X is Alphabet’s moonshot factory. We are a diverse group of inventors and entrepreneurs who build and launch technologies that aim to improve the lives of millions, even billions, of people. Our goal: 10x impact on the world’s most intractable problems, not just 10% improvement. We approach projects that have the aspiration and riskiness of research with the speed and ambition of a startup.
About the team:
As the Head of the X Public Policy team, you will be at the heart of the political and regulatory debates about new technology in multiple sectors. Your ultimate goal will be to ensure that the new innovations X develops can come to market and grow. Your role will have both internal and external scope. Internally, you’ll manage a small team of public policy experts and will play a key role in the X leadership team, partnering with engineers and entrepreneurs to advise them on the products and businesses X creates. Externally, you will work with your team to set and lead the execution of X’s Public Policy strategy with Governments and regulators globally. You will need to work with a broad range of policy makers, elected and appointed, as well as academics, third party experts to help advance our policy positions. In public forums you will be a visionary advocate for new technology and its application to solving big, real world problems
What you should have:
- BA/BS degree or equivalent practical experience.
- 10+ years of experience working in a government relations/public policy role within a technology company or trade association
- Based in CA or Washington DC
It would be great if you also had these:
- Strong understanding and passion for new technology and the associated policy and regulatory environments with a proven ability to quickly get up to speed on complex technical issues.
- Entrepreneurial, scrappy and able to get things done with limited resources. You will need to role your sleeves up and work with the team, helping them to prioritise and exercise good judgement in a rapidly changing, uncertain and sometimes stressful environment.
- Creative and audacious about what can be achieved in Public Policy and a keen awareness of the important role it plays in enabling a business to succeed. You will need to develop and advocate for innovative ways for legislation and regulation to evolve to facilitate the safe introduction of new technology in a commercial business setting.
- Strong teamwork and management capabilities. As a senior leader at X your ability to achieve your goals will be highly dependent on your ability to bring the wider team along with you. A proven ability to build strong relationships with people across different disciplines - especially engineers and entrepreneurs - is crucial.
- Strong communications and advocacy skills. A persuasive public speaker, at ease with public speaking and engaging with the highest levels of Government.
- All the skills that are required of senior Policy professionals: Direct experience working on developing new policy or legislative solutions with a government agency or legislative committee. Building allies and coalitions to support desired policy outcomes. First-rate personal, political, analytical, communications (written and verbal) skills.
How you will make 10X impact:
- Manage the X policy team
- Partner with the wider ABC family - especially at Google - to develop and execute an ambitious Public Policy strategy that enables X projects to experiment and innovate quickly and safely in a range of different international markets.
- Work with trade associations, industry partners, academics, non-profit groups and other allies to promote and build support for policy positions that facilitate a healthy long term policy framework for innovation in the US
- Play an active role as part of the G&A leadership team: support and advise the CEO, CFO, peers and Project Leads on wider issues such as product design and strategy, business strategy and other corporate issues that arise as X evolves.
- Advocate our policy positions to key constituencies nationally and worldwide. This will include working with colleagues in Communications and Marketing on external collateral, and representing X in a range of public and private settings such as attending and speaking at events and in Government hosted meetings.
- Manage all the resources required to achieve X’s Public Policy goals: budget and consultant management in key markets is a basic responsibility for any successful candidate.
At X, we don't just accept difference - we celebrate it, we support it, and we thrive on it for the benefit of our employees, our products and our community. We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements.
If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please contact us at: x-accommodation-request@x.team.