Senior Director, External Affairs

About the role

We are looking for an experienced, organized, detail-oriented, and relationship-driven Senior Director of External Affairs to join our growing team to drive federal, state, and regional/local governmental and energy external affairs and community outreach throughout the United States. The role will develop, prioritize, track, and communicate Tract’s external affairs priorities at the national, state, and local level, collaborating with a matrixed set of external and internal stakeholders to implement the political engagement strategy necessary to advance the development of master-planned data center campuses.

This position will develop strategies to manage political opportunities presented by changing regulations and public perception of data centers, supporting efforts to build positive support from national, state, and non-governmental advocacy organizations. The role will help create momentum for Tract’s mission at the highest levels of government, enabling project teams to deliver high-quality developments while maximizing economic benefits for communities.

Reporting to the Vice President, Business Development and External Affairs, the ideal candidate demonstrates strong political acumen, a thorough understanding of national, state, and local-level public policy, and the ability to build and maintain networks with policymakers and senior audiences. This role requires impeccable ethics, great judgment, and a desire to succeed in a demanding, innovative, and entrepreneurial setting.

Responsibilities

• Work closely with internal stakeholders to understand Tract’s interests and craft a consistent narrative to gain political support for successful outcomes.
• Prepare briefing and presentation materials for engagements with policymakers, regulators, and clients; write comment letters and contribute to thought leadership on relevant policy topics.
• Monitor legislation and federal/regulatory developments; manage outside lobbyist updates, prepare weekly reports, draft bill summaries, and escalate risks to senior leadership.
• Take primary responsibility for a subset of markets (e.g., three to five Western states in the continental U.S.) as prioritized by leadership.
• State Government Affairs:
  • Develop, prioritize, track, and communicate Tract’s state-level priorities.
  • Define and implement response strategies across states and jurisdictions in coordination with the Vice President.
  • Represent Tract’s views and interests with trade associations, consultants, and clients.
  • Manage outside lobbyist and consultant workstreams, including agendas, action items, follow-up, deliverables, and weekly reporting.
  • Support the site RFI process to gather available sites that meet defined parameters.
• National Government Affairs:
  • Identify and monitor key U.S. public policy issues and data center development trends that impact Tract; shape Tract’s position on these opportunities.
  • Monitor federal developments involving Congress, DOE, FERC, NERC, federal permitting, large-load interconnection, energy reliability, tax policy, and AI/data center infrastructure policy.
  • Provide technical recommendations on legislative and regulatory proposals, collaborating with Senior Leadership, Legal, and other teams to ensure alignment.
  • Coordinate lobbying activity on incentives, regulation, energy, land use, and related policy matters.
  • Build and maintain networks of contacts with national-level policymakers.
  • Provide expert-level information on priority issues to key stakeholders across the business.
• Community Affairs:
  • Represent Tract positively and consistently with Tract values within the community in coordination with local project teams.
  • Assist with relationship management with adjacent neighbors and community groups.

Requirements

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Political Science, Communications, Public Relations, Speech, Journalism, or a related field. JD highly preferred.
• Experience: Five to eight years in external affairs, public policy, government relations, legislative affairs, energy policy, infrastructure, economic development, or closely related fields. Experience managing projects, consultants, coalitions, or legislative processes preferred. Previous success supporting major infrastructure development projects throughout the U.S. is a plus.
• Travel: Occasional travel to Tract Headquarters or Tract markets required.

Skills

• Strong political acumen with a thorough understanding of national, state, and local-level public policy.
• Excellent written communication skills, including internal reports and external engagements.
• Ability to produce concise, accurate, decision-ready written work under time pressure (e.g., bill summaries, state updates, risk assessments, briefing memos, and executive-ready talking points).
• Precision, follow-through, legislative tracking, deadline management, and synthesis in a high-paced environment.
• Exceptional verbal communication skills, including internal presentations, external speaking engagements, and governmental engagement at the highest levels.
• Ability to problem-solve, leveraging federal, state, and local relationships, corporate resources, and executive support to advance Tract’s message and projects.
• Ability to read, analyze, and interpret business periodicals, professional journals, technical procedures, or government regulations.
• Ability to respond effectively to sensitive inquiries while driving Tract’s message.
• Strong analytical skills to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions.
• Ability to interpret a variety of legislative and regulatory documents.
• Responsible, ethical, and collaborative mindset with a can-do attitude and pride in work product.
• Strong work ethic, with the ability to manage time and energy independently toward well-understood target outcomes.
• Curiosity and ability to network in structured and unstructured environments to identify, understand, and communicate opportunities and challenges.
• Eagerness to be part of building something unique and valuable with a top-notch team of diverse professionals.

Pay

Expected salary range: $175,000–$225,000 base plus annual bonus.

Benefits

• 100% employer-covered medical, dental, and vision insurance.
• 401K program.
• Standard paid holidays.
• Unlimited PTO.