Position Objective:
To support PETA India’s Cruelty Investigations Department by carefully reviewing investigation notes, evidence, photos, videos, and related documents; identifying potential legal violations; conducting desk research and helping identify legal, practical, documentation, confidentiality, equipment, or other issues investigators should know before embarking on an investigation; drafting clear factual and legally sound reports; writing and updating departmental SOPs for all areas of investigation work and for the duties carried out by this role; helping ensure that investigation materials are organised, secure, accurate, and useful for legal action, complaints to authorities, campaign work, media outreach, and internal decision-making; and maintaining investigation equipment so investigators are properly equipped for fieldwork. The position will primarily support investigations and will also assist departments with the organisation and cataloguing of photo and video materials. The role acts as a liaison between the investigators and other departments, keeping confidentiality paramount.
Term of Employment:
Full-time
Location:
Delhi
Reports To:
Director
Primary Responsibilities and Duties:
Investigation Note Review and Evidence Assessment
- Review daily notes and logs submitted by investigators to ensure that they are clear, complete, accurate, factual, and useful for follow-up action.
- Act as a careful second set of eyes by flagging missing details, unclear descriptions, inconsistencies, gaps in evidence, or issues that need clarification from investigators.
- Review photos, videos, documents, and other materials connected with investigations and identify key facts, relevant observations, and possible violations.
- List potential violations of animal protection laws, rules, guidelines, licences, court orders, or other applicable legal or regulatory requirements, in consultation with the supervisor and legal team as needed.
- Help ensure that investigation documentation is strong enough to support complaints to authorities, legal review, campaign planning, media work, and other organisational action.
- Track pending follow-up points, including missing information, unclear facts, additional evidence needed, possible legal issues, and materials required for reports or complaints.
Pre-Investigation Research and Preparation
- Conduct desk research on investigations, as requested, to help investigators prepare before fieldwork begins.
- Help identify legal, regulatory, licensing, documentation, confidentiality, safety, access, equipment, or other issues investigators may need to know before embarking on an investigation.
Research relevant background information, including laws, rules, guidelines, court orders, industry practices, locations, entities, prior complaints, publicly available records, and other useful material, w- directed by the supervisor.
- Prepare concise pre-investigation briefs, checklists, questions, and issue lists for investigators so they know what to look for, what to document, and what to avoid assuming.
- Work with the supervisor and legal colleagues, as needed, to help ensure investigators are aware of relevant legal considerations before beginning an assignment.
- Update investigation plans, SOPs, templates, and checklists based on recurring legal, documentation, or evidence issues identified through desk research and previous investigations.
Report Drafting and Case Documentation
- Draft clear, factual, well-organised investigation reports based on field notes, evidence, documents, photographs, videos, and other materials.
- Draft investigation factsheets, summaries, timelines, background notes, evidence lists, and briefing documents as required for media, legal, campaign, government, or other organisational purposes.
- Prepare case summaries and briefing documents for internal review, legal assessment, government submissions, police complaints, or campaign use.
- Ensure that all reports and factsheets are written in a professional, accurate, evidence-based manner and avoid speculation or unsupported claims.
- Work with investigators and relevant colleagues to obtain missing details such as dates, locations, names, descriptions, captions, source details, and context needed to make reports complete and credible.
- Assist in preparing materials for complaints, letters, legal notices, campaign proposals, media pitches, and other follow-up actions arising from investigations.
- Maintain organised records of reports, factsheets, summaries, evidence references, legal-violation lists, and related correspondence.
Department SOPs and Process Documentation
- Write, update, and maintain departmental SOPs for all areas of investigation work, including pre-investigation desk research, legal and practical issue-spotting, note review, evidence handling, report drafting, photo and video filing, source tracking, confidentiality, equipment use, and cross-department coordination.
- Create and update SOPs, checklists, templates, instructions, logs, and other practical guidance for the duties carried out by this role, so the work remains consistent, accurate, and easy to follow.
- Work with the supervisor, investigators, legal colleagues, and relevant departments to ensure SOPs reflect current practice, legal and confidentiality requirements, and PETA India’s standards.
- Review SOPs periodically and after major investigations or process changes to identify gaps, improve clarity, and incorporate lessons learned.
Help ensure investigators and relevant colleagues know w- to find current SOPs, templates, filing guidance, evidence-handling instructions, and equipment procedures.
Investigator and Department Liaison
- Act as a key liaison between investigators and relevant departments, ensuring that requests for information, footage, photographs, documents, summaries, and follow-up details are handled accurately and discreetly.
- Coordinate with relevant PETA India departments and colleagues to help ensure that investigation findings and materials are understood and used responsibly.
- Clarify departmental needs with investigators and help investigators understand what information, evidence, captions, timelines, source details, copyright information, or supporting details are required for legal, campaign, media, or advocacy purposes.
- Help prevent sensitive investigation materials from being circulated unnecessarily by sharing only approved, relevant, and carefully contextualised information with authorised colleagues.
- Track cross-department requests related to investigation materials and ensure timely follow-up while maintaining confidentiality and respecting departmental SOPs.
Investigation Equipment and Field Readiness
- Maintain investigation equipment and related supplies so investigators are properly equipped for field assignments.
- Keep an organised inventory of investigation equipment, including cameras, phones, audio or video equipment, batteries, chargers, memory cards, storage devices, and other field materials, as applicable.
- Check that equipment is functioning, charged, clean, labelled, accounted for, and ready for use before and after assignments.
- Coordinate repairs, replacements, purchases, returns, sign-outs, and safe storage of investigation equipment in consultation with the supervisor and relevant administrative colleagues.
- Help ensure investigators have the materials they need for assignments, including equipment, storage media, relevant forms, documentation tools, and any approved field-support items.
- Track equipment issued to investigators and follow up promptly on missing, damaged, faulty, or returned items.
Evidence and Investigation Material Management
- Help organise, label, index, and maintain investigation-related photos, videos, documents, notes, logs, and other materials in accordance with departmental SOPs.
- Ensure that evidence and supporting materials are filed in a way that allows relevant information to be retrieved quickly and accurately when needed.
- Help create and maintain folders, filing systems, spreadsheets, indexes, and logs for investigation materials.
- Review photo and video files to identify relevant content, key cruelty evidence, species, locations, dates, visible violations, who took the photo or footage, and other details needed for legal or campaign use.
- Ensure that original files, supporting notes, source information, copyright or usage restrictions, and related context are preserved carefully and are not altered, misplaced, mislabelled, or shared inappropriately.
- Assist with keeping sensitive materials restricted to authorised personnel only.
Photo and Video Library Support
- Provide library and filing support for investigation-related audio-visual materials, including photographs, videos, captions, and supporting notes.
- Assist, when required, with organising photo and video materials for other departments, while keeping investigations as the primary area of responsibility.
For photos and videos across departments, help ensure that files clearly indicate who took the photo or footage, the date and location w- known, the department or case it relates to, and any legal, copyright, ownership, usage, or permission restrictions.
File and label visual materials in a straightforward, easy-to-understand way so colleagues can quickly know what the material shows, w- it came from, whether it can be used, and whom to check with before sharing it.
- Help make visual materials easier to search by issue, species, location, date, case type, department, campaign, source, photographer or videographer, or other relevant categories.
- Support colleagues in identifying appropriate photographs or footage for internal review, reports, legal use, complaints, campaign planning, or public-facing work, subject to approval, copyright, usage, and confidentiality requirements.
- Help ensure that sensitive, graphic, restricted, unpublished, copyrighted, or permission-limited materials are stored and handled appropriately.
Legal, Campaign, and Cross-Department Support
- Work with the supervisor and legal colleagues to help assess whether investigation findings may indicate cruelty, illegal conduct, improper practices, or non-compliance.
- Support coordination with other teams by preparing accurate factual summaries, factsheets, and briefings and by locating relevant materials.
- Help ensure that investigation findings are translated into useful action points for complaints, advocacy, corporate outreach, government engagement, media use, and public awareness work.
- Maintain strict confidentiality regarding investigations, investigator identities, sources, informants, whistleblowers, operational plans, evidence, unpublished materials, and internal discussions.
General
- Follow all PETA India policies, confidentiality requirements, and departmental SOPs.
- Maintain the highest standards of accuracy, discretion, judgement, and professionalism.
- Work carefully and responsibly with sensitive or graphic material involving cruelty to animals.
- Manage multiple assignments while meeting deadlines and maintaining attention to detail.
- Perform any other duties assigned by the supervisor to support PETA India’s investigations, evidence-management, SOP development, equipment-readiness, desk research, and animal protection work.
Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in law, criminology, journalism, public policy, social work, animal protection, communications, or a related field preferred.
- Relevant experience in investigations support, desk research, legal research, case documentation, evidence review, reporting, advocacy, journalism, NGO work, SOP or process documentation, equipment coordination, or a related area preferred.
- Excellent written English and the ability to draft clear, factual, well-structured reports, factsheets, SOPs, and practical guidance documents.
- Strong analytical skills and the ability to identify relevant facts, gaps, inconsistencies, pre-investigation research needs, and possible legal or cruelty-related issues from notes, photographs, videos, documents, and background research.
- Familiarity with animal protection laws and enforcement processes in India preferred, or the ability to learn quickly.
- Strong organisational skills and the ability to manage large volumes of digital material, SOPs, process records, and equipment records accurately.
- Good judgement, discretion, and the ability to handle confidential and sensitive information responsibly.
- Ability to work with disturbing or graphic material involving cruelty to animals.
- Strong computer skills, including comfort with shared drives, spreadsheets, document-management systems, and photo/video filing systems.
- Ability to coordinate professionally with colleagues across departments.
- Fluency in English required; fluency in Hindi and/or other Indian languages a strong plus.
- Support for PETA India’s philosophy and the ability to advocate professionally for PETA India’s positions.
Ad- nce to a healthy vegan lifestyle.
- Commitment to the objectives of the organisation.
How to Apply:
To apply for a position with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India, please complete this form.
