As the world’s leading animal photojournalism agency, We Animals (WA) advocates for animals through photojournalism. Our global investigations and stories expose our complex relationships with animals, create ethical and cultural shifts in society, and empower human capacity for compassion and change. To support our mission, we investigate industries, mentor photographers, operate a stock site to share our visual content, and engage with media and NGO partners to shift attitudes, industries, and policy.
We Animals is seeking a highly organized, proactive Administrative Assistant to support our Founder and President, Jo-Anne McArthur. This role provides essential administrative, scheduling, and logistics support across Jo-Anne’s speaking schedule, donor-related engagements, communications activities, and general organizational workflows. The ideal candidate is confident in managing complex calendars and comfortable working across multiple departments.
This is a part-time role ideal for someone who excels at coordination, communication, and operational detail, and who wants to support the work of a mission-driven photojournalist and organization.
Job Details
Type of employment: Part-time permanent position, Monday through Friday, with a flexible hourly schedule.
Reports to: Founder & President
Location: Remote, Canada. Candidates must be legally entitled to work in Canada. We are not able to apply for employer-specific work permits. While we welcome all applications, candidates located in the Greater Toronto Area will be given priority due to the need for in-person activities.
Salary: $18,358.00 annual salary based on 12 hrs per week, based on experience (prorated from $61,194.00 at 40 hours/week)
Start date: Monday, March 2, 2026 (or sooner, based on availability)
Application deadline: Thursday, January 8, 2026
As an ideal candidate for this role, you are:
- Excited about WA’s mission. You believe that documenting and sharing animal stories has a positive impact on animals, people, and the planet.
- Highly organized, proactive, and calm when juggling multiple moving parts.
- Skilled at helping a busy, public-facing leader prioritize commitments, track deadlines, and follow through on decisions.
- Comfortable communicating on behalf of a public-facing leader.
- Skilled at managing details, timelines, and logistics with accuracy and care.
- Someone who enjoys supporting others.
Purpose
Provide high-quality administrative, scheduling, and logistical support to the Founder & President, ensuring her talks, projects, travel, communications, and weekly workflows run smoothly. While the role may occasionally assist with broader administrative needs at We Animals, its primary focus is supporting the Founder & President.
Responsibilities
Founder Support (45%)
- Manage a dynamic calendar with multiple external and internal commitments.
- Coordinate logistics for meetings, events, and travel.
- Liaise with external contacts to gather information, confirm details, and support planning.
- Research potential venues, organizations, or partnerships that align with the We Animals mission for future outreach and engagement.
- Maintain organized records of upcoming commitments, timelines, and required materials.
Email & Communication Support (20%)
- Triage incoming emails, draft professional responses as delegated, and redirect correspondence to other team members as required.
- Manage follow-ups and ensure external requests receive timely information.
- Prepare short weekly summaries to support planning and prioritization.
Communications & Social Coordination (15%)
- Coordinate with the Communications team to capture and share the Founder’s external activities.
Administrative & Office Support (10%)
- Maintain organized digital files and project trackers.
- Provide home-office support, including ordering supplies, managing subscriptions, tracking book inventory, filing paperwork, and coordinating simple organization tasks.
- Coordinate occasional mailing or shipping needs.
Finance & HR Administration (10%)
- Submit receipts and support basic expense administration.
- Assist with routine HR-related entries and tracking.
Things you might do, depending on skill and need:
- Draft or format short pieces of copy.
- Proofread or lightly edit materials.
- Conduct simple research or information-gathering.
- Support long-term projects with basic coordination.
- Assist with media or sector monitoring.
- Help document internal processes or update small workflow notes.
Note: These percentage breakdowns are general and may fluctuate depending on the time of year and the organization’s specific needs.
Qualifications
- 3-5 years relevant experience providing administrative or executive support, preferably to a senior leader or in a role with complex scheduling and coordination responsibilities.
- Strong organizational skills, with the ability to manage competing priorities, track details, and keep workflows moving without supervision.
- Clear and professional written communication, including comfort drafting emails and liaising with external partners.
- Experience coordinating logistics, including scheduling, travel, event details, and multi-party communications.
- Proficiency with digital tools, shared drives, calendars, and basic project trackers, or the ability to learn them quickly.
- Comfort working in Asana and Google Workspace would be highly valued, as these are core tools used across our team.
- Sound judgment, discretion, and reliability when handling sensitive information.
- Collaborative and easy to work with, able to build productive relationships across teams and with external contacts.
- Proactive and thoughtful, with the ability to anticipate needs, flag issues, and propose solutions.
- Comfortable working independently and asking clear questions where needed.
Nice to have:
- Experience working in a nonprofit, arts, journalism, or education environment.
- Experience supporting a public-facing leader, creative professional, or someone with a heavy travel and speaking schedule.
- Interest in photography, storytelling, animal issues, or adjacent social impact fields.
Perks of Working With Us
- Flexible hours
- Primarily remote work
- Three weeks’ paid vacation plus an extended holiday closure period
- A friendly, funny, talented, and caring team
More About Us
We are a federally incorporated non-profit based in Toronto, Canada. We are a small, fully remote team distributed across different time zones. We offer a flexible working schedule, professional development opportunities, and operate with plenty of autonomy in our roles to support varied needs and working styles.
How to Apply
Note: If you meet most, but not all, requirements and still think you would be a great fit for the role, we encourage you to apply and let us know how we can support you. We encourage individuals from all backgrounds to apply, particularly those from underrepresented groups. We value diversity and believe that work on behalf of animals benefits significantly from collaborating with people from all backgrounds and identities. Accommodations are available during the screening process upon request.
Screening process (subject to minor adjustments):
- Application form
- Skills assessment
- Interview 1
- Interview 2
- Reference check