Director, State & Local Gov't Affairs

Eaton Group; Richmond (VA); Remote; USD 165,000 - 242,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Travel

Job summary

Eaton is seeking a Director, State & Local Gov't Affairs to lead Eaton’s state and local government affairs strategy across the U.S., developing proactive engagement with officials, monitoring regulatory developments, and driving legislative and regulatory advocacy initiatives.

The role serves as a trusted advisor to senior executives, aligning diverse stakeholders—functional teams, plant management, business units, and subject matter experts—and can be remote or based at a major Eaton hub, with

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university.
• Minimum ten years of lobbying or government affairs experience.
• Strong understanding of legislative and regulatory processes.
• Ability to bridge regulatory and business environments.
• Excellent relationship-building and communications skills.

Responsibilities

• Proactively identifies and manages key state/local public affairs issues (utility regulations, infrastructure, tax policy, economic development).
• Develops and executes engagement strategy with state/local officials, building relationships impacting Eaton’s operations and markets.
• Coordinates across business units to ensure alignment and timely escalation of issues.
• Creates policy and advocacy solutions translating developments into actionable strategies.
• Manages external consulting firms and trade associations to support government affairs objectives.
• Leads Eaton’s Key Contact Program connecting senior leaders with elected officials.
• Executes grassroots lobbying to engage employees on key issues.
• Communicates with internal stakeholders to align priorities across functions.

Skills

Lobbying experience

Stakeholder management

Policy analysis

Communication skills

Education

Bachelor's degree

Job description

Eaton’s Public Affairs organization is seeking a dynamic Director, State & Local Gov't Affairs. This role can be based at a major Eaton hub or can be fully remote. Will include travel.

What you’ll do:

Job Summary:

The Director, State & Local Gov't Affairs leads and directs Eaton’s state and local government affairs strategy, developing and executing proactive engagement with government officials, monitoring regulatory and policy developments, and driving legislative and regulatory advocacy initiatives across Eaton’s U.S. operations. Serves as a trusted advisor to senior Eaton executives and aligns diverse stakeholder groups - including functional teams, plant management, business unit leaders, and subject matter experts - to represent the enterprise with senior-level external stakeholders. Develops innovative policy and advocacy solutions to complex business issues and manages external consulting firms and relevant trade associations to advance Eaton’s government affairs objectives across multiple jurisdictions, ensuring all engagement activities align with Eaton ethics, compliance, and anti-corruption requirements. Partners with the VP, Government Affairs, Americas and Manager, Government Affairs, Americas on significant issues as needed.

Key Eaton outcomes: Drive electrical sector market development and sales growth by influencing key policy and regulatory decisions that promote investment in utility and data center infrastructure and advance code adoption. Support Eaton’s U.S. capacity investment considerations by working with state and local economic development agencies. Mitigates enterprise risks by monitoring and engaging on policies related to tax, human resources, and environment, health, and sustainability.

Job Responsibilities:

• Proactively identifies, prioritizes and manages key state/local public affairs issues (Key issues are those in which legislation or government regulation can impact sales or cost, including utility regulations and infrastructure, data center build-out, electrical code adoption, tax policy, and economic development programs).
• Develops and executes strategy for engagement with state and local officials, building and maintaining working relationships that impact Eaton’s operations, customers, and markets.
• Develops and executes Eaton’s state and local government engagement strategy across business units and functions, ensuring alignment and timely escalation when needed.
• Creates innovative policy and advocacy solutions to complex business issues, translating legislative and regulatory developments into actionable strategies that protect and advance Eaton’s interests.
• Manages and leverages external consulting firms and trade associations to support government affairs objectives; ensures scope, deliverables, and reporting align with Eaton priorities.
• Leads Eaton’s “Key Contact Program,” connecting senior Eaton leaders with their elected officials.
• Develops and executes Eaton’s “grassroots” lobbying strategy, including the manner in which we engage our employees on key issues.
• Communicates effectively with internal Eaton stakeholders across all business and functional levels, aligning diverse stakeholder groups around shared government affairs priorities.
• Partners with the VP, Government Affairs – Americas and Manager, Government Affairs – Americas on managing significant issues as needed.
• Ensures compliance and integrity in all government engagement activities, including adherence to ethics, compliance, and anti-corruption requirements; escalates concerns as appropriate.

Qualifications:

Education level required:

• Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university.

Years and area of experience required:

• Minimum ten (10) years experience as a lobbyist and/or key staffer of statewide elected official, state legislator, trade association, or corporate government affairs role.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Understanding of how state governments can affect business operations.
• Keen understanding of legislative and regulatory processes, utility regulatory experience is a plus.
• Interest in and understanding of Eaton’s businesses, and the ability to function as a “bridge” between the regulatory/legislative arena and Eaton’s business environment.
• Outstanding relationship building and communications skills.
• Demonstrated ability to influence senior executives and align diverse, cross-functional stakeholder groups around complex policy and advocacy priorities.
• Ability to anticipate emerging issues and develop strategies to respond to them.

Additional Information:

All positions may require participation in video and in-person interviews as part of the hiring process. All candidates will be evaluated based on job-related competencies, and all candidates’ privacy rights and data security will be protected in accordance with applicable laws.

At Eaton, we strive to provide compensation and benefits that attract, engage, and retain the best talent. This includes competitive pay and a variety of benefit programs for eligible employees. The expected annual salary range for this role is $165,000 to $242,000 a year. This role is also eligible for a variable incentive program. Please note the salary information shown above is a general guideline only. Salaries are based upon candidate skills, experience, and qualifications, as well as market and business considerations.

The application window for this position is anticipated to close on October 13, 2026.

We are committed to ensuring equal employment opportunities for all job applicants and employees. Employment decisions are based upon job-related reasons regardless of an applicant's race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, disability, marital status, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other status protected by law.

Eaton believes in second chance employment. Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction history will be considered regardless of their arrest or conviction history, consistent with the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance, the California Fair Chance Act and other local laws.

You do not need to disclose your conviction history or participate in a background check until a conditional job offer is made to you. After making a conditional offer and running a background check, if Eaton is concerned about conviction that is directly related to the job, you will be given the chance to explain the circumstances surrounding the conviction, provide mitigating evidence, or challenge the accuracy of the background report.

To request a disability-related reasonable accommodation to assist you in your job search, application, or interview process, please call us at 1-800-836-6345 to discuss your specific need. Only accommodation requests will be accepted by this phone number.

We know that good benefit programs are important to employees and their families. Eaton provides various Health and Welfare benefits as well as Retirement benefits, and several programs that provide for paid and unpaid time away from work. Please note that specific programs and options available to an employee may depend on eligibility factors such as geographic location, date of hire, and the applicability of collective bargaining agreements.