Description

JOB TITLE: Director, Government & Industry Affairs

REPORTING TO: Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer & Head of Government Affairs and Communications

LOCATION: Chicago, IL

Lactalis USA is seeking a candidate to join our team in Chicago!

Lactalis USA is committed to enriching lives of U.S. families by producing nutritious and delicious dairy products that bring people together every day. The company offers a broad portfolio of well-known dairy brands including Galbani, President, Kraft, Cracker Barrel, Black Diamond, Parmalat, siggi's, and Stonyfield Organic in addition to several brands imported from our affiliates in Europe.

Across the United States the company has 4 business divisions with approximately 3,500 employees, 11 manufacturing sites and corporate offices located in New York City, Buffalo, Chicago, Londonderry, NH and San Fernando, CA. Lactalis USA is part of Lactalis Group, the world's leading dairy company with more than 85,500 employees worldwide and is a French family business founded in 1933 in Laval, France.

At Lactalis, our core values of AMBITION, ENGAGEMENT, and SIMPLICITY are at the heart of everything we do. If you are looking for a unique experience with a company that offers strong brands, professional expertise, and a dynamic work environment that champions entrepreneurial spirit, hands-on responsibility, and real opportunity for career development, we want to hear from you!

Lactalis USA: inviting you to share with us your STORY, your PASSION, and your EXPERTISE.

From your PASSION to ours

The Director of Government & Industry Affairs is responsible for the development and implementation of a U.S. public affairs strategy in support of the organizational and business goals of Lactalis USA and its U.S. affiliates. The incumbent will be part of the team that represents the Company to government officials at the federal, state and local level, and will oversee public funding efforts tied to the Company's investments at its U.S. sites.

From your EXPERTISE to ours

Key responsibilities for this position include:

• Leads the Government Affairs strategy and activities for the Company.
• Externally, interacts regularly with trade associations, federal, state and local officials as necessary, representing and in some cases leads/advocates for the Company's interests with these groups. Responsible for proactively building and managing strategic relationships with key government affairs stakeholders.
• Leads the effort to increase the Company's access to federal, state and local government grants and tax incentives.
• Leads and identifies public affairs issues through internal, cross functional collaboration with key personnel and content experts across the Company.
• Responsible for assisting the CLO and other crisis management team members in various government affairs efforts necessary during crisis situations.
• Responsible for working collaboratively across a matrix organization as a strategic business partner.
• Takes a disciplined approach to government affairs, supplemented by good instincts as well as a proven track record for knowing what the Company needs and how to get it done.
• Has an ability to distill complicated issues into simple messages and key facts.
• Espouses good corporate and individual ethics.
• Effectively uses a variety of communications tools and approaches to share work product internally.
• Leads by example and models behaviors consistent with the Lactalis Values of Ambition, Engagement with Simplicity.

Public Policy:

• Identifies and monitors current and/or emerging policy issues at the local, state and federal levels that could impact the Company's business. Undertakes internal and external analysis of such issues, and develops a strategy to drive positive outcomes in legislation and regulation based on the Company's policy positions.
• Represents the Company on relevant policy matters and influences positions within dairy and commercial trade associations.
• Implements an external stakeholder relationships database, tracks relationships and is responsible for public affairs stakeholder mapping.
• Develops communications such as power point presentations for internal usage.
• Develops and produces regular internal updates on public affairs activities, including briefing documents, executive summaries/updates for key management team members.
• Develops position papers for external use.

Government Funding:

• Leads the development of internal expertise and knowledge, capacity and competencies to increase the Company's access to federal, state and local government grants and tax incentives.
• Aligns CAPEX plan with government funding available and prepares applications to pursue the strategic objectives of the business and maximize grants obtained from governments while minimizing internal costs.
• Develops internal funding / grant team.
• Matches the Company's CAPEX plans with government grant opportunities.
• Obtains the relevant company information from internal stakeholders to prepare solid rationale for government funding application.
• Supports the development, execution, and monitoring of funding applications engagement plans (orienting the right projects towards the right programs in order to maximize opportunities).
• Converts technical information provided by Industrial, R&D, Engineering, Finance and other stakeholders into plain language and in a manner that is suitable for a grant application.

Requirements

From your STORY to ours

Qualified applicants will contribute the following:

Education/Experience:

• Bachelor of Arts degree.
• Minimum 10 years of experience in government or government relations.

Skills/Abilities:

• Broad understanding of policy issues, high learning agility, resourceful and flexible to handle different government affairs related tasks.
• Knowledge of federal and state policy processes and regulatory agencies required.
• Capability to handle confidential information and complex issues with discretion and good judgment.
• Experience at the state and local level of government affairs and knowledge of agriculture and nutrition preferable but not required.
• Strong project-management skills.
• Ability to navigate and drive for results in a change environment and a matrixed organization comprised of multiple business units and a corporate shared-service function.
• Shows initiative and the ability to work independently and exercise good judgment in a complex business environment.
• Takes active ownership of areas of responsibility. A self-motivated strong teammate with the ability to identify and get out ahead of problems.
• Demonstrates strategic ability.
• Models high ethics and integrity.
• Possesses an eagerness and ability to understand the business.
• Possesses excellent interpersonal, organizational, and communication (verbal and written), relationship management, and internal client service skills.
• Demonstrates acute attention to detail and the ability to manage multiple projects at a given time.
• Operates well in multi-functional teams and a fast-paced environment.
• Is a quick and flexible learner: intellectually curious, open-minded, adaptable, comfortable with ambiguity and risk, and excited by dynamic change.
• Can make sound, complex cost/benefit assessments.
• Inspires trust, forges relationships quickly, builds consensus and earns the confidence and cooperation of divisional business partners.
• Willingness to travel as needed, up to 30% estimated

Lactalis Heritage Dairy is an equal employment opportunity employer. We will not discriminate against applicants with regard to any legally-recognized basis including, but not limited to: veteran status, race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, sexual orientation, and physical or mental disabilities.