Vice President of Operations

Lead the operational strategy and functions of the organization transforming how meat is made 

The Good Food Institute (GFI) is a nonprofit think tank working to make the global food system better for the planet, people, and animals. Alongside scientists, businesses, and policymakers, GFI’s teams focus on making plant-based, fermentation-enabled, and cultivated meat delicious, affordable, and accessible. Powered by philanthropy, GFI is an international network of organizations advancing alternative proteins as an essential solution needed to meet the world’s climate, global health, food security, and biodiversity goals.

How you will make a difference 

In this position, you will lead the Collaborative Assistance Team (CAT), which serves as the operational backbone of a complex, mission-driven organization and includes the functions of Finance, Information Technology, Operations, and People Operations. You will be responsible for ensuring effective overall operational functioning across GFI's U.S. entity and relevant operational alignment across GFI's independent international affiliates. This includes building and sustaining a high-performing, inclusive culture; advising and supporting affiliate teams; and providing strategic guidance to the CEO and Leadership Team on financial planning, risk management, and cross-network coordination. 

The Vice President of Operations will be responsible for:

• Overseeing the Collaborative Assistance Team (CAT); setting department strategy, vision, and culture; and hiring, training, supervising, mentoring, and developing team members, including directly managing the following positions:
• Director of Finance and Operations
• Senior Director of People Operations
• Senior Director of Technology, Privacy, and Data Protection 
• Proactively identifying, assessing, and escalating operational risks to the CEO, General Counsel, and Leadership Team; designing and implementing proportionate systems and controls that support effective, compliant execution; and, leading cross-network operational coordination, including serving as a liaison to affiliates and facilitating the CAT Global Committee (GloCo).
• Leading the organization's budgeting and financial planning processes by setting direction, ensuring alignment between strategy and resource allocation, and overseeing financial performance in partnership with the Finance team, which manages detailed budget development, reporting, and financial operations.
• Fostering a high-performing, inclusive culture by ensuring equitable practices, strong management and professional development standards, and alignment across teams through effective internal communications, employee engagement, department and all-staff meetings and retreats, training, and feedback mechanisms, including responding to anonymous reporting hotline inquiries.
• Maintaining and improving core operational infrastructure, including policies, internal controls, and both human and technical systems that support scalable, efficient, and compliant organizational growth.
• Coordinating cross-functional risk mitigation strategies and processes, maintaining risk documentation, and ensuring business continuity planning across the U.S. entity and affiliate network.
• Overseeing GFI’s operational insurance portfolio, including evaluating coverage needs, managing broker relationships, procuring and renewing policies, and ensuring alignment with organizational risk tolerance and legal requirements in partnership with the General Counsel.
• Ensuring operational alignment across the network of organizations (planning, communication, shared practices) while affiliate teams retain responsibility for day-to-day operations.
• Preparing Board-level materials in partnership with the CEO, General Counsel, and Finance, ensuring the Board has appropriate visibility into key operational, financial, and risk issues.
• Serving as an active member of the GFI (U.S. team) Leadership Team, driving cross-functional and network-wide initiatives; representing operational and governance considerations in network decision-making; and, cultivating collaborative relationships with Leadership Team peers.
• Performing other duties as assigned.

Who we’re looking for 

An ideal candidate for the Vice President of Operations position will have experience that reflects the following:

• A minimum of ten years of experience in a leadership capacity in at least two of CAT's four main areas of responsibility (Finance, Information Technology, Operations, and People Operations), including experience working within or alongside international or multi-entity organizational structures. Experience within nonprofit organizations preferred.
• Management experience, with the proven ability to foster a team culture of inclusion and belonging.
• Demonstrated ability to exercise independent judgment in ambiguous situations and drive initiatives without explicit direction, while maintaining trust and continuity.
• Experience navigating complex stakeholder dynamics across geographically distributed, culturally diverse teams, including managing relationships between centralized organizational functions and regionally autonomous entities.
• Demonstrated ability to build trust-based partnerships across geographic, cultural, and organizational boundaries, contributing through influence rather than authority and balancing responsiveness to stakeholder needs with organizational priorities and constraints. 
• Willingness to maintain a flexible schedule to support collaboration across global time zones, including periodic early morning or evening meetings.
• Experience identifying and managing organizational risk, including escalating issues appropriately, coordinating mitigation efforts across teams, and maintaining clear documentation and continuity plans.
• Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Highest ethical standards.
• Ability to adapt to a rapidly changing environment.
• Strong problem-solving, listening, and verbal and written communication skills.
• A commitment to fostering a work environment that is respectful, supportive, fair, and welcoming to all.
• Comfort working remotely in a collaborative, caring, and high-performing culture that values inclusion and innovation. 
• Strong support for GFI’s philosophy and mission; demonstrated interest in plant-based & other alternative proteins, public health, environmentalism, climate change, animal protection, or hunger relief.
• A commitment to GFI’s values: believe change is possible, do the most good we can, share knowledge freely, act on evidence, and invite everyone to the table.

GFI wants the best people and is committed to a fair hiring process. We use a third-party anonymizing tool to redact personal information from submitted applications — including name, location, contact details, and several other factors — to increase fairness in our process. We also prioritize an inclusive work environment absent of discrimination and harassment during the application process and after you join the team. Please see our full Equal Opportunity Statement: https://gfi.org/careers/#EEO-and-visa-disclaimer. 

If you are passionate about GFI’s mission, think you have what it takes to be successful in this position, and meet many of the job requirements — even if you don’t check all the boxes — please apply. We’d appreciate the opportunity to consider your application. 

The fine print

• Terms of employment: Full-time, exempt 
• Reports to: Nigel Sizer, CEO
• Direct report(s): Irina Rodin, J.D., Senior Director of Technology, Privacy, & Data Protection; Julia Nemon, Director of Finance and Operations; Lauren Wollin-Ramirez, Senior Director of People Operations
• Location: Remote; United States 
• Travel: Up to three weeks per year for organization retreats (reasonable accommodations for and exemptions from organization retreats considered on a case-by-case basis).
• Benefits: Working from home; paid employee base medical coverage; dental, vision, and other medical insurance options; a 401(k) plan with employer match; 14 paid holidays; personal, sick, and vacation time; paid family/parental and medical leave; lifestyle spending account; opportunity for advancement; and a respectful and collaborative culture. More information here: https://tinyurl.com/GFIBenefits. 
• This is a U.S.-based position: In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work for any employer in the United States and to complete the required employment eligibility verification form upon hire. At this time, GFI's policy is not to sponsor or take over sponsorship of employment visas.
• Salary: $173,987.06-$182,686.40 (depending on experience and qualifications)

Important dates

Application deadline: May 19, 2026 

Anticipated start date: On or around July 6, 2026

Decided not to apply? If after reviewing this job description, you have decided not to apply, please let us know why by completing this short survey: https://tinyurl.com/GFIJobSurvey  Interested in working at the Good Food Institute? Join us for the Career Opportunities Webinar to learn more about our work and ask questions about specific job opportunities! See upcoming webinar dates and more information at https://tinyurl.com/GFICareers

Application instructions

GFI uses an anonymized hiring system that redacts key identifying personal information from all applications. We use this tool as part of a wider effort to reduce bias in our hiring process. Following these instructions will help to ensure your application is not delayed by a failed redaction. 

• Where possible, limit the creative formatting of your documents. If the name on your resume is an inserted image file or is styled with large spaces between each letter, for example, the redaction is likely to fail. Colors and designs are OK, but wherever possible, the text itself should just be regular text. 
• Please use consistent names. It helps to ensure that the name you use in your resume and cover letter is the same as the name you type into the application below. For example, if your name is Jennifer, please sign your cover letter as “Jennifer” rather than “Jenny.” 
• Submit PDF or .docx files only. Other file formats, like .txt, are likely to fail redaction. 
• Please do not include personal identifying information in your responses to the application questions. Referencing past education, work experience, and mission-alignment is OK. 
• If you use smart technology, use it wisely. We want to get to know you — not a robot. Please ensure your application materials reflect your own voice and experience. 
• Please do not contact the position's supervisor or any potential member of the hiring team. If you have questions, please email [email protected]. 

Thank you for helping us to ensure that the redaction process works smoothly and to review your application as quickly as possible!