Animal Welfare Manager

About Us

We are a science-based, sustainability-driven entity dedicated to promoting responsible animal care, ethical treatment, and welfare excellence throughout our operations. Our diverse teams span across areas including Animal Welfare, Veterinary Services, Agriculture, Aquaculture, Research & Development, Operations, Quality Assurance, Regulatory Affairs, Sustainability, and Executive Leadership, all focused on ensuring superior animal health and humane management.

Role Overview

We seek a seasoned Animal Welfare Manager to spearhead welfare strategies, oversee compliance, uphold ethical care standards, and drive continuous program enhancements. This role entails managing welfare policies, health practices, regulatory adherence, staff education, welfare evaluations, and fostering collaboration across functions to guarantee compassionate treatment of animals across all facilities.

Key Responsibilities

• Formulate and roll out enterprise-wide animal welfare strategies, frameworks, standards, and policies aligned with both company goals and global best practices.
• Lead welfare initiatives across livestock, aquaculture, research, zoological, and agricultural settings as relevant.
• Collaborate closely with Veterinary Services, Animal Care Teams, Agriculture, Aquaculture, R&D, Quality Assurance, Operations, Regulatory Affairs, Sustainability, and Executive Leadership to drive welfare excellence.
• Develop and implement protocols covering aspects like housing, nutrition, handling, transport, breeding, enrichment, health surveillance, and humane treatment practices.
• Conduct thorough welfare assessments including audits, inspections, behavioral studies, risk analysis, and compliance checks.
• Monitor key animal health indicators, mortality trends, stress factors, environmental parameters, and identify improvement opportunities.
• Create and enforce welfare improvement plans, corrective actions, preventive strategies, and programs for continual advancement.
• Ensure adherence to UAE animal welfare laws, international standards, veterinary regulations, ethical codes, and relevant certification frameworks.
• Design and deliver training programs, competency evaluations, awareness campaigns, and best practice resources for employees, contractors, and stakeholders.
• Support veterinary teams with initiatives in disease prevention, biosecurity, health monitoring, emergency responses, and clinical decisions.
• Evaluate facilities, equipment, environments, handling protocols, and operational procedures to enhance welfare outcomes.
• Establish metrics, reporting systems, audit methods, and governance for animal welfare management.
• Track KPIs like welfare scores, mortality, health results, compliance rates, training completions, audit outcomes, corrective action progress, and sustainability performance.
• Conduct benchmarking, ethical reviews, investigations of incidents, root cause analyses, and lead ongoing improvement efforts.
• Manage budgets dedicated to animal welfare, veterinary partnerships, assessment tools, training materials, external expertise, certification initiatives, and strategic programs.
• Champion digital transformation by integrating AI-driven animal monitoring, computer vision welfare assessments, predictive analytics, IoT environmental monitoring, automated reporting, and business intelligence tools.
• Utilize systems such as animal management platforms, veterinary information software, farm management systems, laboratory info management systems (LIMS), Microsoft 365, Power BI, Tableau, GIS applications, ERP platforms, and welfare monitoring tech to optimize care and generate actionable insights.
• Prepare executive dashboards and reports covering welfare performance, compliance, health analysis, sustainability, risk evaluations, and strategic recommendations for senior leadership.
• Lead, mentor, and develop teams of welfare specialists, veterinary staff, animal care personnel, and multi-disciplinary stakeholders, fostering a culture grounded in compassion, scientific integrity, accountability, and continuous enhancement.

Candidate Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Veterinary Science, Animal Science, Zoology, Biology, Agriculture, Aquaculture, Animal Welfare, Environmental Science, or related fields.
• Master's degree highly preferred in Animal Welfare Science, Veterinary Public Health, Animal Behavior, Agriculture, Sustainability, Business Administration, or related disciplines.
• Professional certifications such as in Animal Welfare, Veterinary Management, Animal Care, Farm Assurance, Welfare Auditing, or Project Management (PMP) are advantageous.
• At least 5 years' experience in animal welfare, veterinary services, livestock management, aquaculture, research, or related sectors.
• Preferably 2+ years managing welfare programs, assessments, veterinary teams, care operations, or ethical compliance activities.
• Deep knowledge of animal welfare science, behavior, veterinary fundamentals, welfare assessment methods, ethical management, biosecurity, sustainability, and regulatory landscape.
• Proficiency with animal management software, veterinary systems, farm management platforms, LIMS, Microsoft Office Suite, Power BI, Tableau, GIS tools, ERP systems, and welfare monitoring technologies.
• Familiarity with AI-driven animal monitoring, computer vision tech, predictive health analytics, smart farming, digital welfare tools, and advanced biologic monitoring technologies is strongly desirable.
• Excellent leadership, communication, stakeholder engagement, analytical, project management, budgeting, ethical decision-making, and problem-solving capabilities.
• Capacity to juggle multiple welfare projects balancing ethics, operations, compliance, budgets, timelines, and organizational priorities.
• Able to work effectively remotely with diverse teams including animal care, veterinary, research, regulatory, operational leaders, suppliers, and global stakeholders; occasional travel for assessments, audits, training, inspections, conferences, and strategic planning is expected.

What We Offer

• Fully remote working arrangement with flexible coordination across global teams in animal welfare, veterinary, sustainability, and operations.
• Competitive salary package supplemented with performance-linked incentives.
• Inclusive health and wellness benefits.
• Opportunities for career growth in animal welfare leadership and professional development.
• Exposure to cutting-edge AI and digital animal care technologies, advanced monitoring solutions, and sustainable animal management systems.
• A culture promoting compassion, scientific rigor, sustainability, accountability, and ongoing improvements.
• A significant opportunity to lead impactful ethical animal welfare programs fostering responsible care, improved health outcomes, and sustainability.