Community Relations and Local Government Affairs Advisor

Job Family Group:

Communications & External Affairs Group

Job Summary:

ROLE SYNOPSIS
The Community Relations and Local Government Affairs Advisor, Indiana is accountable for delivering objectives in support of bp’s Gas and Low Carbon business in Indiana, especially hydrogen and carbon storage and onshore renewables The Advisor is a strategic thinker who looks several moves ahead and develops and implements tactical plans to ensure BP’s corporate objectives are advanced with local governments as well as communities in Indiana, particularly in support of bp’s emerging hydrogen and carbon storage businesses as well as its existing Wind Energy business. This position reports to the Manager, State and Local Government Affairs for Indiana and work will be coordinated as part of the larger Indiana C&EA team, including the team supporting the Whiting Refinery.

The Advisor will be responsible for executing a comprehensive community engagement strategy in Indiana in coordination with other C&EA members. The Advisor must have excellent interpersonal skills – verbal and written – and a track record of executing successful community engagement projects. The Advisor also will develop strong external relationships with communities, businesses, government, industry associations, advocacy groups, and non-governmental organizations. The Advisor will engage with government affairs contractors, participate actively in trade and advocacy associations and build and participate in coalitions. The Advisor also may represent bp in state and regional coalitions related to hydrogen energy and carbon storage.

By developing strong internal relationships, the Advisor will learn BP’s business strategy and related objectives and will implement our engagement strategy to advance BP business objectives in the region. They will need to be able to identify emerging issues early and recommend a path forward to advance business interests.

Collaboration is a fundamental way of working for the role. The Advisor will continuously collaborate with business representatives, the C&EA team, and relevant industry and advocacy organizations.

Job Description:

Key accountabilities

• Deliver local engagement and community investment activities in support of bp’s Gas and Low Carbon Energy business, including representing BP in the community and building local relationships, and supporting senior business leadership as they engage with key community stakeholders and participate with strategic community partners.
• Develop and implement advocacy and engagement strategies to advance business priorities through effective advocacy, building coalitions and allies and engaging other voices to support business objectives.
• Develop and maintain strong external and internal networks and share context and information as appropriate. In support of business objectives, participate as requested with business teams.
• Develop advocacy campaign strategies and engage in direct advocacy with local officials and other external collaborators.
• Working with contract government affairs and communications advocacy professionals and trade associations, communicate BP’s policy positions with county and local officials.
• Participate in incident response training and exercises and support business as part of the Incident Management Team.

Essential Education and Experience

• A bachelor’s degree in a related field or equivalent experience.
• Minimum of five years of professional experience, which can be in government affairs, community affairs, public policy or other equivalent experience requiring skills such as critical thinking, advocacy or stakeholder engagement.

Essential experience and job requirements

• Experience in planning and executing campaigns, especially community engagement campaigns
• Outstanding interpersonal skills in public and private settings both in presentation and written formats
• Ability to understand the wider business context of issues, translate technical issues and communicate simply and powerfully
• Ability to anticipate and interpret political developments, policy and local government proposals
• Ability to write briefings, correspondence, and policy papers
• Ability to craft and deliver pragmatic, fit-for-purpose strategies in line with business priorities and strategies

Desirable criteria and qualifications

• Well-developed network both inside and outside of BP, with experience in Indiana a major plus
• Experience in the energy industry, especially oil and gas, is a plus but not a requirement
• Enjoys and has the capability for working with a global and diverse organization
• Consistently meets high standard of quality, performance, and productivity
• Produce desired results in a timely and highly proficient manner without supervision
• Able to work collaboratively in immediate work group as well as across the organization
• Very strong organizational skills and the ability to adapt quickly to changing circumstances
• Demonstrate discretion in handling confidential data
• Seeks additional responsibilities and uses innovation to improve job knowledge and procedures.

Why Join Us?

At bp, we support our people to learn and grow in a diverse and exciting environment. We believe that our team is strengthened by diversity. We are committed to fostering an inclusive environment in which everyone is respected and treated fairly.

There are many aspects of our employees’ lives that are important, so we offer benefits to enable your work to fit with your life. These benefits can include flexible working options, a generous paid parental leave policy, and excellent retirement benefits, among others!

We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.

Travel Requirement:

Up to 25% travel should be expected with this role

Relocation Assistance:

This role is not eligible for relocation

Remote Type:

This position is a hybrid of office/remote working

Skills:

Advocacy, Advocacy, Agility core practices, Analytical Thinking, Brand visual standards, Business Acumen, Campaigning, Channel Management, Collaboration, Commercial acumen, Communication, Content Design, Creating and measuring impact, Crisis Communications, Digital Communication, Digital fluency, Employee Engagement, Influencing, Issues and Policy Management, Listening, Market Trends, Performance Consulting, Presenting, Social Impact Management, Stakeholder Engagement {+ 1 more}

Legal Disclaimer:

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company.  We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, neurodiversity/neurocognitive functioning, veteran status or disability status. Individuals with disabilities may request a reasonable accommodation related to bp’s recruiting process (e.g., accessing the job application, completing required assessments, participating in telephone screenings or interviews, etc.).  If you would like to request an accommodation related to the recruitment process, please contact us to request accommodations.

If you are selected for a position and depending upon your role, your employment may be contingent upon adherence to local policy.  This may include pre-placement drug screening, medical review of physical fitness for the role, and background checks.

Learn more here

Job posted: 2023-08-23