Application Guide
How to Apply for (Senior) Program Officer, Neglected Animals
at Rethink Priorities
🏢 About Rethink Priorities
Rethink Priorities is a nonprofit research organization that identifies the most effective opportunities to do good, with a strong focus on cause areas like farmed animal welfare, wild animal welfare, and global health. What makes it unique is its commitment to rigorous, quantitative analysis and its willingness to tackle neglected and uncertain problems—like invertebrate welfare—where even small insights can have outsized impact. Working here means joining a remote, intellectually curious team that values evidence over intuition and actively shapes funding decisions in the effective altruism ecosystem.
About This Role
As a (Senior) Program Officer for Neglected Animals, you will lead research and stakeholder engagement on the welfare of farmed and wild invertebrates—a massively neglected area where your work could influence funders and organizations to act. You'll run shallow intervention reviews, conduct techno-economic analyses, commission external contractors, and convene groups working on shared problems. This is a part-time, remote role ideal for someone who thrives in deep uncertainty and wants to turn analysis into real-world impact for billions of animals.
💡 A Day in the Life
A typical day might involve reviewing a contractor's draft report on an invertebrate intervention, running a quick cost-effectiveness model to compare two potential projects, and hopping on a call with a funder to present findings. You might also convene a virtual meeting with other organizations to coordinate efforts on a shared problem, all while managing your part-time schedule. The work is varied, intellectually demanding, and directly shapes how resources flow to neglected animals.
🚀 Application Tools
🎯 Who Rethink Priorities Is Looking For
- Strong quantitative reasoning skills, with experience in cost-effectiveness analysis, techno-economic modeling, or similar analytical work under time pressure.
- Demonstrated commitment to invertebrate welfare or other neglected animal causes, and comfort engaging with deep uncertainty and sensitive information.
- Proven ability to manage external contractors or consultants, including scoping work, overseeing deliverables, and ensuring quality.
- Excellent stakeholder engagement skills—able to build relationships with experts, funders, and organizations, and present findings clearly to diverse audiences.
📝 Tips for Applying to Rethink Priorities
Highlight any experience you have with invertebrate welfare or neglected animal issues—even volunteer work or independent research shows you understand the cause area.
Showcase your quantitative skills by describing specific analyses you've conducted (e.g., cost-effectiveness models, intervention reviews) and how they informed decisions.
Demonstrate your ability to manage external work: give examples of commissioning contractors, setting timelines, and ensuring deliverables met high standards.
Explain why you're comfortable with deep uncertainty and how you've made decisions with incomplete information in past roles.
Tailor your application to Rethink Priorities' research style—mention their published reports or blog posts on invertebrate welfare to show you've engaged with their work.
✉️ What to Emphasize in Your Cover Letter
Your cover letter should emphasize: (1) your specific interest in and knowledge of invertebrate welfare, including any relevant research or advocacy; (2) a concrete example of a quantitative analysis you led that influenced a decision; (3) your experience managing external contractors or coordinating multi-stakeholder projects; and (4) your ability to communicate complex findings to funders and at conferences. Avoid generic statements—connect each point to the role's responsibilities.
Generate Cover Letter →🔍 Research Before Applying
To stand out, make sure you've researched:
- → Read Rethink Priorities' existing research on invertebrate welfare, including any reports, blog posts, or academic papers they've published.
- → Understand the broader landscape of neglected animal causes—who are the key funders, organizations, and experts in invertebrate welfare?
- → Familiarize yourself with effective altruism principles and how Rethink Priorities fits into the EA ecosystem, especially their focus on cause prioritization.
- → Look into recent developments in farmed and wild invertebrate welfare (e.g., insect farming, wild insect suffering) to speak knowledgeably about current debates.
💬 Prepare for These Interview Topics
Based on this role, you may be asked about:
⚠️ Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Being vague about your commitment to invertebrate welfare—this role requires genuine passion for a neglected cause, not just general animal advocacy.
- Overemphasizing academic theory without showing how you've applied quantitative analysis to real-world decisions or managed projects.
- Ignoring the part-time, remote nature of the role—candidates who don't address how they'll manage time and collaboration remotely may seem unprepared.
📅 Application Timeline
⏰ Deadline: October 11, 2026
We recommend applying at least a few days early to avoid last-minute technical issues.
Typical hiring timeline:
Application Review
1-2 weeks
Initial Screening
Phone call or written assessment
Interviews
1-2 rounds, usually virtual
Offer
Congratulations!
Ready to Apply?
Good luck with your application to Rethink Priorities!