Federal Government Relations & Public Policy Lead

Federal Government Relations & Public Policy Lead - Hybrid, Washington, DC area or Cary, North Carolina 

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About the job

The Federal Government Relations & Public Policy Lead will lead the organization's engagement with the U.S. Congress, senior executive branch officials, industry associations, and key policy stakeholders. Reporting to senior leadership, this role is responsible for developing and executing a bipartisan federal advocacy strategy that advances the company's business objectives, protects its interests, and strengthens its reputation as a trusted technology leader.

The successful candidate will serve as a strategic advisor to executives on public policy, legislative, and regulatory developments affecting the technology industry, including artificial intelligence, data privacy, cybersecurity, digital trade, intellectual property, and emerging technology regulation. The candidate will build and maintain influential relationships across government and industry while ensuring compliance with all lobbying and ethics requirements.

As a Federal Government Relations & Public Policy Lead you will: 

• Develop and execute a comprehensive federal government relations and public policy strategy aligned with corporate objectives.
• Build and maintain strong bipartisan relationships with Members of Congress, congressional staff, federal agencies, administration officials, and policy influencers.
• Monitor, analyze, and communicate legislative, regulatory, and political developments impacting the company's business interests.
• Lead advocacy efforts on priority policy issues affecting the technology sector.
• Represent the company before Congress, federal agencies, trade associations, coalitions, and industry forums.
• Advise executive leadership on policy risks, opportunities, and strategic engagement plans.
• Collaborate with legal, business, product, sales, communications, and executive teams to develop unified policy positions and support sales leaders engaging with agency officials.
• Develop and manage relationships with outside lobbying firms, consultants, associations and coalition partners.
• Prepare policy briefs, testimony, executive talking points, position papers, and stakeholder communications.
• Ensure compliance with federal lobbying, ethics, campaign finance, and disclosure requirements.
• Support the company's thought leadership and reputation-building efforts in Washington, D.C. and across the federal policy community.
• Ensure all applicable security policies and processes are followed to support the organization's secure software development goals.
• Embrace curiosity, passion, authenticity and accountability. These are our values and influence everything we do.

Required qualifications 

• Bachelor’s Degree in Public Policy, Communications, Political Science, Business Administration, or other related field of study.
• Preferred: Juris Doctorate Degree from an accredited U.S. law school or equivalent legal education outside the U.S., which qualifies someone to work in an in-house Legal Department as an attorney. U.S. Only - Licensed to practice law by being admitted to and a member in good standing of at least one state bar
• Minimum of 8 years of federal government experience, including experience in one or more of the following:
  • U.S. Congress (Member office, committee, or leadership office)
  • Federal executive branch agency in a senior policy, legislative affairs, or regulatory role
  • Corporate government relations, public affairs, or lobbying position
  • Government relations consulting or lobbying firm
• Demonstrated success operating in a bipartisan manner and building trusted relationships across political parties and ideologies.
• Proven track record of developing and leading successful public policy or government affairs initiatives on behalf of a corporate client in the technology sector.
• Strong understanding of the federal legislative, regulatory, and appropriations processes.
• Exceptional written, verbal, presentation, and stakeholder engagement skills.
• Ability to translate complex policy issues into actionable business recommendations for senior executives.
• Experience managing external consultants, lobbyists, coalitions, or trade association relationships.
• Equivalent combination of related education, training and experience may be considered in place of the above qualifications.

Additional competencies, knowledge and skills

• Building Trusting Relationships - Using appropriate interpersonal styles to establish effective relationships with customers and internal partners; interacting with others in a way that promotes openness and trust and gives them confidence in one’s intentions.
• Communication - Conveying information and ideas clearly and concisely to individuals or groups in an engaging manner that helps them understand and retain the message; listening actively to others.
• Collaboration - Working cooperatively with others to help a team or work group achieve its goals.
• Experience working on issues related to artificial intelligence, data privacy, cybersecurity, cloud computing, digital commerce, intellectual property, or technology procurement.
• Existing network of relationships within Congress, federal agencies, industry associations, and the technology policy community.
• Experience supporting publicly traded companies or large multinational organizations.

World-class benefits  

Highlights include...

• Comprehensive medical, prescription, dental and vision plans.
• Medical plan options include:
• PPO with low annual deductible and copays.
• HDHP combined with a health savings account with a contribution from SAS (no access to on-site health care center).
• Onsite Health Care Center (HQ) that’s free to employees and family members enrolled in the PPO plan. There's a pharmacy too! Not local to HQ? The pharmacy will ship prescriptions for no additional charge!
• An industry-leading 401k plan.
• Tuition Assistance Program and programs and resources to support your development
• Generous time away including vacation time, a variety of paid holidays, and our much-loved U.S. Winter Wellness Break between December 25 and January 1.
• Volunteer Time Off, parental leave and unlimited paid sick days.
• Generous childcare benefits for all full-time employees.

You are welcome here.

At SAS, it’s not about fitting into our culture – it’s about adding to it. We believe our people make the difference. Our inclusive workforce brings together unique talents and inspires teams to create amazing software that reflects the diversity of our users and customers.

Additional Information:

To qualify, applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States, and should not require, now or in the future, sponsorship for employment visa status. SAS is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants are considered for employment without regard to any characteristic protected by law. Read more: Know Your Rights. 

Resumes may be considered in the order they are received. SAS employees performing certain job functions may require access to technology or software subject to export or import regulations. To comply with these regulations, SAS may obtain nationality or citizenship information from applicants for employment. SAS collects this information solely for trade law compliance purposes and does not use it to discriminate unfairly in the hiring process.

The base salary range for this position in Virginia is $181499 USD - $221832 USD per year and is a good faith estimate only.  The range does not include any applicable geographic differential associated with the location at which the position may be filled.  Actual pay will vary depending on factors including but not limited to job-related knowledge, skills, and experience.  Pay is just one component of SAS’s total compensation package for employees. Employees may also be eligible for commission or discretionary bonus (based on company and individual performance) as determined by the role. In addition, SAS provides a competitive benefits package to meet different employee needs and lifestyles; including health insurance coverage, life and disability insurance, retirement benefits, company paid holidays and paid time off (PTO) for vacation and/or personal business.  For more information regarding SAS benefits, click here to view the total rewards package. 

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