Public Affairs Strategist

About the role

The Public Affairs Strategist will report directly to Evolv's Chief Growth Officer and work closely with senior leaders across Marketing, Sales, Product, Legal, and Customer Success. This is a relationship-oriented and externally facing role that requires regular engagement with customers, associations, research partners, industry events, and federal and state stakeholders. Travel will vary throughout the year based on legislative calendars and business priorities, so candidates should be comfortable traveling as needed and residing within reasonable access to a major airport.

Responsibilities

• Develop a deep understanding of Evolv's mission, products, customers, and the school-safety policy landscape across priority states.
• Build familiarity with the environment in a few, high priority states — existing legislation, recent legislative and regulatory activity, and the associations, research organizations, public-sector entities, and community leaders who influence school-safety decisions.
• Establish working relationships with internal partners across Growth, Marketing, Sales, Product, Legal, and Customer Success.
• Deliver and begin executing a clear, actionable plan for each of the first three priority states — covering the legislative and regulatory landscape, the key policymakers and the path to engaging them, the coalition of supporters to organize, the most viable policy vehicle and funding pathway, and a clear-eyed read of likely opposition.
• Begin building relationships with key external stakeholders in those states, including legislators and committee staff, school-safety associations, and education and parent organizations.
• Help develop evidence-based, locally relevant messaging and supporting materials that communicate Evolv's impact to diverse audiences.
• Recommend where outside lobbying or government-relations partners would accelerate progress and begin scoping and managing those engagements.
• Move the first states forward toward introduced legislation or regulatory action, and stand up the next wave of priority states.
• Establish Evolv as a trusted, credible, and engaged participant in school-safety policy conversations.
• Build and maintain meaningful relationships with priority associations, research institutions, public-sector organizations, and community influencers.
• Develop a repeatable state playbook that allows the program to scale efficiently across many states.
• Identify, direct, and manage outside lobbyists and partners across multiple states, ensuring their work aligns with Evolv's strategy and compliance standards.
• Support the development of evidence-based proof points and independent research that strengthen customer confidence and the broader case for advanced screening.

Requirements

• 5+ years of experience in government affairs, public affairs, legislative or regulatory campaigns, stakeholder engagement, chief of staff or public-sector relations, with direct experience advancing policy at the state level.
• Demonstrated success helping develop and pass — or materially advance — state legislation or regulation, ideally across more than one state, from concept through enactment.
• Demonstrated ability to build and organize coalitions of external stakeholders (associations, advocacy and community organizations, public-sector partners) and mobilize them in support of a shared policy goal.
• Strong influence skills: the ability to map a legislative landscape, identify the right decision-makers, and earn the meeting without formal authority.
• Experience working across the political spectrum and tailoring messaging to different political environments.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including clear messaging, briefing materials, stakeholder communications, and executive-ready updates.
• High integrity, discretion, and professionalism when operating in sensitive, politically neutral, and externally visible environments.