Government Relations and Policy Manager (North America)

Company Description

Wise is a global technology company, building the best way to move and manage the world’s money.
Min fees. Max ease. Full speed.

Whether people and businesses are sending money to another country, spending abroad, or making and receiving international payments, Wise is on a mission to make their lives easier and save them money.

As part of our team, you will be helping us create an entirely new network for the world's money.
For everyone, everywhere.

More about our mission and what we offer.

Job Description

We’re looking for a Government Relations and Policy Manager (North America) on an ongoing basis to advance our policy and regulatory objectives in the U.S and Canada and help us get closer to achieving our mission of lower cost, higher speed and more convenient and transparent cross border payments.

You will be based in Washington, D.C. and work closely with our product, banking, public relations and legal teams across North America, with offices based in New York City and Austin, Texas.

The team:

Over the past ten years, Wise has given millions of people and small businesses the power to handle money better. The Government Relations Team is a small and agile group of GR professionals who prioritize active advocacy and campaigns to achieve our mission.

We primarily focus on ways to modernize financial rules and regulations in the U.S. and Canada, to achieve cheaper, faster, more convenient and more transparent international payments for our customers. Key policy areas include: transparency in cross-border payments for consumers and small businesses, and access to payments infrastructure, among others.

What you’ll experience:

• You will be based in Washington, D.C. and report to the Americas Policy Lead, who oversees strategy and policy across North and South America (also based in Washington, D.C.); you will have a high degree of autonomy in how you work to achieve our mission goals. More than 20% of this role’s time will be spent engaging policymakers and federal agencies in Washington, D.C. There will also be scope for geographic expansion in the role depending on your skillset. 
• Working closely with colleagues in Product, Banking, Compliance and Public Relations, you will generate, develop and implement public policy strategy to achieve our regulatory goals.
• While your main policy stakeholders will be in Washington, D.C., you will travel to other regional offices to align with North America colleagues, as well as internationally for occasional team offsites/company-wide events on a quarterly basis. 
• You will also be expected to play an integral part supporting our Americas leadership team and global C-suite in their external facing responsibilities amongst trade associations and with governments and regulators.

Qualifications

You must have:

• A minimum of 5 years’ experience in government, politics, public policy or a related field. You will have deep experience operating in Washington, D.C., including on Capitol Hill and/or in a government agency. 
• We will expect you to be a persuasive advocate and skilled communicator in both written and spoken words. Your written work will be both for internal and public consumption and your oral advocacy may be used in the media. 
• You will need to be tenacious, inquisitive and have an appetite to learn about new areas of policy and their application to our business. You will have an ability to work across teams and cultures.
• You will be a natural self-starter, demonstrably able to manage your time productively, capable of framing a strategy and then meeting your stated objectives to deliver our mission goals.
• You will enjoy working in a diverse and dynamic workplace, with respect for and curiosity about other cultures and systems.

The preferred candidate is likely to have:

• A solid understanding of financial services and/or payments policy, or transferable knowledge and experience of operating in another regulated sector.
• In addition to fluency in written and spoken English, an ability to speak/read/write in French or Portuguese is a value-add.
• Experience operating in Washington, D.C. with an established network of contacts and an existing understanding of government structures, regulatory systems and political institutions. 

Additional Information

• Base of $120-$150K USD/annually

• RSU's in a rapidly growing company

• An annual self-development budget

• Medical, dental, & vision insurance – including HSA and FSA options

• Company-paid: Life Insurance, Short & Long-Term Disability, and an EAP program

• 25 days PTO, 15 sick days, 11 holidays, 5 compassionate leave days, 3 paid “Me” days and a paid volunteer day, annually

• A paid 6-week sabbatical leave after four years

• 18-weeks of paid parental leave after a year with us

• 401k with up to a 4% employer match

For everyone, everywhere. We're people building money without borders  — without judgement or prejudice, too. We believe teams are strongest when they are diverse, equitable and inclusive.

We're proud to have a truly international team, and we celebrate our differences.
Inclusive teams help us live our values and make sure every Wiser feels respected, empowered to contribute towards our mission and able to progress in their careers.

If you want to find out more about what it's like to work at Wise visit Wise.Jobs.

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