership and solutions-oriented mindset
• Excellent written communication skills with strong attention to detail
• Excellent planning, organizational, critical thinking, and analytical skills
• Exceptional interpersonal and conflict resolution skills with the ability to communicate effectively with colleagues, vendors, and the public
• Strong coaching and mentoring skills
• Experience using Asana or similar work management software
• Experience working with CRM database platforms is a plus
• Strong knowledge of the full Office365 suite including SharePoint and Teams
• Understand and be fully committed to the mission of the Animal Legal Defense Fund
• The ability to travel periodically for staff meetings and retreats (estimated 1-3 trips annually)

The application deadline for this position is August 20, 2025.

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. The Animal Legal Defense Fund (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 offices and events are free of animal products and byproducts.

We Offer Competitive Compensation with Excellent Benefits, Including:

• Starting annual salary of $95,110 for most geographic locations.
• For candidates located within 25 miles of Washington D.C., Cotati, CA, and Los Angeles, starting pay is $100,105.
• For candidates located within 25 miles of New York City and San Francisco, starting pay is $105,110.

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.
• Generous paid time off provisions:
• 192 hours of PTO.
• 19 paid holidays.
• 1-month paid sabbatical after 5 years of continuous employment.
• 16 weeks paid parental leave.
• 401k plan with a maximum 5% employer contribution match after one year of employment.
• Alternative work schedules (at manager’s discretion).

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