Director Government Affairs - Mid-Atlantic/Great Lakes Region

Director State Government Affairs - Mid-Atlantic/Great Lakes Region

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Target Legal Affairs is a dynamic and deeply knowledgeable team of legal pros, each with valuable expertise from several disciplines. This team advocates for Target and its business plans in communities across the nation and works across the entire company to provide internal clients with cohesive guidance. We focus on defining, investigating, anticipating and ultimately mitigating risk in all its forms. We apply our grasp of brand law by overseeing, maintaining and ensuring correct, consistent and authorized use of Target's signature Bullseye logo, assets and other trademarked material. We help protect Target and its subsidiaries by applying our comprehensive understanding and interpretation of the laws that govern our stores, distribution centers and corporate locations.
As Director, State Government Affairs, you will lead Target's engagement with state policymakers and key stakeholders across the Mid-Atlantic and Great Lakes region. Serving as Target's primary representative before state elected officials, you will advocate for the company's public policy priorities and provide strategic counsel to internal business partners on issues affecting Target's operations, growth, reputation, and guests.
In this role, you will build and maintain relationships with lawmakers, regulators, trade associations, coalitions, and other external stakeholders. You will represent Target in formal and informal industry groups, lead advocacy strategies on priority policy issues, and partner with senior leaders to advance the company's interests in a dynamic and highly visible political environment. Success in this role requires strong influence and relationship-building skills, sound judgment, and the ability to navigate complex policy, reputational, and business considerations.
Maintain and deepen strategic relationships with high-ranking state elected officials, staff, and agencies in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and Kentucky and Washington, D.C. Territory assignments may change based on business needs
Advocate on behalf of the company with governors, state attorneys general, legislators, and other elected and appointed officials on policies that affect Target's growth and competitiveness
Establish and maintain an intelligence-gathering strategy to proactively identify emerging trends to help the company navigate business decisions
Strategically prepare and leverage business experts to advocate on Target's behalf, as appropriate
Manage a network of business and trade association partners in the region
Oversee Target's use of contract lobbyists in the region, where applicable
Partner with Grassroots Sr. Manager on grassroots activities, including calls to action, get-out-the-vote, store and distribution center tours and other activations as needed
Establish and maintain working relationships with business leaders across Target to develop a working knowledge of their business, priorities, and strategies, and leverage that understanding and judgment to provide timely updates on policy developments that have an impact on their business
Develop subject matter expertise on a wide range of policy issues, such as privacy, data security, taxes, alcohol expansion, supply chain, store operations, financial services, energy and product safety, and provide insightful analysis on those issues with internal business partners
Represent Government Affairs on internal, cross-functional teams as necessary
Collaborate with Corporate Affairs, Real Estate, Assets Protection & Corporate Security, Enterprise Sustainability, Stores and Supply Chain leadership, and other externally-facing roles on issues of mutual interest throughout the region
Enhance and develop Target's presence and reputation at conferences and leverage those conferences to build relationships with elected officials and other government affairs professionals
Appropriately protect and leverage highly confidential information, including new store opening locations and dates, store closing locations and dates, team member compensation information, team member demographic information, and material reputational and strategic announcements before they are made public
Job duties may change at any time due to business needs.
About you:
Bachelor's Degree
6-10 years of experience in business or related field
Excellent interpersonal and leadership skills
Solid decision-making ability/Independent action
Ability to conceptualize and manage research and analysis on priority policy issues
Ability to apply retail knowledge to the analysis of public policy issues.
Ability to analyze and react to political trends at both the state and national level
Strong oral and written communication skills
Proven ability to effectively communicate with senior leadership
Ability to build strong relationships with internal and external partners and form cohesive plans and processes across diverse business groups
Ability to travel as needed
Demonstrated ability to manage conflict and experience in high stress environments.
Desired requirements:
Advanced degree in a discipline or related field (advanced specialized degree may substitute for a portion of experience)
Previous experience in the retail industry
Previous experience and/or political relationships in the geographic territory
Previous experience with policy analysis in areas relevant to retail
Benefits Eligibility
Please paste this url into your preferred browser to learn about benefits eligibility for this role: https://tgt.biz/BenefitsForYou_F
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
In compliance with state and federal laws, Target will make reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities. If a reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, please reach out to candidate.accommodations@HRHelp.Target.com. Non-accommodation-related requests, such as application follow-ups or technical issues, will not be addressed through this channel.