Corporate Affairs Director

Microsoft•Ottawa, ON

8h•CA$122,900 - CA$219,100

About The Position

We are looking for a creative and driven Corporate Affairs Director to join our Canadian government affairs and public policy team. Microsoft's mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. Our culture is centered on embracing a growth mindset, a theme of inspiring excellence, and encouraging teams and leaders to bring their best each day. In doing so, we create life-changing innovations that impact billions of lives around the world. The Microsoft Canada Government Affairs mission is to shape relevant public policies, engage in outreach, and develop and drive programs that help Microsoft advance social and economic well-being, enabling people around the world to realize their full potential. The role’s primary purpose is to engage with government policy makers and influencers, public customers, key influencers, and civil society in Canada to promote Microsoft’s public policy goals. The successful candidate will be expected to provide strategic leadership and business insight, to master proactive planning and aligning various internal stakeholders, and to drive external relationship building with government, industry, key public customers, academia and NGOs. In partnership with colleagues, the successful candidate will develop and execute outreach strategies and campaigns to positively shape the public policy debate and outcomes on public policy issues such as artificial intelligence (AI), infrastructure expansion, digital skills, privacy and data protection standards, cybersecurity, intellectual property, public sector delivery, competition law, trade and market access. They will have a strong knowledge of public opinion and organized engagement to influence the political process, including skill in writing political communication materials, and lobbying. They will work closely with the Microsoft business leadership and public sector teams in Canada to help progress company priorities, keep stakeholders engaged on public policy issues, debates and trends and providing proactive advice on the impact and relevance of these issues to the business. Working closely with stakeholders in the province of Quebec, the successful candidate be able to communicate in both French and English.

Requirements

Bachelor's Degree in Public Policy, Public Administration, Political Science, Business Administration, Technology, Law, Liberal Arts, Engineering or related field AND 6+ years work experience in government affairs, corporate affairs, public policy, government, or related area OR equivalent experience
Fluency in French and English
Candidate must meet requirements to register with the Federal Lobbyist Registry.

Nice To Haves

5+ years experience in developing and managing strategic relationships to advocate and influence public/technology policy priorities.

Responsibilities

Advocates for, and manages, policy issues, and leads the company’s engagement and campaign with senior internal stakeholders related to government affairs on priority issues, strategies, and/or programs.
Develops, and contributes to, Microsoft’s policy agenda and/or advocacy strategies for top priorities.
Responds to key strategic issues and recommends well thought-out actions by prioritizing, ensuring alignment with stakeholder positions, leveraging specialists, or escalating matters.
Manages affairs in rapidly changing and ambiguous political, policy, and industry environments.
Develops and implements strategies for leveraging partnerships with external partners and key influencers to advance Microsoft's public policy agenda in several key areas.
Develops and establishes an intelligence network, gathers and analyzes external/internal data and relationship interactions, and shares internal and external intelligence findings in support of Microsoft’s and customers' business objectives.
Provides counseling on public policy and/or geo-political or cultural topics to business units related to specific product development or business plans.
Develops and/or recommends highly creative solutions for advancing Microsoft policy and/or political agenda, while managing risks and consequences.
Participates in internal/external events, and is active with driving social media engagement on key issues; supports executive engagement and participation in international events.
Directs political strategies, provides strategic vision, and develops communication framework and/or messaging in partnership with Communications team for Microsoft by implementing strategies across diverse stakeholders.
Builds and maintains a strong, ongoing network and coalition with complex governmental and non-governmental stakeholders (e.g., peer and industry organizations, think tanks, academics, businesses, community leaders) to align interests to significantly advance Microsoft's objectives in key priority areas; builds strategic relationships that position Microsoft as a key trusted advisor to targeted political leadership and/or trade/think tank organizations in the region.
Serves as a strategic partner to the Public Sector and other key business leads by supporting sales and market opportunities, building Microsoft's reputation as a globally trusted provider of technology, and assisting in navigating, minimizing, or removing roadblocks to drive business results.
Acts as a subject matter expert for large, critical projects, and may provide direction to teammates or a cross-functional project team, or act as a project lead across country and team lines.
Resolves complex, cross-group priority conflicts and gains alignment across teams to enable the achievement of shared business objectives; facilitates and coordinates internal business operations within region to raise awareness and facilitate communication and coordination of effort.
Collaborates with, and influences, senior-level internal stakeholders and subject matter experts within and outside of Government Affairs to ensure a mutual understanding and alignment of objectives, priorities, and resources.