Director of Government Affairs

About Endurance

Endurance is building the world's first modular subsea geothermal power plants, converting vast thermal resources under the ocean into gigawatts of baseload power. Backed by Founders Fund, Felicis, First Round Capital, and Point72 Ventures, our founding team includes veterans from SpaceX, Helion, Blue Origin, and Apple. We have completed multiple deep-ocean deployments to subsea volcanoes and are launching a long-term demonstration project this fall. By leveraging modular design, manufacturing scale, efficient drilling, and latent cooling on the seafloor, we are pioneering a new category of energy that outperforms traditional sources on environmental impact, deployment speed, and cost.

What You’ll Be Doing

As the Director of Government Affairs, you will own relationships, partnerships, and policy engagement with defense programs. This person is our principal voice at the ONR, NAVSEA Warfare Centers, DARPA, other DoD S&T enterprise, and acquisition program offices, with the Military Departments, and on the Hill committees that shape defense energy and installation resilience.

This role will play an instrumental role shaping requirements, positions Endurance Energy for programs and funding, and gives leadership early, accurate read on the Department of Defense (DoD) acquisition and budget cycle. The Director works within the office of Policy and External Affairs; works closely with the commercial, engineering, and legal teams; and represents the company with senior government and industry stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities

• Build relationships across the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD),ONR, NAVSEA Warfare Centers, DARPA, other DoD S&T enterprise, and acquisition program offices, the Joint Staff, and the Military Departments, and represent Endurance Energy in meetings, working groups, and industry days

• Track Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution (PPBE), the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), and defense appropriations, and brief leadership on funding opportunities and timing risks

• Engage Armed Services and Appropriations staff, draft talking points, white papers, and legislative asks, and manage outside lobbyists and coalitions

• Work on programs and requirements, and support Other Transaction Authority (OTA) agreements, Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) programs, Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) efforts, and teaming pursuits

• Lead applications to Department of Defense (DoD) funding opportunities, from finding and qualifying solicitations through writing, submitting, and following up on proposals

• Prepare presentations and briefing materials for senior leadership and external partners

• Work with legal to keep all government engagement within lobbying, ethics, and procurement integrity rules

• Own an annual Department of Defense (DoD) engagement plan and report regularly to executives and the board

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in government affairs, defense policy, or roles focused on the Department of Defense (DoD), with at least 5 years working directly with theONR, NAVSEA Warfare Centers, DARPA, other DoD S&T enterprise, and acquisition program offices or Military Departments

• Working knowledge of the Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution (PPBE) process, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and appropriations cycle, and Department of Defense (DoD) acquisition pathways, including the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS), Other Transaction Authority (OTA) agreements, and Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) programs

• Established relationships with Department of Defense (DoD), Service, or congressional defense stakeholders

• Demonstrated ability to translate technical capabilities into policy and requirements language for non-technical audiences

• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including senior-level briefings

• Active Secret clearance or higher, or eligibility to obtain a Top Secret clearance

Preferred Skills

• Master's degree in a related field, such as a Master of Public Administration (MPA), Master of Business Administration (MBA), or Juris Doctor (JD)

• Prior service as a military officer, Department of Defense (DoD) civilian, or congressional staffer on a defense committee

• Experience in energy, power systems, or critical infrastructure

• Familiarity with Department of Defense (DoD) energy and installation programs, such as the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations, and Environment, the Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP), the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP), or Service energy resilience offices

• Experience supporting capture efforts for Department of Defense (DoD) contracts or other transactions

• Active Top Secret clearance

Compensation, Benefits, & Perks

As a pre-revenue startup, Endurance Energy offers competitive base salaries and generous equity packages for full-time employees. Final base salary will be determined by an array of factors including internal equity, job-related knowledge, skills, and work experience.

A key aspect of our compensation philosophy is that value creation should be aligned with rewards. Right now this means equity is a significant portion of every full-time employee's compensation. As the company matures, there will be continued evolution and changes to the total rewards and total compensation package. What will always be true is that if we win, we win together. Equity is granted to every full-time employee as a meaningful piece of ownership. We believe the people building the company should share directly in the value they create.

In addition to a competitive base salary and equity, employees will receive all of our other great benefits and perks, including:

• Benefits: Health, Dental, and Vision insurance coverage

• Time Away: Flexible PTO including 12 paid company holidays

• Global Fieldwork: Travel to fascinating deployment sites along oceanic ridges in locations like the Pacific Northwest, Hawaii, Iceland, Japan, New Zealand, and the Azores

• Hands-on Experience: Participate in sea trials and deployment operations in partnership with leading oceanographic institutions

• Cutting-edge Development: Work with technology that spans high-power electronics, marine systems, and clean energy

• Impactful Work: Help solve one of the world's most pressing challenges

• Dive Certification: Company-sponsored recreational dive certification

• Other Perks: Access to the company boat, free meals and snacks, and the list goes on!

If you’re selected for consideration, a recruiter will be able to discuss in greater detail.