Head of Global Government Affairs

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.