Government Relations Manager

About the Opportunity

As the convening arm of the Clinton Foundation, the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) brings together leaders from the public sector, private sector, and civil society to drive action and create partnerships to improve lives. To do this, CGI hosts both large-scale conferences and targeted events to spotlight and bring together the people, issues and solutions making a difference in communities around the world. Separating CGI from other conveners, year-round, CGI supports partners in our community to develop Commitments to Action – new, specific, and measurable projects that help address a specific challenge. The Clinton Global Initiative is a diverse community on the frontlines of the world's most pressing challenges. We're committed to forging new and imaginative partnerships that improve lives.

The Manager, Government Relations is responsible for outreach, communication, engagement and coordination with foreign governments, heads of state, ambassadors, multi-lateral leadership and others, The Manager will also support the CGI team in researching, writing and preparing speaker briefs, identifying and suggesting government and multi-lateral speakers and participants and supporting CGI engagement with foreign governments including but not limited to disaster response and recovery efforts. In addition, the Manager will assist in relationship management with foreign governments and multi-lats and work closely with other Foundation departments including Foreign Policy and Communications/Marketing.

A successful candidate for this role has a keen understanding of international relations, current events as well as communications. This job requires someone who can manage relations with government officials at all levels from many different backgrounds. Excellent research and writing skills are also essential.

At its core, this is a government relations position with an engagement and communications role. It also makes sure the CGI team is advising President Clinton on all relevant international speakers and developments so that the President is well-informed on international issues that CGI is working to address as well as the work of heads of state and other relevant speakers.

Core Responsibilities

In this role you will work on:

Government Relations and Initiative Support– Manage government relations and advise CGI on international affairs to enhance the initiatives programmatic impact.

• Develop and maintain relationships with high-level government officials, including heads of state, UN agencies, and multilateral organizations
• Advise CGI on strategies to mitigate political risks and help to develop relevant programmatic topics and engagement in global challenge areas especially climate, public health and inclusive economic recovery and growth.
• Work with CGI leadership to design programming and select speakers for CGI meetings and other related events
• Manage external outreach, coordinate logistics, and provide protocol guidance to facilitate the participation of high-level public sector officials in CGI events
• Proactively monitor emerging political and economic issues relevant to the CGI and the Foundation's international initiatives
• Advise CGI staff on diplomatic protocol for engaging high-level officials, including drafting and managing briefings and correspondence
• Represent the CGI team externally in meetings, conferences, and events
• Travel internationally with CGI staff to strengthen relationships with partners and advance programmatic goals

Strategy, Community Development and Commitments: Develop strategy and commitments and help growth the CGI community:

• Partner with CGI community and program managers and others where necessary with government and/or multi-lateral engagement to advance commitment and community development.
• Partner with the community team on disaster response/relief efforts as needed with government and multi-lateral outreach and engagement.
• On a case-by-case needed, help project manage government/multi-lat led Commitments to Action and other projects.

Writing, Communication and Engagement: Produce letters, briefings and other documents for head of state engagement as needed to develop and maintain relationships with heads of state, multi-lateral leadership and others.

• Prepare invitation letters, manage correspondence and outreach with heads of state, multi-lateral leadership and others.
• Lead coordination of head of state appearances at the annual meeting and other CGI in-person events including on-site engagement, meetings with principles and other CGI partners and support coordination with security and communications teams as needed.
• Work with the Metrics and Communications team and others to prepare principle briefings for head of state meetings during CGI events.

Administration: Support the daily operations of CGI's IR work

• Handling mail and phone calls; receiving visitors and staff
• Field inquiries from CGI partners and manage correspondence on CGI IR related matters.

Minimum Qualifications

What we're looking for:

• Bachelor's degree required, Master's degree in international affairs, business, law or related field preferred
• 3-4 years of experience in a related experience, preferably in private sector and/or international affairs required, 5-7 years related experience preferred
• Strong familiarity with international organizations and governments, private sector, and non-governmental organizations and global/regional trends
• Experience managing high-level relationships with government officials
• Strong understanding of diplomatic protocol
• Excellent research skills, especially in conducting international media analyses
• Skills in political and economic analysis, particularly in the context of developing countries
• High level of judgment required
• ability to work independently, and to collaborate effectively
• Ability to multi-task, meet tight deadlines, and maintain a professional demeanor
• Cultural sensitivity required
• Proficiency in the Microsoft Office Suite
• Foreign language proficiency helpful, particularly Spanish/French/Arabic
• Ability to work in a varying schedule including nights, early mornings, weekends and holidays
• Ability to travel domestically and internationally, and work on multiple time zones, as necessary
• Experience providing administrative support and working with senior leadership in an office environment a plus

About the Clinton Foundation

Building on a lifetime of public service, President Clinton established the Clinton Foundation on the simple belief that everyone deserves a chance to succeed, everyone has a responsibility to act, and we all do better when we work together. For nearly two decades, that premise has energized the work of the Foundation in overcoming complex challenges and improving the lives of people across the United States and around the world.

As an operating foundation, we work on issues directly or with strategic partners from the business, government, and nonprofit sectors to create economic opportunity, improve public health, and inspire civic engagement and service. Our programs are designed to make a real difference today while serving as proven models for tomorrow. The goal of every effort is to use available resources to get better results faster – at the lowest possible cost.

We firmly believe that when diverse groups of people bring resources together in the spirit of true cooperation, transformative ideas will emerge to drive life-changing action.

The Clinton Foundation is committed to public health and to the safety and wellbeing of our colleagues, visitors, and volunteers. As such, we have adopted a policy requiring all employees whose positions require them to be on site to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or to meet the legal guidelines for an exemption.