Head of Global Government Affairs

Job description

At Snowflake, we are powering the era of the agentic enterprise. To usher in this new era, we seek AI-native thinkers across every function who are energized by the opportunity to reinvent how they work. You don’t just use tools; you possess an innate curiosity, treating AI as a high-trust collaborator that is core to how you solve problems and accelerate your impact. We look for low-ego individuals who thrive in dynamic and fast-moving environments and move with an experimental mindset — who rapidly test emerging capabilities to discover simpler, more powerful ways to deliver results. At Snowflake, your role isn't just to execute a function, but to help redefine the future of how work gets done. Snowflake is hiring a Head of Government Affairs to own our global GA function, reporting to the Office of the CEO. You will set strategy, lead a global team, and personally engage senior government, industry, and policy leaders to drive Snowflake's success in regulated and politically sensitive markets. This is a business-growth role at the intersection of technology strategy, public policy, and commerce. You will build programs before budgets are allocated, shape regulatory environments before frameworks are finalized, and develop relationships years before transformational deals close. The ideal candidate brings executive-level government affairs expertise, regulated-market business development experience, people leadership, and fluency in Cloud and AI. Based in Washington D.C. RESPONSIBILITIES - Own Snowflake's global government affairs strategy, setting annual priorities with cross-functional leaders and driving measurable business outcomes. - Lead a global team and an external portfolio of retained lobbyists, trade associations, and advisory firms across three geographies. - Serve as GA lead on 2–3 major regulated pursuits at any time, providing political context, stakeholder access, and direct engagement alongside Sales; simultaneously lead Regulated Partner Business Development to originate and close opportunities in national security, defense, the intelligence community, and sovereign cloud. - Direct the retained federal lobbying program: set the advocacy agenda, manage external lobbyist performance, and personally conduct advocacy on matters most critical to the business. - Track and prioritize policy developments across AI governance, data sovereignty, federal IT procurement, and cloud security; position Snowflake to influence outcomes before frameworks are finalized. - Represent Snowflake at major government and technology policy forums globally (e.g., AFCEA, DSEI, RSA, Aspen Security Forum) and produce position papers, briefings, and strategic narratives that build Snowflake's profile as a trusted partner to governments. - Own the Ambassador Program and Snowflake's political contribution and event sponsorship strategy. REQUIRED EXPERIENCE & SKILLS - 15+ years across two or more of: government, government affairs, public policy, national security, strategic business development, or international affairs — with meaningful focus on the technology sector. - Entrepreneurial mindset: builds strategy, leads a team, and drives personal outcomes concurrently in complex, ambiguous environments. - Global government affairs expertise: deep knowledge of US federal legislative and regulatory processes, EU digital policy (AI Act, Data Act, GDPR), and at least one additional major jurisdiction (UK, APAC, or Middle East). - Senior-level global network across the US federal government (Congress, Executive Branch, DoD/IC), at least one major international market, and key industry and policy organizations. - Strategic business development acumen: proven track record originating and shaping long-cycle opportunities in regulated markets (sovereign cloud, national security, defense) with the ability to translate policy into deal-level implications alongside Sales. - Lobbyist and external portfolio management: experience directing retained lobbyists, trade associations, and advisory firms, including performance management and budget accountability. - People leadership: leads and holds accountable a geographically dispersed, senior team in a matrixed organization; remains a hands-on practitioner and direct lobbyist. - Executive presence: credible and compelling with heads of state, cabinet-level officials, C-suite executives, General/Flag officers, and Members of Congress across government and commercial settings. - Exceptional communication: produces board-ready policy briefs, talking-point packages, and intelligence summaries for non-expert audiences. - Tech policy and compliance fluency: working knowledge of AI governance, data sovereignty, federal cloud procurement, and key security frameworks (FedRAMP, DoD IL4/IL5/IL6, ITAR, EU AI Act, GDPR, NIS2, NATO cloud accreditation, Protected-B), with the ability to translate requirements into commercial strategy. Preferred Qualifications - Experience building or evaluating a corporate PAC program. - Background in or working alongside federal IT procurement, PubSec, or defense contracting ecosystems. - APAC policy exposure (Japan, Australia, Singapore). - Prior experience in or working with the Intelligence Community or national security apparatus. - Active US security clearance, UK clearance, or NATO Secret accreditation. Snowflake is growing fast, and we’re scaling our team to help enable and accelerate our growth. We are looking for people who share our values, challenge ordinary thinking, and push the pace of innovation while building a future for themselves and Snowflake. How do you want to make your impact? For jobs located in the United States, please visit the job posting on the Snowflake Careers Site for salary and benefits information: careers.snowflake.com http://careers.snowflake.com