Senior Lead, Government and Public Affairs

Opportunity is not evenly distributed. Shopify puts independence within reach for anyone with a dream to start a business. Since 2006, we’ve grown to over 10,000 employees and generated over $496 billion in sales for millions of merchants in 175 countries.

This is life-defining work that directly impacts people’s lives as much as it transforms your own. This is putting the power of the few in the hands of the many, is a future with more voices rather than fewer, and is creating more choices instead of an elite option.

This role will sit within Shopify’s Public Affairs team, which lives within the broader Communications and Public Affairs team and works with policymakers, civil society groups, academics, and policy influencers to speak up for small businesses and entrepreneurs, and advocate for a more free, open, and competitive ecommerce ecosystem.

To join us on our mission, we are looking for an experienced public affairs practitioner to be the primary point of contact for all of our global non-governmental policy stakeholders, including but not limited to nonprofits focused on tech policy issues, think tanks, academia and research groups. This role will also support U.S. federal lobbying efforts as needed.

Responsibilities will include:

• Identify, establish, manage and maintain partnerships with global non-governmental third party groups that are influential on key policy issues for Shopify, including small business issues, platform regulation, intellectual property, data protection, content moderation, competition, and ecommerce regulation.
• Ensure each partner understands and supports Shopify’s business model and how we only succeed if our merchants succeed.
• Assist in the production of informational materials about Shopify, our merchants, and policies to support entrepreneurship for key public policy audiences.
• Identify and implement creative ways to continuously engage third-party groups in order to build strong allies.
• As required, build relationships with and lobby members of the U.S. Congress and their staff to advance policies that make it easier to start and grow a business– including a competition in payments, better online government resources for entrepreneurs, and flexibility in benefits for starting a business. And cultivate opportunities to connect U.S. Members of Congress with Shopify small business owners in their districts.

• Located in or around Washington, DC.
• Deep understanding of policy areas important to Shopify, including platform regulation, intellectual property, data protection, content moderation, competition, and ecommerce regulation.
• 7+ years experience working in political campaigns or advocacy ecosystems, managing policy partnerships, and/or working with or for nonprofits, government, or an advocacy organization.
• Existing relationships with third-party tech policy organizations and thought leaders on tech policy.
• Ability to genuinely connect with and influence strategic policy stakeholders in order to secure research and writing on key policy areas for Shopify.
• Ability to tailor your language and approach across a variety of different stakeholder groups, internal and external, technical and non-technical, government and non-government to build and maintain strong, high trust relationships.
• Comfort working with engineers, product managers, tax specialists, and a variety of other teams as part of your efforts to understand how policy proposals may affect our business, and the merchants that use our platform.
• Passion for supporting entrepreneurship and the mission of making commerce better for everyone.

Interested? Hit apply and let us know why you’d be a great match for the role!

Our belief is that a strong commitment to diversity & inclusion enables us to truly make commerce better for everyone. We encourage applications from Indigenous peoples, racialized people, people with disabilities, people from gender and sexually diverse communities, and/or people with intersectional identities. Please take a look at our Sustainability Reports to learn more about Shopify’s commitments to our communities, and our planet.

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.