Director, EMEA Government Affairs & Public Policy

Description

The role in a nutshell:

Our customers include some of the most regulated organizations in the world, and we have a strong and growing UK and European customer base. Europe is one of our highest-growth priorities.

It is also where the rules for our category are actively being written — the Cyber Resilience Act, NIS2, the EU AI Act, and the standards work running underneath all of them.

We are hiring our first dedicated European government affairs and public policy leader to own that ground. You will set Chainguard’s European policy strategy, establish us as a trusted technical voice with the officials and bodies shaping cyber regulation on the continent and in the UK, and translate fast-moving policy into what it means for our positioning, our product, and our customers.

What you'll do

• Set and own Chainguard’s European policy strategy — priorities, positions, target institutions and officials, and the narrative we take into the policy process.
• Engage governments, regulators, and standards bodies across Europe and the UK, including the European Commission (notably DG CNECT and DG GROW), the European Parliament, ENISA, and the standards bodies — CEN-CENELEC and ETSI — doing the technical work underneath the CRA and NIS2.
• Decide where Chainguard shows up through industry coalitions (e.g., DigitalEurope, CCIA Europe, BSA, techUK) versus direct advocacy, and represent Chainguard in those bodies where it adds leverage.
• Forecast what’s coming, not just what’s happened, bringing political acumen and the ability to read where a debate is heading before it becomes public on developments relevant to Chainguard.
• Develop policy positions, consultation responses, and written submissions, and speak authoritatively on Chainguard’s behalf in public and industry fora.
• Translate technical concepts into policy language — and emerging requirements back into clear implications for our messaging and roadmap.
• Support product, marketing, and revenue teams with policy credibility and positioning where it helps them, while staying firmly on the policy side of the line.
• Build the function by establishing the processes, relationships, and intelligence flow that make European government affairs repeatable rather than a series of one-offs.
• As the business grows in the region, help build the path toward leading a team.

Requirements

• 8+ years of directly relevant experience in government affairs or public policy — within a public sector organization, a regulatory or standard-setting body, or a private company with a comparable government affairs function
• A track record of building independently: standing up or growing a government affairs program or line of effort, or developing and shepherding specific regulations, standards, or policy strategy through to an outcome
• Senior official engagement experience, with the judgment and presence to represent a company credibly at that level
• Demonstrated ability to translate complex technical subject matter for policy audiences — and to explain how you do it
• Comfort operating in ambiguity with minimal guidance, and a scrappy, resourceful approach to reach and impact
• Excellent written and verbal communication; credible with executives, engineers, and government stakeholders alike
• A degree and/or equivalent years of experience in the field
• Based in Europe and able to travel frequently across the region

Preferred Experience: 

• A multi-country portfolio: policy work or government affairs relationships built across several European jurisdictions
• Fluency in one or more European languages in addition to English
• Experience across both public and private sector government affairs
• Familiarity with ENISA, CEN-CENELEC, ETSI, and the major cybersecurity drivers regulatory and standardization bodies on the continent
• Familiarity with the CRA's conformity assessment framework (risk classes, notified bodies) and with EU/UK lobbying transparency registers
• Experience representing a company through industry coalitions or trade associations 
• Fluency in software supply chain security, cybersecurity, or AI subject matter
• Experience at a high-growth company