Senior Manager, Head of Community Engagement

We're Cruise, a self-driving service designed for the cities we love.

We’re building the world’s most advanced self-driving vehicles to safely connect people to the places, things, and experiences they care about. We believe self-driving vehicles will help save lives, reshape cities, give back time in transit, and restore freedom of movement for many.

In our cars, you’re free to be yourself. It’s the same here at Cruise. We’re creating a culture that values the experiences and contributions of all of the unique individuals who collectively make up Cruise, so that every employee can do their best work. 

Cruise is committed to building a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment, both in our workplace and in our products. If you are looking to play a part in making a positive impact in the world by advancing the revolutionary work of self-driving cars, come join us. Even if you might not meet every requirement, we strongly encourage you to apply. You might just be the right candidate for us.

The Cruise Government Affairs team is hiring an experienced community engagement leader to lead our growing Community Engagement function, reporting to the Senior Director of Government Affairs. The Senior Manager, Head of Community Engagement will be responsible for the development, implementation, and administration of programming and outreach to Cruise’s state and local non-governmental stakeholders. This role will lead a team of local and regional community engagement managers who oversee existing Cruise markets and also manage a portfolio of new markets with a focus on cultivating collaborative relationships with key community resources and external organizations. This role requires cross-functional collaboration across Cruise teams including Federal, State and Local Government Relations, Marketing, Communications, Real Estate, Customer Support, and Operations. The ideal candidate will be passionate about Cruise’s mission and have experience in regulatory, public policy and/or political work in a relevant business or non-governmental organization, or in a political/government entity at the state or local level. This role will be located in Houston, Texas.

Responsibilities:

• Lead Cruise’s community engagement function to ensure a strong corporate reputation while also advancing priority policy objectives.

• Lead planning and execution of tentpole community engagement initiatives and events.

• Coordinate across a wide array of stakeholders to advance community building campaigns, including identifying strategic partner engagement opportunities.

• Track local and state developments against community priorities and find opportunities to advance business and public policy objectives.

• Collaborate with Cruise’s Government Relations, Communications, Marketing, Real Estate, Market Development, Customer Support and Commercial Operations teams to ensure our presence in new and existing markets promote a positive corporate reputation and community response.

• Develop and implement an integrated community engagement strategy for new and existing Cruise markets. This includes identifying strategic community engagement opportunities, engaging and activating advocates to support legislative and regulatory priorities, and engaging and managing local consultants across markets.

• Represent Cruise at meetings and events with community partners in order to help advance Cruise’s mission.

• Develop collateral, including presentations and one-pagers, to help educate and raise awareness among key audiences about Cruise and the benefits of our products and services.

Requirements:

• BA/BS required

• 8+ years of proven experience in government, government affairs, public affairs, transportation, technology, the automotive industry, or a related industry.

• Experience in building strong and sustained relationships with a diverse range of community partners, including community based organizations, governmental agencies, think tanks and advocacy groups, as well as internal collaborators.

• Experience in running campaigns that engage a variety of tactics, including social media, events, grassroots outreach and grasstops.

• Demonstrated success in developing and implementing community engagement and outreach strategy with national, regional, and local scope and considerations.

• Ability to adapt quickly to changes in priorities and remain productive while handling multiple assignments under pressure and meeting rigid deadlines.

• Experience identifying and understanding key technical aspects pertaining to corporate