Public Policy Director

Guardant Health is a leading precision oncology company focused on guarding wellness and giving every person more time free from cancer. Founded in 2012, Guardant is transforming patient care and accelerating new cancer therapies by providing critical insights into what drives disease through its advanced blood and tissue tests, real-world data and AI analytics. Guardant tests help improve outcomes across all stages of care, including screening to find cancer early, monitoring for recurrence in early-stage cancer, and treatment selection for patients with advanced cancer. For more information, visit guardanthealth.com and follow the company on LinkedIn, X (Twitter) and Facebook.

Position Overview:

We are seeking a dynamic, strategic, and experienced Public Affairs Director to join our growing public affairs team. This role will be based in Washington, D.C. and is designed to leverage your expertise in both government affairs and strategic messaging to lead, shape, and execute key public affairs campaigns. The Public Affairs Director will have the unique opportunity to manage high-priority initiatives, drive strategic policy engagement, activate key stakeholders, and develop impactful messaging across a variety of issues.

This individual needs to be a driven, public-facing, entrepreneurial leader who can lead big picture initiatives, engage with senior-level stakeholders, support multiple priorities simultaneously, and deliver in high-pressure situations. The Public Affairs Director will be responsible for developing and leading tailored public affairs strategies in close collaboration with the Public Policy, Patient Advocacy, and Government Affairs teams that make up the public affairs function while  building influential relationships to support Guardant’s top policy and business priorities at the Federal level.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Campaign Management: In collaboration with Government Affairs and Public Policy, lead the development and execution of targeted public affairs campaigns to effectively drive Guardant’s key policy issues, including oversight on the design and execution of innovative communications, research, engagement strategies, and tactics. Manage budgets and oversee consultants who support issue-specific public affairs campaigns.
• Strategic Execution: Coordinate and actively participate in implementation of our public policy strategy, including building and maintaining relationships with industry associations, advocacy organizations, and other key stakeholders to support specific public affairs initiatives. Play an influential role in elevating our agenda and identifying potential partners within these associations. Identify new opportunities to expand corporate visibility among key policymakers
• Targeted Advocacy and External Affairs:  In close collaboration with other external facing teams, execute targeted advocacy before key legislative and regulatory bodies and serve as an external brand ambassador for Guardant Health. 
• Message Development: Work closely with Corporate Communications, Government Affairs, Public Policy, and other internal teams to craft clear, compelling messaging that resonates with targeted audiences. Ensure messages align with our strategic objectives and advocacy goals.
• Cross-functional Collaboration: Collaborate with internal teams, including communications, marketing, legal, and policy, to ensure consistent, integrated approaches to advocacy and public affairs efforts.

• Bachelor's degree in Political Science, Public Policy, Communications, or a related field; advanced degree preferred.
• Minimum of 10 years of combined experience in public affairs, government relations, policy advocacy, or a related area.
• Experience within the health care industry, preferably in strategic communications and external facing public affairs roles.
• Demonstrated experience in strategy development and execution on complex legislative issues, working in partnership with cross-functional teams.
• Possesses the ability to translate complex information into an easily understandable narrative, demonstrates leadership and management ability, is a strategic thinker with excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to develop strategic messaging in a creative, fast paced, and highly professional corporate culture.
• Strong understanding of the legislative process, regulatory landscape, and policy issues.
• Ability to think strategically and execute tactically in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.
• Proven ability to build and maintain strong relationships with government officials, stakeholders, and influencers.

Hybrid Work Model: At Guardant Health, we have defined days for in-person/onsite collaboration and work-from-home days for individual-focused time. All U.S. employees who live within 50 miles of a Guardant facility will be required to be onsite on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. We have found aligning our scheduled in-office days allows our teams to do the best work and creates the focused thinking time our innovative work requires. At Guardant, our work model has created flexibility for better work-life balance while keeping teams connected to advance our science for our patients.

For positions based in Washington, D.C., the base salary range for this full-time position is $204,250 to $280,820. The range does not include benefits, and if applicable, bonus, commission, or equity.

Within the range, individual pay is determined by work location and additional factors, including, but not limited to, job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. If you are selected to move forward, the recruiting team will provide details specific to the factors above.

Employee may be required to lift routine office supplies and use office equipment. Majority of the work is performed in a desk/office environment; however, there may be exposure to high noise levels, fumes, and biohazard material in the laboratory environment. Ability to sit for extended periods of time.

Guardant Health is committed to providing reasonable accommodations in our hiring processes for candidates with disabilities, long-term conditions, mental health conditions, or sincerely held religious beliefs. If you need support, please reach out to [email protected]

Guardant Health is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or protected veteran status and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability.

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

To learn more about the information collected when you apply for a position at Guardant Health, Inc. and how it is used, please review our Privacy Notice for Job Applicants.

Please visit our career page at: http://www.guardanthealth.com/jobs/