Head of Global Animal Welfare Risk Management

6J6 - Zoetis LLC; Kalamazoo (MI); On-site; USD 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Healthcare benefits

Retirement savings plans

Employee well-being programs

Job summary

Zoetis Inc. seeks Head of Global Animal Welfare Risk Management to lead the risk, training, and governance of animal welfare programs across all sites. The role partners with research teams, veterinary staff, IACUCs, and senior leadership to ensure consistent, high-quality animal care worldwide.

The position requires an advanced degree in a life science, 10+ years in animal welfare or risk management, and experience with GxP and third-party audits. On-site role with travel may be needed.

Qualifications

• Strong risk-assessment and analytical skills; integrate risk signals into leadership view.
• Sound judgment on escalation thresholds and communicating risk to senior leadership.
• Collaborative and consultative style to influence across a global, matrixed org.
• Exceptional organizational skills; manage multiple concurrent workstreams and deadlines.
• High integrity and commitment to animal welfare operational excellence.

Responsibilities

• Training & Competency Program Management: design, implement, and oversee global AW training curricula.
• Cross-Site Program Harmonization: lead harmonization of AW practices across sites.
• Third-Party Review & Due Diligence: set risk thresholds and drive corrective actions.
• Emerging External Risk Monitoring: monitor regulatory and NGO activity and report to leadership.
• People Leadership: supervise and mentor the AW Risk Management team.

Skills

Risk management

Leadership

Collaboration

Communication

Organization

Education

Advanced degree (DVM, PhD, MS, or equivalent)

DACLAM preferred

IACUC CPIA or equivalent credential preferred

Job description

Role Description

The Head of Global Animal Welfare Risk Management is accountable for the operational and risk-management pillars of the Animal Welfare function: training and competency systems, cross-site program harmonization, third—party due diligence, and emerging risk monitoring. This role is the central escalation point for animal welfare risk – defining what risk signals the system must capture and the escalation criteria that govern response. This leader partners with research teams, veterinary staff, IACUCs, and senior leadership across the company to ensure risks are systematically identified, assessed, mitigated, and communicated, while building and sustaining the infrastructure and harmonized site-level practices that enable consistent, high-quality animal care globally.

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.

Qualification

• 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.

Working Conditions

On site work of at least 50% is required. This position may require up to 25% domestic and international travel to sites and third-party facilities.

Full time Regular Colleague

Any unsolicited resumes sent to Zoetis from a third party, such as an Agency recruiter, including unsolicited resumes sent to a Zoetis mailing address, fax machine or email address, directly to Zoetis employees, or to Zoetis resume database will be considered Zoetis property. Zoetis will NOT pay a fee for any placement resulting from the receipt of an unsolicited resume. Zoetis will consider any candidate for whom an Agency has submitted an unsolicited resume to have been referred by the Agency free of any charges or fees. This includes any Agency that is an approved/engaged vendor but does not have the appropriate approvals to be engaged on a search.

Notice: Zoetis Recruiters will contact candidates via email from an address ending in @zoetis.com and may also initially connect with candidates through LinkedIn, including LinkedIn InMail. Zoetis does not use Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, or other web-based/generic email domains to communicate about job opportunities, interviews, or offers of employment. If you receive a recruitment-related email message claiming to be from Zoetis that does not come from @zoetis.com, please treat it as suspicious. For your security, do not reply, click links, open attachments, share personal or financial information, or send money in response to unexpected or questionable recruitment communications.

Zoetis is committed to equal opportunity in the terms and conditions of employment for all employees and job applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, gender identity or gender expression, national origin, disability or veteran status or any other protected classification.

Disabled individuals are given an equal opportunity to use our online application system.

We offer reasonable accommodations as an alternative if requested by an individual with a disability.

Please contact Zoetis Colleague Services at [e-mail] to request an accommodation.

Zoetis also complies with all applicable national, state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment as well as employment eligibility verification requirements of the Immigration and Nationality Act.

All applicants must possess or obtain authorization to work in the US for Zoetis.

Zoetis retains sole and exclusive discretion to pursue sponsorship for the acquisition or maintenance of nonimmigrant status and employment eligibility, considering factors such as availability of qualified US workers.

Individuals requiring sponsorship must disclose this fact.

Zoetis will never ask candidates to make any type of personal financial investment related to gaining employment with Zoetis. At Zoetis, our purpose is to nurture our world and humankind by advancing care for animals. As a Fortune 500 company and the world leader in animal health, 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.