Local Government Relations Manager

About Us
We’re building the fiber network you deserve. Consistently fast, refreshingly straightforward and giving you control. From our home base in Kirkland, Washington, we’re connecting over one million homes and businesses across the states we serve with fiber internet that works the way it should. No gimmicks, no gotchas. Internet shouldn’t get in the way of life: it should make it better.

Job Description
Position Title: Local Government Relations Manager

Base Salary: $79,976 to $107,518 annually DOE

Benefits: Medical, dental, vision, 401k, flexible spending account, paid sick leave and paid time off, parental leave, quarterly performance bonus, training, career growth and education reimbursement programs.

At Ziply Fiber, our mission is to elevate the connected lives of our communities every day. We are delivering the fastest home internet in the Northwest, with a focus on areas traditionally underserved by mainstream internet companies. And as our state-of-the-art fiber network expands in WA, OR, ID and MT, so does our need for team members who can help us grow and realize our goals.

We may be building internet, but we are reaching real people. We strive to build relationships and provide customers and communities with refreshingly great experiences.

We emphasize our values in all our interactions:

Genuinely Caring: Our customers and colleagues are people, and quite possibly our neighbors. We put ourselves in their shoes and give them our full attention.

Empowering You: We empower our customers to choose the products that best meet their needs, and we support our employees to implement solutions that elevate the experiences of our customers and coworkers.

Innovation and Improvement: We always look for ways to make the experiences of our customers – and each other – better.

Earning Your Trust: We earn trust by communicating simply and transparently as real people, not as a corporation.

Job Summary

Ziply Fiber is seeking an outgoing, energetic professional who is an expert at conveying complex information and ideas across multiple jurisdictions with a wide variety of opportunities to find success. The Local Government Relations Manager will support multiple municipal jurisdictions in a collaborative team environment under the supervision of the Senior Manager – Local Government Relations within Ziply Fiber’s Regulatory and External Affairs team.

The Local Government Relations Manager is an integral part of Ziply Fiber’s success in fiber market expansion through building and maintaining strong relationships with municipal public works departments, municipal government leadership and other community leaders, residents, businesses, and internal departments to ensure the organization’s interests are represented. Internally, this role will provide local intelligence of various municipal expectations, regulations, specifications and laws to inform fiber market expansion success.

The Local Government Relations Manager works extensively across many of Ziply Fiber’s departments focused on municipal government and resident/business to positively impact the company’s image and reputation.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

The Essential Duties and Responsibilities listed below are a range of duties performed by the employee and not intended to reflect all duties performed.

Leadership and Issue Resolution

· Continuous engagement with and understanding the objectives of local leadership (FDC, Field Ops, Marketing) ensuring issues are attended to timely and professionally. Support local leadership in the resolution of right-of-way, permitting, pole attachment/joint use and similar issues with states, counties, and cities and third parties.

· Work with the local leadership team (FDC, Field Ops, Marketing) on known issues providing support to resolve issues timely.

· Ensures teams are aware of current field issues, inquirers and work together towards a satisfactory resolution.

· Focuses on meeting and maintaining consistent service levels.

· Carefully and thoroughly tracks complaint resolution performance.

Community and Government Relations

· Cultivating and maintaining strategic relationships with key community, public and government officials.

· Meeting regularly with mayors, city council members, county commissioners, administrators, and staff of key cities and counties to articulate the Company’s vision and plans and to obtain support for Ziply Fiber’s initiatives.

· Act as principal contact for Ziply Fiber’s Network Operations team on local government issues and resolution of constituent inquiries.

Stakeholder and Business Engagement

· Establishing and maintaining relationships with local chambers of commerce, economic development councils, and local community groups.

· Works with residents and businesses to resolve issues related to all construction efforts and to create a win-win solution for the resident, business, and the company.

Construction and Build Area Support

· Work with city/county and community for active build areas ensuring we are attending to all issues as they arise.

Other Duties

· Performs other duties as required to support the business and evolving organization.

Required Position Competencies:

Interpersonal Skills – Focuses resolving conflict; maintains confidentiality; listens to others; keeps emotions under control. Responds promptly to resident/business needs; solicits feedback to improve service; responds to requests, inquiries, issues timely; meets commitments.
Must demonstrate a high degree of personal and professional integrity due to the nature of information involved and the public visibility of this position.
You must thrive working independently as well as with cross functional teams, and you exhibit energy, intelligence, and a drive for success.
Managing People – Includes team in planning, decision-making, facilitating and process improvement. Develops team skills and encourages growth. Prioritizes and plans work activities, uses time efficiently; plans for additional workload and schedule changes, sets goals and objectives; develops realistic action plans.
Takes responsibility for activities; makes self-available to others; provides regular performance feedback.
Ability to effectively present information in one on one and small group situations to residents, businesses, city/county, community and other employees of the organization.
Communication – Writes and speaks clearly and persuasively in positive or negative situations. Listens and gets clarification, responds well to questions, demonstrates group presentation skills, active participation in meetings.
Strong problem-solving, partnership, and collaboration skills.
Strong verbal and written communications skills and analytical abilities.
Extensive portfolio of relationships across state and local government.

Required Qualifications:

· High school diploma or GED.

· Bachelor’s degree preferred. Relevant training or experience may be considered in lieu of degree.

· Minimum of three (3) to five (5) years’ experience working in a customer support centric environment.

· Strong knowledge of Microsoft Applications.

· Ability to lead and manage projects and tasks while effectively representing Ziply Fiber is essential.

· Must have and maintain a valid driver’s license, auto insurance, and satisfactory driving record.

Preferred Qualifications:

· Public policy/compliance implementation experience preferred.

· Experience in the telecom industry or public utilities preferred.

· Knowledge and understanding of operations teams, outside plant teams is preferred.

· Knowledge of, and experience working on, federal, state, local, broadband, and telecommunications issues preferred.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

· Ability to work independently and apply sound judgment and reasoning skills to a variety of situations.

· Ability to multi-task and collaborate effectively with other personnel to meet deadlines.

· Strong verbal and written communication, attention to detail, and organizational skills.

· Ability to work within critical deadlines.

· Ability to adjust to rapidly changing priorities and schedules.

· Ability to provide excellent customer service.

Work Authorization

Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the US for any employer. Sponsorship is not available for this position.

Physical Requirements

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Essential and marginal functions may require maintaining physical condition necessary for bending, stooping, sitting, walking, or standing for prolonged periods of time; most of time is spent sitting in a comfortable position with frequent opportunity to move about. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds.

Learn more here