Are you interested in improving the lives of animals, and doing so in an evidence-based way? Do you have significant leadership and operations experience? Are you skilled at maintaining key stakeholder relations? And are you eager to have as much impact as you can on the world?

 

If so, Fish Welfare Initiative’s new Director of Operations role may be for you.

 

Please also note:

• We are only accepting Indian nationals or long-term residents for this role.

• This role requires at least three years of prior experience in operations, and ideally also in leadership. People on the more junior side of this threshold may also be given a different designation than “director”—see more below.

• Complete the mini test task here by April 30 to apply.

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About Fish Welfare Initiative (FWI)

Fish Welfare Initiative is an animal welfare organization that focuses on one of the most numerous and neglected groups of farmed animals: fishes.

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We work to improve fish welfare by developing and implementing scalable, cost-effective, and evidence-based interventions. Our main program, the Alliance for Responsible Aquaculture (ARA), collaborates with fish farmers in Andhra Pradesh to improve water quality and reduce stocking densities. Alongside this, our Research & Development (R&D) department explores new interventions to identify the most effective ways to help fishes.

Right now, we are in an intervention-development phase—running one core program while conducting research to determine the best strategies for large-scale impact. We aim to transition to a program scaling stage by late 2026.

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You can learn more about our work on our blog and website.

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How You Will Make a Difference

The Director of Operations oversees the Operations Department, which ensures that all aspects of our organization function smoothly and efficiently. In addition to general operations and HR work, this role will be tasked with maintaining a number of key relationships, as well as giving input on FWI’s general programming and strategy.

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This role reports to the Executive Director and will be part of FWI’s leadership team. You will play a key role in shaping the organization’s direction and advancing fish welfare in India.
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Key Responsibilities

1 - Oversee FWI’s operations and legal compliance in India.

A. Departmental oversight: Oversee our operations department (currently 3 staff members) to ensure that all work is completed to a high standard. Operations department tasks include payroll, reimbursement, contracts, hiring, office management, vendor relations, etc.

 

B. Legal: Lead FWI’s legal compliance in India

 

2 - Serve as a leader in the organization

A. Staff support: Support the professional development and overall welfare of our team in India and address specific issues and concerns.

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B. Programmatic consultation: Provide input and support to other programs, e.g., as needed.

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C. Leadership meetings and decisions: Participate in leadership meetings and decisions.

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D. Upholding FWI’s cultural values: Live out FWI’s cultural values in your daily work, and support an organization-wide environment where these values are upheld.

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3 - Lead key partnerships.

A. Programmatic partnerships: Support our programs by ensuring smooth and mutually beneficial relationships with our partners in the field, such as universities and farmers.

 

B. Legal partnerships: Act as our lead representative for our work with our accountants and legal team.

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Job Requirements

• Nationality: You are an Indian national OR long-term resident.

• Experience: 3 years or more of operations experience, ideally as well as leadership experience.

• Language: You are fluent in written and oral English.

• Location: On average, you will spend 1-4 weeks per quarter in Eluru, Andhra Pradesh. Otherwise remote in India.

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Desired Skills and Experience

The following attributes give you a sense of what the ideal candidate looks like.

 

• Ownership and Leadership: You take ownership over your work and your teams, and are a proven leader. You are excited to contribute to the success and growth of FWI's operations department in alignment with our vision and mission.

• Systems optimization mindset: You can’t stand inefficiency, and you approach problems and projects as systems that can be optimized.

• Openness to change: Taking the lean start-up approach, you test ideas quickly and adapt based on what you learn. You move fast, reassess often, and are willing to drop ideas that don’t work.

• Local knowledge: You are familiar with opportunities and challenges of nonprofit work in the Indian context and have the relevant local network.

• Extremely organized: You manage a variety of different tasks effectively.

• Relationship building: You build and maintain key relationships to drive forward FWI's operations.​​

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Job Designation

Note that, depending on the applicant’s skills and experience, we may make them an offer at either a “manager” or “lead” level, as opposed to a “director” level, instead. This change would be reflected both in the final payscale, as well as in the level and array of responsibilities the new hire would be tasked with.

 

If we believe it would make sense to hire you under a different designation, we will talk with you during the hiring process about this.

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The Fine Print

• Position Status: Full-time.

• Start Date: ASAP, with some flexibility.

• Salary range: INR 20–30 lakhs annually (set based on need and experience).

• Benefits: Apart from working with an extremely dedicated team on a vastly neglected field, FWI offers several employee benefits:

  • Accommodation Allowance: FWI will pay for accommodation or an allowance for employees living in field locations. 

  • Reimbursement of up to 25,000 INR annually to purchase health insurance.

  • Free weekday lunch at our field offices.

  • Flexible hours and ability to work remotely.​

  • Generous paid time off (up to 40 days personal and caregiver leave and ~20 Indian holidays).

  • Maternal and paternal leave.

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Equal Opportunity Policy

FWI is committed to building a diverse and inclusive team. We encourage people of every color, orientation, age, sex, gender, ethnicity, ability, etc. to apply. Please contact us if you have any questions or concerns regarding accessibility, and we will endeavor to make adjustments throughout the process where possible.

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How to Apply

Once you have 1.5 continuous hours, please complete the mini test task. You will be informed by May 2 whether you are proceeding on to the next rounds.