Serve as a foundation leader on the North America Team, which is charged with developing and executing policy, advocacy, communications and government relations strategies to build political support and advance domestic and global programmatic priorities that are funded by, or executed within, the United States, Canada, and the United Nations. The Director, North America Government Relations develops and executes government relations strategies that mobilize the resources, political commitment, and public commitment necessary to achieving the foundation’s program goals in the U.S., Canada and the UN. Contribute to the advancement of the foundation’s mission and impact by building an environment of optimism, collaboration, rigor and innovation.
- Under the guidance of the Director, North America Team, develop and implement government relations strategies to advance foundation priorities in focus states within the US, the US federal government, the Canadian Government and the United Nations.
- Manage work focused on government relations at the state and local and federal levels, tasked with advancing our domestic and global priorities among key policy and decision makers across North America.
- Collaborate with programmatic, regional and policy/advocacy Directors and leadership for other parts of the foundation to strategically align on priorities and provide critical access and leverage within government or decision-making systems in the U.S., Canada and UN.
- Identify trends and opportunities for engagement on foundation issues in place
- Allocates funding across sub teams, drives accountability for meeting funding expectations, and reports progress against investment goals to Director.
- Under the guidance of the North America Director, work with the Director – U.S. Program Policy, Advocacy and Communications to identify priority U.S. Program (USP) issues and align strategies for execution
- Coordinate with Donor Government Relations to align on tactics and broader political trends around the world
- Communicate with division and program staff about opportunities and progress with critical partnerships, may develop reports, reviews and summaries for key partners, division President, CEO and Co-chairs.
- This role may lead people and may be responsible for hiring the talent needed to achieve our goals, ensuring successful onboarding, communication performance expectations, building goal alignment, integrating project and change management, giving and seeking feedback, providing mentorship, measuring progress and holding people accountable, supporting employee development, and recognizing achievements and lessons learned.
- Be a critical thought partner, provide functional expertise to program teams on investments.
- Develop and maintain positive relationships with senior leadership to ensure overall success of the vision.
We believe that energized people, working well together, fueled by great leadership in an inclusive environment in which they thrive, will do phenomenal things.
- Ability to effectively inspire and direct staff (including cross-functional teams): professional development, recruitment, termination, time management and portfolio management.
- Strategy development and execution: guide implementation, delivery, and impact measurement of approved strategic objectives. Lead execution of strategy, annual updates and future strategy development.
- Excellent written and oral communication skills in positions requiring communication with a broad audience representing diverse cultures.
- Knowledge of U.S. Education and Pathways to Employment policy, landscape, principles and processes, with ability to navigate complex environments.
- Demonstrate excellent leadership, intellectual quickness, creativity, curiosity, discipline and resourcefulness.