Senior Manager, Government Affairs

Sr. Manager, Government Affairs: Become the Newest Member of the VF Family 

Now that you’ve found the job description, what’s next?

VF Corporation outfits consumers around the world with its diverse portfolio of iconic lifestyle brands, including Vans®, The North Face®, Timberland®. Founded in 1899, VF is one of the world’s largest apparel, footwear, and accessories companies with socially and environmentally responsible operations spanning numerous geographies, product categories and distribution channels. We’re committed to delivering innovative products to consumers and creating long-term value for our customers and shareholders.

We are a purpose-led company that seeks not only to succeed in business, but also to leverage our success and resources to make the world better. Through our brands and nearly 35,000 associates around the world, we power movements of sustainable and active lifestyles for the betterment of people and our planet. We are movement makers. It’s who we are and have always been.

Powerful brands that are fueled by insights and innovation put us at the heart of our consumers’ lives. Many of our brands lead their respective categories, and some have risen to iconic status. While our company and brands are diverse, we work together within a One VF culture to capitalize on our greatest opportunities for long-term performance. Across our company, a collaborative, global mindset differentiates our products and the unique experiences we provide to our consumers. It all adds up to a lasting competitive advantage built on harnessing the power of our differences to achieve great things together, all while positively impacting the lives of hundreds of millions of people and the world.  

What will you do?

A day in the life of Senior Manager, Government Affairs at VF looks a little like this.

The Senior Manager of Government Affairs presents and advances VF’s government relations agenda before elected officials and government decision makers in the U.S.  The leader in this position is responsible for lobbying regarding but not limited to product safety standards, environmental laws, sustainability endeavors, agriculture, transportation/logistics, infrastructure, privacy and tax.  The leader in this role engages key internal decision makers and subject matter experts as needed to support VF’s advocacy efforts and build coalitions of support to defend/amend or advocate for legislative proposals. The goals for this individual include strengthening VF’s business through a results-oriented approach to government affairs, programs and practices.

Let’s break down that day in the life a bit more: 

• Enhance reputation with government officials across state capitals and in Washington DC
• Influence regulation and legislation to ease VF’s business, reduce costs and protect VF and our brands from potential negative legislation. 
• Build relationships with elected officials and their staff at the state and federal level to elevate VF policy positions to key members.
• Execute agreed upon tactics to implement VF strategies while working with outside consultants, trade associations, and partnerships with state/ national public policy and legislative groups.
• Support efforts to build government affairs program that has buy-in from key internal stakeholders, including VF brands, in order to understand their legislative and policy agendas and identify opportunities to provide value.
• Research and analyze public policy issues and build awareness around policy trends to help build holistic government affairs strategy at VF.
• Monitor/track priority legislation to understand pending legislation/regulation that may affect VF’s business or reputation.
• Develop and maintain collateral, one pagers, resource and reference material including policy statements/guides, talking points, presentations, advocacy materials.
• Represent VF at key events in Washington DC and in state capitals.
• Track all outreach to policy makers as required by various lobbying disclosure requirements using our database.

What do you need to succeed?  

We all have unique skills that we bring to work and celebrate every day. For this role, there are foundation skills you’ll need to succeed and excel. Additionally, while formal education in a related field is great to have, we are most interested in your 5 years of experience and professional achievements

The foundation skills you will need in this position are:

• Years of Related Professional Experience: 5+ years
• Bipartisan/Bicameral relationships with key policy makers at the federal/state levels
• Experience working in a consumer product company is a plus
• BA/BS in Political Science, Public Affairs or Public Policy