Application Guide

How to Apply for Community Specialist, Aquatic Animal Alliance

at Aquatic Life Institute

🏢 About Aquatic Life Institute

The Aquatic Life Institute is a unique nonprofit focused exclusively on improving the welfare of aquatic animals, which are often overlooked in animal advocacy. They work by supporting and accelerating the growth of the aquatic animal welfare movement through strategic partnerships and research. Someone might want to work here to be at the forefront of an emerging, impactful cause within the effective animal advocacy space.

About This Role

This Community Specialist role is the operational heart of the Aquatic Animal Alliance, managing engagement across 185+ member organizations and facilitating collaborative working groups on priority themes. The role is impactful because it directly strengthens the network and resources that drive collective action for aquatic animal welfare, making the movement more coordinated and effective.

💡 A Day in the Life

A typical day might start by checking and responding to member inquiries, then preparing for and facilitating a virtual working group session on a topic like aquaculture certification. The afternoon could involve updating the Resource Hub with new research, tracking engagement metrics, and drafting a summary report for leadership on member activity trends.

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🎯 Who Aquatic Life Institute Is Looking For

  • Has 2+ years of experience coordinating a network, coalition, or membership community, ideally within the nonprofit or advocacy sector.
  • Is a skilled facilitator who can guide diverse working groups toward clear objectives and track follow-up actions.
  • Is proficient with digital collaboration and resource management tools (e.g., Google Workspace, Airtable, Notion, or similar platforms for hubs and data).
  • Is highly organized and proactive, able to juggle member communications, event coordination, and data collection simultaneously.

📝 Tips for Applying to Aquatic Life Institute

1

Quantify your past community or member engagement experience: e.g., 'managed a network of X members,' 'increased engagement by Y%,' or 'facilitated Z working groups.'

2

Demonstrate familiarity with aquatic animal welfare issues by referencing specific challenges (e.g., fish farming, bycatch, stunning practices) or key organizations in the alliance.

3

Highlight any experience with online resource hubs or knowledge management systems, as managing the Resource Hub is a core duty.

4

Tailor your resume to show how you've supported decision-making through data collection and summary reporting.

5

If you have remote work experience, emphasize your self-management and digital communication skills, as this is a fully remote position.

✉️ What to Emphasize in Your Cover Letter

['Your passion for and understanding of aquatic animal welfare as a distinct and urgent cause.', "Specific examples of how you've successfully coordinated member engagement or facilitated collaborative groups in past roles.", 'Your approach to organizing and managing shared digital resources for a dispersed community.', "How your skills in data collection and summarization can help inform the Alliance's strategic direction."]

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🔍 Research Before Applying

To stand out, make sure you've researched:

  • → Explore the Aquatic Animal Alliance section on the Aquatic Life Institute website to understand current members, working groups, and key initiatives.
  • → Read recent publications or blog posts from the Aquatic Life Institute to grasp their strategic focus areas and tone.
  • → Research major issues in aquatic animal welfare (e.g., welfare standards in aquaculture, wild fish welfare) to speak knowledgeably about the field.
  • → Look into the broader effective animal advocacy movement to understand where aquatic welfare fits within it.
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💬 Prepare for These Interview Topics

Based on this role, you may be asked about:

1 Describe a time you onboarded a new member or partner into a coalition. What steps did you take to ensure they felt integrated?
2 How would you facilitate a working group meeting on a contentious topic to ensure productive outcomes and maintained engagement?
3 What metrics or data would you track to measure the health and engagement of the Aquatic Animal Alliance, and how would you report this?
4 Walk us through how you would organize and categorize resources in the online Resource Hub to maximize usability for members.
5 How do you prioritize tasks when managing ongoing member communications, working group coordination, and project deadlines simultaneously?
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⚠️ Common Mistakes to Avoid

  • Submitting a generic cover letter that doesn't mention aquatic animals or the Alliance specifically.
  • Overemphasizing terrestrial animal welfare experience without connecting it to aquatic contexts.
  • Failing to provide concrete examples of community coordination, facilitation, or resource management in your application materials.

📅 Application Timeline

This position is open until filled. However, we recommend applying as soon as possible as roles at mission-driven organizations tend to fill quickly.

Typical hiring timeline:

1

Application Review

1-2 weeks

2

Initial Screening

Phone call or written assessment

3

Interviews

1-2 rounds, usually virtual

✓

Offer

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Good luck with your application to Aquatic Life Institute!

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