Federal Government Affairs Director, Energy & Environment

Location

Washington, DC

Job Summary

This position will lead advocacy strategy and execution for federal energy and environmental policy.   Additionally, the role will provide advocacy support to the broader Government Affairs team, playing a key role in driving the company’s broader advocacy priorities, including our circular economy efforts. This role will be primarily an external role, working to communicate and promote Eastman’s public policy positions with elected officials, regulatory agencies, and trade associations.

The Federal Government Affairs Director must be able to partner at all levels of multiple Eastman businesses and functions, understand how pending legislative and regulatory actions will affect the company’s competitiveness and policy preferences.  This person will need to articulate advocacy strategy to company leadership and remove internal and external barriers to accelerate Eastman’s advocacy objectives.

The ideal candidate is a self-starter, who is results-oriented and possesses excellent verbal and written communication skills. Candidates should demonstrate adaptability, a can-do attitude, the ability to think critically, and a solutions-oriented approach to problem solving. Being able to take complex material and distill it to easily digestible and understandable information is an extremely important aspect of this role.

Responsibilities

• Advocate and communicate Eastman’s public policy positions focusing on circular economy, energy and environmental issues to a broad range of audiences.
• Develop and execute strategies to engage and influence policy and regulations related to Eastman’s priority advocacy objectives.
• Participate and lead efforts to secure federal funding in key demonstration areas.
• Represent the company in trade association forums, in close collaboration with relevant corporate and business issue experts.
• Identify, monitor, and analyze legislation and regulation impacting Eastman’s business operations and product markets, identify and develop vehicles for favoring Eastman products in legislation/policy, and recommend appropriate actions.
• Work closely with the businesses and key corporate functions to help develop and execute advocacy strategies that defend and expand key product markets.
• Expand the company’s advocacy networks and help develop key political allies.
• Communicate effectively and ensure alignment with internal stakeholders (e.g., Legal, Supply Chain and Businesses)
• Enhance the company’s brand, expand advocacy networks, and help develop key political allies.
• Significant travel required (greater than 25%)

The successful candidate should demonstrate the ability to inspire, motivate and manage external stakeholders and coordinate multiple priorities and initiatives effectively.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree required; advanced degree preferred
• 10+ years of state or federal legislative, policy or regulatory experience
• Demonstrated excellence in verbal and written communication and presentation skills
• Demonstrated abilities in creating advocacy strategies including research, planning, implementation, and evaluation
• Demonstrate strong organizational skills and the ability to manage multiple projects at once
• Demonstrated experience leading and contributing to projects and collaborating at all levels of an organization and across geographies
• Demonstrate outstanding interpersonal skills and team orientation with ability to influence and negotiate while working within a matrixed organization
• Demonstrate a high degree of integrity and confidentiality