Director of External Affairs

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in Colorado, +2 more states.

📋 Description

• Oversee daily federal legislative and regulatory interactions with DOE, DOI/BLM, EPA, USDA/USFS, DoW, NRC, and Congress.

• Supervise contractors responsible for tracking legislation, rulemakings, comment deadlines, hearing schedules, and funding opportunities, while translating findings into prioritized action strategies.

• Develop and enhance the presence of state government affairs in Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Wyoming.

• Manage contract lobbyists and consultants, including their scopes of work, budgets, and deliverables.

• Compose and oversee comment letters, position papers, legislative and regulatory analyses, briefing memoranda, one-pagers, and leave-behind materials.

• Prepare executives for meetings on Capitol Hill, agency engagements, congressional testimonies, and conferences.

• Maintain the comprehensive engagement record and ensure follow-up on commitments made.

• Implement the Navajo Nation engagement strategy, encompassing chapter meetings, public open houses, and community education initiatives.

• Ensure that Tribal-facing communications adhere to company commitments and consultation protocols.

• Establish relationships with county commissions, elected officials, civic organizations, economic development groups, and community leaders.

• Anticipate community concerns and formulate evidence-based responses.

• Write and edit press releases, opinion pieces, executive statements, talking points, and speeches.

• Direct the content for the website, social media, stakeholder communications, and marketing materials.

• Maintain brand standards and uphold message consistency.

• Assist in crisis and issues communications by providing rapid-response materials and holding statements.

• Supervise the Grants and External Affairs Manager, overseeing the funding pipeline from identification to post-award compliance and reporting.

• Manage the proposal calendar and coordinate contributions from technical, financial, and legal teams.

• Cultivate relationships with program officers and agency contacts.

• Mentor and develop staff while managing external vendors, agencies, and consultants.

• Create systems such as trackers, calendars, workflows, approval processes, and organized files.

• Collaborate with operations, regulatory affairs, legal, and finance teams to align external commitments with internal realities.

⛳️ Requirements

• Bachelor's degree is mandatory.

• Around ten years of progressively responsible experience in government affairs, public affairs, communications, or a combination thereof, including significant time in both government affairs and public affairs or communications roles.

• Direct experience in a political, legislative, regulatory, or advocacy setting — such as Capitol Hill, a federal or state agency, statehouse, a campaign, a trade association, or corporate/government affairs practice.

• Outstanding writing and editing capabilities, particularly in preparing materials for senior executives and external audiences under tight deadlines.

• Excellent organizational skills and meticulous attention to detail, with a proven ability to manage numerous concurrent workstreams without oversight.

• A proactive self-starter who can work independently, exercises sound judgment, and navigates ambiguity and rapid changes comfortably.

• Experience in managing personnel, consultants, or both.

• Discretion and sound judgment with sensitive information, possessing the credibility to represent the company autonomously.

• Preferred background in energy, mining, critical minerals, nuclear, or environmental remediation.

• Experience working with Tribal governments, especially the Navajo Nation, is preferred.

• State-level government affairs experience in Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, or Wyoming is preferred.

• Familiarity with federal grants, cooperative agreements, and compliance requirements is preferred.

• Experience in a startup or high-growth company where the function was still being established is preferred.

🏝️ Benefits

• 401k Matching up to 4%

• Excellent Healthcare Benefits

• Work Schedule: M-T (7:30am - 5:30pm) and Fri (7:30am to 11:30am)

• Competitive benefits package

• Direct exposure to executive leadership, the board, senior Administration officials, Congress, and Tribal leadership

• The autonomy to build a function and the resources to do it effectively

• A mission-driven, fast-paced culture that rewards initiative, integrity, and follow-through