Director, Government Affairs & Public Policy

Job description

WHY HARVEY At Harvey, we’re transforming how legal and professional services operate. By combining frontier agentic AI, an enterprise-grade platform, and deep domain expertise, we’re reshaping how critical knowledge work gets done for decades to come. This is a rare chance to help build a generational company at a true inflection point. We have strong product-market fit and world-class investor support. We’re scaling fast and defining a new category in real time. The work is ambitious, the bar is high, and the opportunity for growth — personal, professional, and financial — is unmatched. Our team moves fast, takes ownership, and is deeply committed to the mission — operating with intensity, staying close to our customers, and pushing each other for excellence. We live by three values: Decisiveness, Simplicity, and Job's Not Finished. We act quickly on clear judgment over perfect information, we believe simplicity is what scales, and we're never satisfied with where we are. If you want to do the best work of your career alongside people who share that drive, we'd love to build with you. At Harvey, the future of professional services is being written today — and we’re just getting started. ROLE OVERVIEW As Harvey's founding Director of Government Affairs and Public Policy, you will build the function responsible for how Harvey engages with governments, regulators, judiciaries, and the institutions shaping the future of AI in legal and professional services — in the US and globally. This is a senior leadership role reporting directly to the Chief Strategy Officer. The primary emphasis is on public policy: educating and informing policymakers, building Harvey's credibility as a substantive, trusted voice in consequential conversations about AI governance, the future of the legal profession, and access to justice. The scope spans federal, state, and local bodies in the US, EMEA and APAC — where bar associations, state licensing authorities, and judicial and legislative actions are currently setting the most consequential AI policy. You will own the overall strategy and engagement framework, build the company's presence from a standing start, and hire the regional team beneath you as the function grows. This is a builder's role. The playbook doesn't exist yet, and you'll write it. WHAT YOU'LL DO - Build Harvey's government affairs and public policy function. Stand up the strategy, engagement framework, and stakeholder relationships that position Harvey as a trusted, credible voice in the future of AI in legal and professional services. Define what Harvey says — and what it doesn't — on the policy issues that matter most. - Own the policy relationship landscape. Build and maintain direct relationships with policymakers, regulators, bar associations, judicial, legislative, and regulatory bodies, and other key institutions across the US and, over time, internationally. You are the person in those meetings, not a coordinator behind them. - Develop Harvey's policy narrative. Partner with the Chief Strategy Officer, senior legal leadership, and communications to shape Harvey's public positioning on AI governance, the future of the legal profession, responsible technology deployment, and access to justice. Maintain bipartisan and cross-jurisdictional credibility.. - Maintain institutional credibility. You will develop and cultivate collaborative relationships with policy makers around the world, bringing a candid, well-informed perspective on the future of the legal profession and the policy positions best aligned with fostering and supporting a vibrant, resilient legal ecosystem. You will advocate for positions that enable Harvey’s product strategy will advancing the broader interests of the legal profession, including both in-house lawyers and private practice attorneys. - Inform product and market strategy. Serve as a strategic bridge between the external policy environment and Harvey's product and go-to-market teams — specifically where product decisions carry regulatory triggers or policy implications. Surface emerging compliance requirements, public-sector opportunities, and the kinds of ethically complex questions that arise when AI intersects with sensitive legal and governmental contexts. Help ensure Harvey is well-positioned to serve government legal departments and regulated industries as those markets evolve. - Build and lead the team. As the function grows, hire and develop regional government affairs managers across key markets (initially US, with EMEA and APAC to follow). Set up the operational infrastructure — stakeholder tracking, regulatory monitoring, policy calendar management — that keeps Harvey's policy posture sharp, current, and globally coordinated. WHAT YOU HAVE - A career defined by progressive depth in public policy, government affairs, or regulatory work — whether in-house at a major technology or professional services company, in senior government or regulatory roles, or in a senior advisory capacity at a leading firm. J.D. strongly preferred. - A policy-first orientation, not a lobbying-first one. You understand the difference between working the machinery of government and educating policymakers, and you lead with the latter. You build credibility through substance, not access alone. - Demonstrated ability to build, not just operate. You have stood up a function, set a strategy, and built relationships from a standing start — or led a significant expansion of scope within a larger organization. You know what it takes to go from zero to credible in a new institutional landscape. - Deep, trusted relationships with senior government, regulatory, and institutional stakeholders across multiple jurisdictions. You are known, respected, and sought out for your judgment. Your relationships outlast administrations and election cycles. - Substantive familiarity with the legal industry, the judiciary, or the regulatory environment around legal services and AI. You understand how bar associations, courts, and government legal departments think, and you can engage credibly at a senior level with people who have spent decades in these institutions. - Bipartisan credibility and intellectual integrity. You have worked constructively across political environments. You know when to hold a position and when to listen. You can make the case for Harvey's work in rooms where the politics cut differently, without compromising your credibility in either. - Genuine conviction about the role of AI in improving legal services and expanding access to justice. This is not a defensive compliance role. Harvey's position — that AI can augment professional judgment, reduce barriers to expertise, and strengthen legal institutions — is one worth making, and you'll make it persuasively and responsibly. - Exceptional written and verbal communication. You can represent Harvey in high-stakes, high-visibility settings — before bar committees, judicial conferences, congressional staff, and international regulatory bodies — and hold the room. - Principled judgment in complex environments. You've navigated situations where the right answer wasn't obvious — politically, ethically, or commercially — and made calls you'd stand behind publicly. You can help Harvey develop clear positions on hard questions and represent them credibly. WHAT WE OFFER - The chance to build Harvey's government affairs and public policy function from scratch, with a genuine mandate from the executive team and direct access to senior leadership. - A global mandate that grows — starting with the US, with EMEA and APAC to follow — at a company already operating across 60+ countries. - A role at the center of one of the most consequential policy conversations happening anywhere in technology: what AI means for the legal profession, the judiciary, and access to justice. - A direct line to the CSO and a seat at the table on key strategic decisions. - A clear path to building and leading a growing team as the function scales alongside the company, with this role expected to grow in scope as Harvey matures. - A company at a genuine inflection point, with strong product-market fit, rapid growth, and increasing recognition as the defining platform for AI in legal and professional services. COMPENSATION $260,000 - $350,000 USD DEPENDING ON YOUR LOCATION, AN APPLICANT PRIVACY NOTICE MAY APPLY TO YOU. YOU CAN FIND ALL OF OUR APPLICANT PRIVACY NOTICES HERE https://harveyai.notion.site/Harvey-Candidate-Privacy-Notices-319ac3fcdd7a803bb807d5094f249922?pvs=74. #LI-BL1 Harvey is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, national origin, disability, age, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, pregnancy or related condition, or any other basis protected by law. We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities, and requests can be made by emailing accommodations@harvey.ai