Global Public Policy

Thinking Machines Lab•San Francisco, CA

4d•$300,000 - $360,000•Onsite

About The Position

Thinking Machines is seeking a founding policy leader to establish and direct its global public policy function. This role will serve as the company's primary policy strategist and advocate, addressing a broad spectrum of policy issues critical to the responsible development and deployment of frontier AI. Responsibilities include shaping U.S. federal and state policy, navigating the EU AI Act, engaging with international regulatory frameworks, and understanding export control and national security regulations. The successful candidate will collaborate with leadership to define the company's policy stances, build and manage a policy team, and represent Thinking Machines before legislators, regulators, and industry peers. This is a foundational role requiring end-to-end ownership, including team building and scaling the company's policy engagement across all relevant jurisdictions.

Requirements

10+ years of experience in technology policy, government relations, or a related field with a demonstrated track record of shaping policy outcomes on complex technology policy issues, including significant experience in U.S. federal policy and direct engagement with legislators or regulators.
Experience building and leading a policy or government affairs function, including hiring and managing a team.
Working knowledge of the US state, federal, and international regulatory landscape for AI, including the EU AI Act, and experience engaging on policy issues across multiple jurisdictions.
Excellent judgment translating complex, fast-moving regulatory developments into clear, actionable recommendations for executive leadership.
Strong relationship-building and communication skills, with the ability to represent the company credibly with government officials, industry counterparts, and internal stakeholders alike.

Nice To Haves

Experience in a frontier AI company, national security, or export control policy context, with familiarity with issues like deemed exports, compute governance, or model release policy.
Prior government, Hill, or agency experience (e.g., Congress, Commerce/BIS, OSTP, or similar).
Experience building coalitions with peer companies and trade associations on emerging technology policy issues.
Familiarity with the technical fundamentals of frontier AI development (training, fine-tuning, model release processes) sufficient to engage credibly with research and engineering teams.

Responsibilities

Set and drive Thinking Machines' global public policy strategy, from U.S. federal legislation and executive action to EU AI Act implementation and policy developments in other key jurisdictions.
Build and lead the public policy team, including hiring, structuring the function, and establishing how it partners with Research, Product, Safety, Legal, Communications, and the executive team.
Represent Thinking Machines directly with legislators, regulators, and agency staff, and manage relationships with outside counsel, lobbyists, and advocacy partners.
Lead the company's engagement on the issues most material to its business: frontier model legislation, safety and disclosure frameworks, open-weight model policy, and societal impact, translating fast-moving developments into clear positions and recommendations for leadership.
Build and manage coalition relationships with peer labs, industry groups, and trade associations, and represent Thinking Machines in relevant multi-stakeholder forums.
Develop the internal infrastructure for policy decision-making, including state-of-play tracking, position papers, and clear escalation paths, so policy considerations are built into product and research decisions early.