Director Government & Policy Advocacy Africa at Ericsson

About This Opportunity

The Head of Government and Policy Advocacy MEA will join a strengthened and dynamic Government and Policy Advocacy (GPA) team focused on enhancing Ericsson’s insight, access, and influence with policymakers. Our policy issues are focused on our business interests – wide-ranging, critical to customers, and at the heart of progress for society. We strive to influence policy early in its development and seed new policy ideas that may be required to support our company’s strategy and business objectives.

Reporting to the Regional Head, Government and Policy Advocacy, Europe / Middle East / Africa, you will develop and execute strategic government advocacy on Ericsson’s policy priorities and positions on a broad range of technology issues to support our business.

You will bring technology policy expertise as well as a strong understanding of the policy making process and external political and geopolitical context to help enable a telecommunications-friendly policy regime.

You will potentially manage at least one person and perhaps more. You will be prepared to travel in-country and internationally to meet business and GPA objectives.

What will you do?

The Head of Government and Policy Advocacy MEA will be responsible for:
 

• formulating and leading advocacy objectives on Ericsson business and policy priorities with government stakeholders.
• advising GPA colleagues and local business leadership in a strategic way on political, public affairs, economic and business issues.
• preparing verbal and written internal briefing materials for local, regional and global Ericsson executives.
• assessing and anticipating key market developments and public policy matters, and overseeing and coordinating external advocacy efforts, outreach programs and key initiatives.
• Engaging continuously with government and government influencers in the region to affect business objectives and policy change
• distilling and effectively communicating the significance of policy change on Ericsson’s business.
• effectively representing Ericsson’s interests in industry associations where Ericsson is a member.
• management skills, a teamworking ethos, curiosity and patience and a determination to succeed.
   

You will bring!
 

• Highly effective oral, written and interpersonal communication skills, including demonstrated ability to comfortably interact at corporate and political levels.
• Ability to deliver factual, relevant talking points and other messaging and persuasively deliver messaging to relevant audiences.
• Experience in successfully managing multiple projects across cross-functional teams in a highly matrixed organisation.
• Ability to maintain the highest personal levels of ethical conduct, confidentiality, and integrity, including sensitivity to compliance risks related to interactions with government officials.
• Experience in identifying and understanding key technology issues in legislative and regulatory proposals, the business implications, and the ability to synthesize policy and advocacy documents for internal and external customers.
• Ability to think critically, process data from multiple sources, forecast potential scenarios and prioritize based on probability and desired outcome, and recommend the best course of action.
• Experience working within government, companies, or trade associations on public policy issues.
• A Bachelor’s degree is required. An advanced degree is also required in a relevant discipline (e.g., Law, Political Science, International Relations, Public Policy, Technology, Science, Engineering).
• 12+ years of experience in government or corporate public policy in the technology industry and with experience in digital policy (either within a tech vendor or operator environment, or in a government or regulator environment).
• French speaking is huge plus