Community Affairs Manager

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in Illinois, +3 more states.

📋 Description

• Assist in the successful entry, development, construction, and ongoing operation of projects by establishing reliable stakeholder relationships and managing community, political, regulatory, and reputational risks.

• Create and implement community engagement strategies across designated markets.

• Facilitate permitting and entitlement processes through proactive engagement with stakeholders.

• Act as the primary representative for CyrusOne from due diligence through to development, construction, and operations.

• Evaluate community sentiment, stakeholder interactions, and social risk elements during site assessment and due diligence.

• Formulate and execute outreach and stakeholder engagement strategies in collaboration with the Vice President of Community Affairs and external consultants.

• Identify, prioritize, and nurture relationships with elected officials, municipal personnel, economic development organizations, school districts, community groups, business leaders, and nearby property owners.

• Collaborate with Marketing to develop project microsites, presentations, fact sheets, talking points, FAQs, and other community-facing materials.

• Organize and lead public meetings, stakeholder briefings, open houses, and community engagement events.

• Support tax incentive and economic development initiatives by engaging with governmental agencies.

• Keep abreast of political, regulatory, economic, and community developments that affect projects.

• Identify, evaluate, mitigate, and escalate community-related risks as necessary.

• Provide stakeholder insights, community intelligence, and risk assessments to inform business decisions and project planning.

• Cultivate and sustain relationships with community, government, business, and economic development stakeholders.

• Serve as a liaison between Design & Construction, Operations, and local communities.

• Maintain a positive presence for CyrusOne in communities where the company develops and operates campuses.

• Recommend and implement community investments, sponsorships, partnerships, charitable initiatives, and external memberships.

• Aid in external communications and stakeholder messaging for designated markets and projects.

• Collaborate with Marketing, Communications, and executive leadership on engagement strategies and messaging.

• Keep detailed records of stakeholder engagement, commitments, emerging issues, and outreach efforts.

• Monitor engagement outcomes and offer recommendations for managing stakeholder relationships.

• Prepare regular reports and updates regarding community affairs activities, project risks, opportunities, achievements, and resource requirements.

• Assist in strategic planning and reporting for the Community Affairs function.

• Expect to travel approximately 30% to CyrusOne locations and surrounding communities, primarily within the Chicagoland area, Springfield, Illinois, Columbus, Ohio, and Raleigh, North Carolina, with occasional trips to the Dallas headquarters.

⛳️ Requirements

• A Bachelor's degree in Public Affairs, Communications, Government Relations, Political Science, Economic Development, Business, Public Administration, or a related field, or a comparable combination of education and experience.

• Over 7 years of experience in community affairs, public affairs, government relations, economic development, stakeholder engagement, external affairs, communications, or a similar field.

• Proven experience in independently leading stakeholder engagement efforts for complex development, infrastructure, real estate, energy, industrial, or construction projects.

• Experience in supporting projects through various stages including due diligence, market entry, permitting, entitlement, construction, and ongoing operations.

• Familiarity with zoning, permitting, entitlement, economic development, tax incentives, or related governmental processes.

• A track record of successfully building trusted relationships with elected officials, municipal staff, community leaders, business stakeholders, and economic development organizations.

• Experience in planning and conducting public meetings, stakeholder briefings, community engagement events, or similar public-facing activities.

• Experience working collaboratively across development, engineering, construction, legal, operations, communications, and executive leadership teams.

• Strong understanding of stakeholder engagement, community relations, risk management, and public affairs principles.

• Ability to identify, assess, and effectively escalate political, community, operational, and reputational risks.

• Excellent written, verbal, presentation, facilitation, and relationship-building skills.

• Strong judgment, professionalism, and capability to navigate sensitive stakeholder situations.

• Ability to manage multiple projects and priorities in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.

• Capacity to work independently while effectively collaborating across diverse stakeholder groups.

• Willingness to travel up to 30%.

• Experience in supporting external communications, media engagement, or public-facing communications efforts is preferred.

• Previous experience representing an organization before public bodies, community groups, or governmental entities is preferred.

• Experience in supporting mission-critical infrastructure, data center, utility, energy, industrial, or large-scale real estate development projects is preferred.

• Experience as a media spokesperson is preferred but not required.

🏝️ Benefits

• Equal opportunity employment.

• Reasonable accommodation for qualified individuals with disabilities in accordance with the ADA and applicable state or local laws.