Jobs

Director, Government Relations

Job Description

This is a Hybrid work model based in Washington, D.C.

About GM Defense:

General Motors has been a proud supporter of the U.S. military for more than a century.  From supplying goods and materials when America’s manufacturing might was called upon during the First and Second World Wars, to operating as GM Defense from 1950 to 2003, GM has answered America’s call in support of the Department of Defense.  Returning to the national security space in 2017, GM Defense is again backed by the power and scale of our parent company.

Leveraging GM’s global design, engineering, and manufacturing capabilities, as well as the benefits of a global supply chain, GM Defense (GMD) provides an unprecedented combination of world-class scale and fast-to-market flexibility. Delivering cutting-edge advancements in integrated vehicles, power an propulsion, and autonomy and connectivity solutions to global defense, security, and government markets, GM Defense is driving the future of military mobility by leveraging the best-in-class capabilities of GM for unmatched innovation and proven performance.

Overview:

The Director, Government Relations will lead external relations with the Legislative Branch, growing advocacy efforts and building a pipeline of policy priorities in support of key business initiatives within GMD. The Director will report to the Vice President of Government Relations & Communications within GMD.

This person is primarily responsible for the congressional strategy development and execution of GMD government relations activities and must collaborate with a wide range of federal government and business leaders to drive both an active strategic and tactical approach to public policy activities across the full organization.

This individual must have the executive presence to influence and drive action across a diverse set of internal and external constituents, and the agility to multi-task in an ever-evolving environment. The new Director must foster and grow new relationships with decision-makers on Capitol Hill and will serve as the primary linkage to federal government legislative liaison personnel on behalf of GMD.

The Director of Government Relations will serve as the conduit to GM Global Public Policy. In addition, this professional will manage external consultant relationships, as required, and support the oversight of the growing internal GMD government relations team. The Director will be responsible for duties as assigned within the GMD Government Relations & Communications function, often supporting communications and marketing tasks.

This is a critical role for GMD and requires a candidate who shows leadership traits, is proactive, action-oriented, organized, creative, and willing to quickly immerse him/herself in the business to produce results.

Responsibilities:

• Congressional strategy: create and execute an agile, comprehensive, and holistic legislative, policy, and political affairs strategy that supports GMD business objectives
• Congressional liaison: serve as the primary point of contact to the U.S. Congress, including Members, Committees, staff, Caucuses, and working groups, as well as other external congressional stakeholders, managing and growing a robust network; internally, act as the liaison to GM Global Public Policy to ensure congressional activities are aligned; plan and guide engagement around cyclical government relations processes and ongoing business strategic planning
• Communications & reporting: lead analysis of all Administration actions, orders, or mandates; monitor the annual budget, authorization, and appropriations activities on defense matters of interest; craft messaging on policy matters of interest to include white papers, briefing decks, and other relevant campaign materials; develop regular report for business on priorities before Congress
• Business support: engage capture teams on pursuit pipeline, providing relevant funding and/or policy details, legislative competitive intelligence, and place of performance insights; prepare leadership for meetings, fundraisers, and advocacy engagements; immerse oneself in learning GM advanced technologies, product development, and planning processes
• Event support: support global tradeshow strategy and any business events with participation by Members of Congress and/or their staff; execute GMD legislative site visits
• External consultant relationships: manage government relations external team, providing clear direction and tracking outcomes, deliverables, and level of support
• Other duties as assigned

Additional Job Description

Required:

• Bachelor’s degree in Public Policy, Government, Communications, Business, or related disciplines
• 8 -10+ years of defense-specific Capitol Hill experience or combined congressional experience with at least four years in the Department of Defense (or lower echelon organizations) or corporate government relations environment
• Must possess a solid grasp of parliamentary procedure, and a historical framework of defense-related policy matters, and an understanding of annual federal appropriations process
• Must identify specific experience in defense/national security
• Must be solution oriented, showing results and the ability to develop and execute strategic government relations plans
• Must be able to simultaneously manage multiple projects from conception to completion
• Must meet deadlines under pressure in a changing, fast-paced, deadline-oriented environment
• Must possess excellent organizational, prioritization, and time management skills
• Must show a strong work ethic and ability to multi-task with impeccable attention to detail
• Travel required (~20-30%)

Preferred:

• Aerospace, Defense, national security industry and/or federal civilian government agency experience is highly preferred
• International experience working the legislative side of foreign military sales is a definite plus
• Experience working on national or international tradeshows is desirable
• Management experience and the ability to interact with/influence staff at varying levels of leadership is ideal

Personal Characteristics:

• Ideal candidate is a positive and candid self-starter who enjoys working with others in a cross-functional environment and is also able to think and operate autonomously, strategically, and tactically to ensure duties are achieved while new opportunities are developed
• Enjoys building programs, developing people, and educating an organization about the power of effective government relations; willing to grow the internal government relations bench and educate while executing external strategies
• Able to quickly become knowledgeable about GM technologies, product development and planning processes, as well as the specific portfolio of GMD offerings, including engineering, design, propulsion systems (electric and traditional), etc., is essential for success in the role

About GM

Our vision is a world with Zero Crashes, Zero Emissions and Zero Congestion and we embrace the responsibility to lead the change that will make our world better, safer and more equitable for all.

Why Join Us

We aspire to be the most inclusive company in the world. We believe we all must make a choice every day – individually and collectively – to drive meaningful change through our words, our deeds and our culture. Our Work Appropriately philosophy supports our foundation of inclusion and provides employees the flexibility to work where they can have the greatest impact on achieving our goals, dependent on role needs. Every day, we want every employee, no matter their background, ethnicity, preferences, or location, to feel they belong to one General Motors team.

Benefits Overview

The goal of the General Motors total rewards program is to support the health and well-being of you and your family. Our comprehensive compensation plan incudes, the following benefits, in addition to many others:
• Paid time off including vacation days, holidays, and parental leave for mothers, fathers and adoptive parents;
• Healthcare (including a triple tax advantaged health savings account and wellness incentive), dental, vision and life insurance plans to cover you and your family;
• Company and matching contributions to 401K savings plan to help you save for retirement;
• Global recognition program for peers and leaders to recognize and be recognized for results and behaviors that reflect our company values;
• Tuition assistance and student loan refinancing;
• Discount on GM vehicles for you, your family and friends.

Diversity Information

General Motors is committed to being a workplace that is not only free of discrimination, but one that genuinely fosters inclusion and belonging. We strongly believe that workforce diversity creates an environment in which our employees can thrive and develop better products for our customers.   We understand and embrace the variety through which people gain experiences whether through professional, personal, educational, or volunteer opportunities. GM is proud to be an equal opportunity employer.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statements

GM is an equal opportunity employer and complies with all applicable federal, state, and local fair employment practices laws. GM is committed to providing a work environment free from unlawful discrimination and advancing equal employment opportunities for all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, all practices and decisions relating to terms and conditions of employment, including, but not limited to, recruiting, hiring, training, promotion, discipline, compensation, benefits, and termination of employment are made without regard to an individual’s protected characteristics. For purposes of this policy, “protected characteristics” include an individual’s actual or perceived race, color, creed, religion, national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, age, sex or gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, lactation and related medical conditions), gender identity or gender expression, sexual orientation, weight, height, marital status, military service and veteran status, physical or mental disability, protected medical condition as defined by applicable state or local law, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state or local laws and ordinances.  If you need a reasonable accommodation to assist with your job search or application for employment, email us at Careers.Accommodations@GM.com or call us at 800-865-7580. In your email, please include a description of the specific accommodation you are requesting as well as the job title and requisition number of the position for which you are applying.​

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Job posted: 2023-01-29