Director, Government Affairs

We are seeking a Government Affairs professional based in Australia to serve as a senior leader driving Salesforce's engagement strategy across the Australia's national and State and Territory governments. The position sits at the intersection of public policy, cloud/AI public policy advocacy, and public sector market enablement. The individual will provide other support as required and report into the Vice President of Government Affairs and Public Policy for APAC. The position is part of the International Government Affairs team.

Activities/Responsibilities:

• Strategic Policy Advocacy: Develop and execute proactive government relations strategies targeting elected officials, ministers, and government agencies to shape policy on AI governance, agentic technology, cloud security, data sovereignty, privacy, and IT modernisation.
• Stakeholder Relations: Build and maintain trusted relationships with key government decision-makers, agency executives, and procurement leaders to champion digital service delivery.
• Public Sector Support: Partner closely with Salesforce Public Sector team to ensure policy advocacy actively addresses commercial friction and unblocks public sector procurement pathways. Build an engagement plan to support our strategic growth objectives across the government.
• Industry Engagement & Coalitions: Represent and manage Salesforce in tech industry associations and policy coalitions to advance favourable technology policy outcomes.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Collaborate with internal partners across Legal,, PR, Compliance, Security, and Product teams to align policy objectives with core corporate goals and local business objectives.
• Serve Point of Contact: Serve as the central point of contact and subject matter expert for Australian government affairs, regulatory inquiries, and political outreach. Develop and execute proactive government affairs strategies targeting government elected officials and agencies to advance policy priorities across AI governance, cloud security, privacy, and IT modernisation and adoption.

Required Skills/Experience

• Experience: 10+ years of progressive experience in senior government affairs, public policy, or legislative roles within technology, government, or top-tier advisory.
• Policy & Political Acumen: Deep knowledge of the policy-making, legislative, and regulatory processes across Australian Federal and State governments.
• Tech Policy Expertise: Strong background in tech procurement frameworks, cloud security standards, and emerging tech governance.
• Communication: Exceptional written, verbal, and executive presentation skills, with proven ability to articulate complex policy issues to senior political and corporate leaders.
• Matrix Leadership: Proven track record operating effectively in a fast-paced, matrixed corporate environment alongside sales, legal, product, and PR teams.

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in Public Policy, Political Science, Law, International Relations, or equivalent practical experience, OR
• Bachelor/Graduate degree, or equivalent proven experience in public policy and/or law

Desired Skills/Experience

• Ability to lead and take initiative, yet 100% devoted to the team
• Experience working at a multinational company or a technology company and/or industry experience beyond technology such as highly regulated sectors (health, defence, financial services)
• “Intrapreneur”, creator, humble & confident leader, multi-cultural professional
• Interest to work with people across different departments and organisations
• Embodiment of Salesforce values: trust, customer success, innovation, equality, sustainability