Director/Senior Manager, Government Affairs

Verkada; San Mateo (CA); Remote; USD 205,000 - 265,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Healthcare coverage

Medical/dental/vision

401(k) match

HSA/FSA

Mental health support

Parental leave

Paid holidays

Lunch provided

Job summary

Verkada is seeking a government and policy advocate to build our Government Affairs and Public Policy functions from the ground up. You will establish our policy strategy across local, state, and federal levels and support our public sector go‑to‑market teams by leveraging relationships to create opportunities.

You will be the company’s primary policy representative, blending strategic foresight with hands-on execution, building relationships with decision-makers and leading legislative

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s or J.D. helpful but not required.
• 8+ years of progressive experience in government relations, public policy, legislative staff roles, or corporate advocacy.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement the first Government Affairs framework and policy priorities.
• Develop a scalable 50-state policy strategy across jurisdictions.
• Recruit and manage external lobbyists and consultants.
• Partner with GTM teams to unlock procurement pathways and government playbooks.
• Shape funding and procurement strategy including school safety and infrastructure grants.
• Collaborate with Legal, Product, PR, and Public Sector Sales to align policy with revenue goals.

Skills

Public policy

Government relations

Stakeholder engagement

Policy analysis

Advocacy

Relationship building

Education

Bachelor's degree

JD or Master’s preferred

Job description

San Mateo, CA United States

Who We Are

Verkada is transforming how organizations protect their people and places with an integrated, privacy-sensitive AI-powered platform that includes solutions for video security, access control, air quality sensors, alarms, intercoms, and visitor management.

We’ve got serious momentum in the market: more than 30,000 customers (including 100+ of the Fortune 500), a $5.8B valuation , more than $1 billion in annualized bookings, and backing from CapitalG, Sequoia Capital, General Catalyst, Felicis Ventures, Next47 and more. Physical AI is one of the most consequential technology shifts of our time, and Verkada is at the center of it.

You can look at all kinds of communities to see our platform’s impact in the world. It's the retailer that uses our agentic AI to deter theft before it happens. The warehouse that uses AI-powered alerts to make sure its team is protected on the floor with proper PPE. The school that’s alerted to a threat in real-time and triggers a lockdown in seconds, not minutes. We’re rapidly scaling this impact: today, more than 2 million Verkada devices are deployed across 170+ countries.

About the Role

Verkada’s legal team is looking for a government and policy advocate to help build our Government Affairs and Public Policy functions from the ground up. You will work hand-in-hand with internal leadership to set our overall public policy strategy—establishing our presence across state, local, and federal governments to lay the groundwork for Verkada’s first entree into policy and legislative engagement. You will also support our federal and state public sector go-to-market teams, by leveraging your networks, relationships, and policy engagements to open doors and create opportunities.

As the company’s primary policy representative, you will blend strategic foresight with hands-on execution: building relationships with key decision-makers, leading legislative advocacy, and developing high-impact partnerships with industry associations, trade groups, and peer organizations. The ideal candidate brings 10–15 years of policy experience, strong relationship-building capabilities, and a proven track record of connecting policy strategy directly to business growth. This position reports directly to the company’s Chief Privacy Officer, who heads our policy and government affairs functions. There is no existing team or playbook. You will help build both, starting with your own relationships, experience, and credibility.

We are committed to a thriving in-office culture but this role can be remote for the right candidates, so long as you are willing to regularly travel to key areas, such as San Mateo, California (our headquarters), Washington, DC, and state and local government hubs to meet with key stakeholders and constituents.

What You’ll Do

• Framework & Strategy:Help design and execute our first Government Affairs framework, defining company policy priorities, legislative tracking systems, and political governance across local, state, and emerging federal levels.
• Policy Roadmapping:Develop, execute, and refine a scalable 50-state policy strategy, categorizing target jurisdictions by legislative risk, market opportunity, and regulatory complexity.
• Lobbyist Management:Recruit, direct, and actively manage external state and local contract lobbyists and political consultants across priority target states to ensure accountability and measurable outcomes.
• Public Sector Business Development:Partner directly with go-to-market teams to unlock procurement pathways and develop a practical, ground-level government playbook, navigating agency requirements and supporting active deals to accelerate time-to-close.
• Funding & Procurement Strategy:Shape policy and public sector funding and appropriations conversations—including school safety and infrastructure grants that favor modern, cloud-based public sector infrastructure.
• Cross-Functional Alignment:Work closely with Legal, Product, Public Relations, and Public Sector Sales Teams to align policy strategies with commercial revenue goals and procurement opportunities.

What You Bring

• Education: Must have a Bachelor’s degree; Master’s or J.D. helpful but not required.
• Experience: 8+ years of progressive experience in government relations, public policy, legislative staff roles, or corporate advocacy, with deep state and local expertise and familiarity with federal policy processes.
• 50-State & Lobbyist Management Expertise: Proven track record of designing multi-state policy strategies and effectively directing state and local contract lobbyists across multiple jurisdictions.
• Commercial & Sales Alignment: Demonstrated experience partnering closely with public sector sales and business leads to align policy initiatives with state/local government procurement and revenue growth.
• Partnership Mindset: Ability to partner effectively with senior executive leadership to shape policy priorities.
• Relationship & Network Capabilities: Proven ability to build meaningful networks, open doors with senior officials, and earn credibility across diverse political environments.
• Coalition & Trade Expertise: Track record of actively working within trade associations, leading industry committees, and building multi-stakeholder coalitions.
• Skills: Exceptional written and oral communication skills; ability to translate complex technical or business models into clear, compelling policy narratives for lawmakers, regulators, and internal leadership; strong political acumen and cross-functional alignment skills to gain consensus across internal teams.
• Travel: Willingness to regularly travel (aligned with state legislative sessions, municipal council calendars, and industry conferences).

Employee Benefits

Verkada is committed to fostering a workplace environment that prioritizes the holistic health and wellbeing of our employees and their families by offering comprehensive wellness perks, benefits, and resources. Our benefits and perks programs include, but are not limited to:

• Healthcare programs that can be tailored to meet the personal health and financial well-being needs - Premiums are 100% covered for the employee under at least one plan and 80% for family premiums under all plans
• Nationwide medical, vision and dental coverage
• Starting January 2027, Verkada will match a portion of an employee’s 401(k) contributions based on eligible earnings. Match vests on 2 year anniversary
• Health Saving Account (HSA) with annual employer contributions and Flexible Spending Account (FSA) with tax saving options
• Expanded mental health support
• Paid parental leave policy & fertility benefits
• Time off to relax and recharge through our paid holidays, firmwide extended holidays, flexible PTO and personal sick time
• Wellness/fitness benefits
• Healthy lunches provided daily

Additional Information

You must be independently authorized to work in the U.S. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment visa for this role, at this time.

Annual Pay Range

At Verkada, we want to attract and retain the best employees, and compensate them in a way that appropriately and fairly values their individual contribution to the company. With that in mind, we carefully consider a number of factors to determine the appropriate starting pay for an employee, including their primary work location and an assessment of a candidate's skills and experience, as well as market demands and internal parity. A Verkada employee may be eligible for additional forms of compensation, depending on their role, including sales incentives, discretionary bonuses, and/or equity in the company in the form of restricted stock units (RSUs)

$205,000 - $265,000 USD

As an equal opportunity employer, Verkada is committed to providing employment opportunities to all individuals. All applicants for positions at Verkada will be treated without regard to race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, age, marital status, veteran status, pregnancy, or any other basis prohibited by applicable law.

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey.Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiringprocess or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in aconfidential file.

As set forth in Verkada’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy,we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection.As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measurethe effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categoriesis as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.