Transparency and Regulatory Affairs Director

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:

As the Transparency and Regulatory Affairs Program (TRAP) Director, you will launch and direct ALDF’s newly created program to gather and analyze data regarding state and federally regulated entities including but not limited to factory farms, slaughterhouses, aquaculture operations, roadside zoos, puppy mills, and animal laboratories. You will develop a strategy in alignment with ALDF’s organizational strategic plan to utilize the data to engage in regulatory comments, government agency complaints, and petitions for rulemaking. You will also develop a program to provide data to other mission-aligned organizations and individuals to bolster ALDF’s mission. You will oversee the design and development of the program including building a data gathering infrastructure and plan, develop and maintain internal and external relationships to support data gathering efforts, manage the departmental budget and manage team members. The successful candidate will be a strategic thinker with a hands-on approach, who is passionate about building a program and ALDF’s mission.

How You Will Make a Difference:

Strategic Planning and Implementation:

• In alignment with ALDF’s organizational strategic plan, design and implement a strategy for gathering data from state and federal regulatory agencies to strengthen and support ALDF’s efforts to combat animal exploitation.
• Develops and implements infrastructure, processes, and procedures to build a robust repository of data to support ALDF’s work in all major animal exploitative industries.
• Assesses and analyzes the strategic use of data for efforts such as rulemaking petitions, legislative endeavors, state and federal agency complaints and law enforcement, and civil litigation under various statutory and regulatory avenues.
• Stays current on emerging issues in animal protection and utilizes expertise in the law and data to recommend action to support ALDF’s strategic objectives.

Internal and External Relationship Building

• Cultivate and maintain strong external relationships with data and environmental scientists, animal behavior and veterinary medical experts to support data analysis and generate work product for use in ALDF’s legal efforts.
• Expand existing networks to develop a cadre of individuals to assist with compiling, analyzing, and developing data.
• Foster collaborative and positive internal relationships to ensure efficient and effective execution of ALDF’s strategic initiatives that utilize data and be engaged in ALDF’s efforts to evaluate ways the TRAP program may be able to provide additional support and remain at the forefront of regulatory work in the field.

Legal Expertise:

• Advocate for fair and effective regulations impacting animals.
• Understand the core principles and methodologies of ALDF’s programmatic work through litigation, legislative action, and criminal justice work to provide data driven support for these efforts.
• Endeavor to maintain knowledge of current trends and best practices in the animal protection legal field.

Team Leadership and Management:

• Leads, motivates, and manages a team, fostering a collaborative and service-oriented culture while ensuring the program runs efficiently and effectively.
• Sets performance goals, conducts performance evaluations, provides coaching and ongoing career development opportunities.
• Promotes inclusion in team management and hiring practices.

Compliance and Security:

• Ensures compliance with relevant regulations and industry standards, including data privacy laws and security regulations.
• In partnership with ALDF’s Technology standards develop, implement and enforce cybersecurity protocols and procedures to protect TRAP’s data and systems.
• Ensures policies and procedures are followed with respect to external partners.

Requirements

We Are Looking for Candidates With:

• Juris Doctorate and an active law license in any state.
• 5-7 years of experience engaged in regulatory data collection and use in animal protection or related field.
• 5-7 years of experience engaging in rule-making petitions, regulatory complaints, litigation and/or legislative work.
• 3+ years' experience in a leadership role, preferably in the animal protection field, leading a team.
• Experience designing and implementing a data collection program for use in the legal field.
• Strong working knowledge of legal avenues such as rule-making petitions, regulatory complaints, litigation and/or legislative work.
• Strong knowledge of cybersecurity, cloud platforms (e.g., Microsoft 365), and legal case management systems.
• Strong strategic, project management, and organizational skills. Experience with Asana a plus.
• Skilled in communications to all levels of the organization in writing, speaking, and presentation skills.
• Proficient in the latest technology for IT systems and management.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite or related software.
• Strong track record in system planning and implementation.
• Excellent interpersonal and collaboration skills.
• An understanding of and demonstrated commitment 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 $153,094 for most geographic locations.
• For candidates located within 25 miles of Washington D.C., Cotati, CA, and Los Angeles, starting pay is $161,152.
• For candidates located within 25 miles of New York City and San Francisco, starting pay is $169,209.

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 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.