Senior Manager, Government Partnerships

LawZero; Montreal; On-site; CAD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

Vacation: 20 days/year

4% retirement contribution

8% additional retirement/bonus

Job summary

LawZero, based in Montreal, seeks a senior government affairs professional to shape and execute our middle-powers strategy across multiple countries. You will engage senior officials and co-create policy initiatives, shaping a narrative aligned with our mission to advance safe-by-design AI systems.

You will own strategy, research, and relationship-building, joining key trips and meetings while operating independently within a shared strategic direction.

Qualifications

• At least 6 years of experience in government affairs, diplomacy, think tanks, or a closely related field.
• Comfort operating across different political systems and diplomatic settings.
• AI knowledge to engage with research and safety communities and to carry core messages with authority.
• Strong communications instincts and experience with strategic comms planning.
• Ability to work independently.
• Excellent judgment, relationship-building, and adaptability in a fast-moving environment.

Responsibilities

• Build the middle-powers strategy: co-financing and partnership approaches across countries.
• Map and mobilize national ecosystems with relevant actors in target countries.
• Carry core messages on AI model reliability and sovereign AI.
• Lead policy development for middle-powers engagement, including summit planning.
• Shape in-country narrative: support communications, op-eds, and influential voices.
• Prepare briefing materials and join ministerial-level meetings and select trips.

Skills

Government affairs

Diplomacy

Policy analysis

Strategic communications

Independent work

Stakeholder engagement

Education

Bachelor's degree in political science or related field

Job description

As we expand internationally, we are building a coalition of middle-power governments to help fund and champion LawZero's mission. This role sits at the center of that effort. You will help design and execute our middle-powers strategy: shaping the policy agenda, mapping and mobilizing the ecosystems that influence government in each target country, and building toward tangible milestones, including a potential middle-powers summit convened with partner stakeholders.

Direct engagement with senior government officials will remain largely led by the VP of Global Affairs. Still, you will join key trips and meetings, and you will own much of the strategy, research, and relationship-building that makes those engagements land. This is a role for someone who can operate independently across multiple countries while working within a shared strategic direction.

Key Responsibilities:

• Build the middle-powers strategy: Develop and refine our approach to co-financing and partnership with middle-power governments, identifying priorities, entry points, and sequencing across countries.
• Map and mobilize national ecosystems: Identify and build relationships with the right actors (eg. safety, research, and corporate communities) who can help move government in each target country.
• Carry our core messages: Advance two central arguments across every audience: (1) that the reliability of AI models is a necessary capability for their adoption, and (2) that sovereign AI models are essential to avoid being caught in the currents of power concentration.
• Lead middle-powers policy: Own policy development on middle-powers engagement, including planning toward a potential middle-powers summit co-hosted with other stakeholders.
• Shape the narrative in-country: Support communications and media efforts, including placing op-eds and cultivating influential voices in target countries.
• Support senior engagements: Prepare briefing materials, strategy, and follow-up for ministerial- and official-level meetings, and join select trips and meetings.

Skills and qualifications:

• At least 6 years of experience in government affairs, diplomacy, think tanks, or a closely related field.
• Comfort operating across different political systems and in diplomatic settings, rather than expertise in a single domestic system.
• AI knowledge sufficient to engage credibly with research and safety communities and to carry our core messages with authority.
• Strong communications instincts, including experience working with communications teams to build a strategic comms plan.
• Ability to work independently.
• Excellent judgment, relationship-building skills, and comfort operating in a fast-moving, mission-driven environment.

Nice to have:

• Regional expertise or language skills relevant to middle-power governments, with a particular emphasis on French.
• Existing networks in AI policy, safety, or research communities.
• Experience convening or supporting international summits or multi-stakeholder initiatives.

What we offer

• The chance to contribute meaningfully to a globally critical initiative
• Comprehensive health benefits (including mental health and wellness management account)
• 20 days of vacation per year upon start
• Employer contribution of 4% to your retirement savings, with no required employee match
• Additional compensation totaling 8% of your salary to apply towards additional retirement savings or bonuses (independent of group and individual performance)
• A team of passionate world-class experts in their field
• A collaborative and inclusive work environment in our vibrant office space in the heart of Little Italy, in the trendy Mile-Ex district, close to public transportation

About LawZero

LawZero is a non-profit organization committed to advancing research and creating technical solutions that enable safe-by-design AI systems. Its scientific direction is based on new research and methods proposed by Professor Yoshua Bengio, the most cited AI researcher in the world. Based in Montreal, LawZero’s research aims to build non-agentic AI that learns primarily to understand the world rather than to act in it, giving truthful answers to questions based on transparent and externalized probabilistic reasoning. Such AI systems could be used to accelerate scientific discovery, to provide oversight for agentic AI systems, and to advance the understanding of AI risks and how to avoid them. LawZero believes that AI should be cultivated as a global public good—developed and used safely towards human flourishing. For more information, visit www.lawzero.org

You belong here

At LawZero, diversity is important to us. We value a work environment that is fair, open and respectful of differences. We welcome applications from highly qualified individuals interested in working towards our mission in a respectful, inclusive and collaborative setting.