Head of Global Animal Welfare Risk Management

Key Responsibilities

• Training & Competency Program Management: Design, implement, and oversee global AW training curricula and competency assessment frameworks, ensuring personnel meet institutional and regulatory requirements. Establish metrics and audit mechanisms to evaluate training effectiveness and drive continuous program improvement.
• Cross-Site Program Harmonization & Continuous Improvement: Lead harmonization of animal welfare practices, SOPs, and internal policies across all global sites to ensure operational consistency. Translate organizational AW standards into site-level implementation plans, adapting for local operational context while maintaining global consistency.
• Third-Party Animal Welfare Risk Review, Due Diligence & Escalation: Define and maintain risk thresholds, review cadence, and approval or mitigation requirements governing third-party relationships. Develop audit and assessment frameworks to evaluate third-party compliance; drive corrective action plans where deficiencies are identified. Maintain and report on the status of third-party risk portfolios and escalation activity to relevant stakeholders.
• Emerging External Risk Monitoring & Leadership Reporting: Monitor the external environment for emerging AW-related risks, including regulatory developments, NGO activity, media, and reputational threats. Partner with internal experts to prepare and present risk summaries, dashboards, and governance updates for senior leadership on a regular cadence.
• People Leadership: Provide day-to-day supervision, mentorship, and performance management for the Animal Welfare Risk Management Team. Foster a collaborative, detail-oriented team culture focused on operational excellence and continuous improvement. Provide development opportunities to the team and ensure growth of talent.

Qualifications

• Education: Advanced degree (DVM, Ph.D., M.S., or equivalent) in veterinary medicine, animal science, biology, or a related life science discipline required. Diplomate of the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine (DACLAM) preferred. IACUC certification (CPIA) or equivalent professional credential strongly preferred.
• Experience: 10+ years of progressive experience in laboratory animal welfare, research compliance, or a related field within a pharmaceutical, biotech, CRO, or academic research environment. Proven background in risk management, third-party due diligence, and audit program development in a GxP or research context. Experience with event tracking systems and data-driven risk reporting. Prior people management experience with a track record of developing high-performing teams.

Skills and Competencies

• Strong risk-assessment and analytical skills; able to integrate risk signals from multiple sources into a clear, prioritized leadership view.
• Sound judgment in determining escalation thresholds and communicating risk to senior leadership in a timely and actionable manner.
• Collaborative and consultative style with the ability to influence across a global, matrixed organization without direct authority.
• Exceptional organizational skills and comfort managing multiple concurrent workstreams and deadlines.
• High integrity and genuine commitment to animal welfare operational excellence.

About Zoetis

Zoetis is the world leader in animal health. Our purpose is to nurture the world and humankind by advancing care for animals. We discover, develop, manufacture and commercialize vaccines, medicines, diagnostics and other technologies for companion animals and livestock. We know our people drive our success. Our award-winning culture, built around our Core Beliefs, focuses on our colleagues' careers, connection and support. We offer competitive healthcare and retirement savings benefits, along with an array of benefits, policies and programs to support employee well-being in every sense, from health and financial wellness to family and lifestyle resources.