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Director, Government Affairs & Public Policy

harvey

San Francisco
IT Governance Product Owner

Job Score

90 pts
On-site model (+70) IT Governance (+10) Product Owner (+10)

Why Harvey

At Harvey, we’re transforming how legal and professional services operate. By combining frontier agentic AI, an enterprise-grade platform, and deep domain expertise, we’re reshaping how critical knowledge work gets done for decades to come.

This is a rare chance to help build a generational company at a true inflection point. We have strong product-market fit and world-class investor support. We’re scaling fast and defining a new category in real time. The work is ambitious, the bar is high, and the opportunity for growth — personal, professional, and financial — is unmatched.

Our team moves fast, takes ownership, and is deeply committed to the mission — operating with intensity, staying close to our customers, and pushing each other for excellence. We live by three values: Decisiveness, Simplicity, and Job's Not Finished. We act quickly on clear judgment over perfect information, we believe simplicity is what scales, and we're never satisfied with where we are. If you want to do the best work of your career alongside people who share that drive, we'd love to build with you.

At Harvey, the future of professional services is being written today — and we’re just getting started.

 

Role Overview

As Harvey's founding Director of Government Affairs and Public Policy, you will build the function responsible for how Harvey engages with governments, regulators, judiciaries, and the institutions shaping the future of AI in legal and professional services — in the US and globally.

This is a senior leadership role reporting directly to the Chief Strategy Officer. The primary emphasis is on public policy: educating and informing policymakers, building Harvey's credibility as a substantive, trusted voice in consequential conversations about AI governance, the future of the legal profession, and access to justice.

The scope spans federal, state, and local bodies in the US, EMEA and APAC — where bar associations, state licensing authorities, and judicial and legislative actions are currently setting the most consequential AI policy. You will own the overall strategy and engagement framework, build the company's presence from a standing start, and hire the regional team beneath you as the function grows.

This is a builder's role. The playbook doesn't exist yet, and you'll write it.

What You'll Do

  • Build Harvey's government affairs and public policy function. Stand up the strategy, engagement framework, and stakeholder relationships that position Harvey as a trusted, credible voice in the future of AI in legal and professional services. Define what Harvey says — and what it doesn't — on the policy issues that matter most.

  • Own the policy relationship landscape. Build and maintain direct relationships with policymakers, regulators, bar associations, judicial, legislative, and regulatory bodies, and other key institutions across the US and, over time, internationally. You are the person in those meetings, not a coordinator behind them.

  • Develop Harvey's policy narrative. Partner with the Chief Strategy Officer, senior legal leadership, and communications to shape Harvey's public positioning on AI governance, the future of the legal profession, responsible technology deployment, and access to justice. Maintain bipartisan and cross-jurisdictional credibility..

  • Maintain institutional credibility. You will develop and cultivate collaborative relationships with policy makers around the world, bringing a candid, well-informed perspective on the future of the legal profession and the policy positions best aligned with fostering and supporting a vibrant, resilient legal ecosystem. You will advocate for positions that enable Harvey’s product strategy will advancing the broader interests of the legal profession, including both in-house lawyers and private practice attorneys.

  • Inform product and market strategy. Serve as a strategic bridge between the external policy environment and Harvey's product and go-to-market teams — specifically where product decisions carry regulatory triggers or policy implications. Surface emerging compliance requirements, public-sector opportunities, and the kinds of ethically complex questions that arise when AI intersects with sensitive legal and governmental contexts. Help ensure Harvey is well-positioned to serve government legal departments and regulated industries as those markets evolve.

  • Build and lead the team. As the function grows, hire and develop regional government affairs managers across key markets (initially US, with EMEA and APAC to follow). Set up the operational infrastructure — stakeholder tracking, regulatory monitoring, policy calendar management — that keeps Harvey's policy posture sharp, current, and globally coordinated.

What You Have

  • A career defined by progressive depth in public policy, government affairs, or regulatory work — whether in-house at a major technology or professional services company, in senior government or regulatory roles, or in a senior advisory capacity at a leading firm. J.D. strongly preferred.

  • A policy-first orientation, not a lobbying-first one. You understand the difference between working the machinery of government and educating policymakers, and you lead with the latter. You build credibility through substance, not access alone.

  • Demonstrated ability to build, not just operate. You have stood up a function, set a strategy, and built relationships from a standing start — or led a significant expansion of scope within a larger organization. You know what it takes to go from zero to credible in a new institutional landscape.

  • Deep, trusted relationships with senior government, regulatory, and institutional stakeholders across multiple jurisdictions. You are known, respected, and sought out for your judgment. Your relationships outlast administrations and election cycles.

  • Substantive familiarity with the legal industry, the judiciary, or the regulatory environment around legal services and AI. You understand how bar associations, courts, and government legal departments think, and you can engage credibly at a senior level with people who have spent decades in these institutions.

  • Bipartisan credibility and intellectual integrity. You have worked constructively across political environments. You know when to hold a position and when to listen. You can make the case for Harvey's work in rooms where the politics cut differently, without compromising your credibility in either.

  • Genuine conviction about the role of AI in improving legal services and expanding access to justice. This is not a defensive compliance role. Harvey's position — that AI can augment professional judgment, reduce barriers to expertise, and strengthen legal institutions — is one worth making, and you'll make it persuasively and responsibly.

  • Exceptional written and verbal communication. You can represent Harvey in high-stakes, high-visibility settings — before bar committees, judicial conferences, congressional staff, and international regulatory bodies — and hold the room.

  • Principled judgment in complex environments. You've navigated situations where the right answer wasn't obvious — politically, ethically, or commercially — and made calls you'd stand behind publicly. You can help Harvey develop clear positions on hard questions and represent them credibly.

What We Offer

  • The chance to build Harvey's government affairs and public policy function from scratch, with a genuine mandate from the executive team and direct access to senior leadership.

  • A global mandate that grows — starting with the US, with EMEA and APAC to follow — at a company already operating across 60+ countries.

  • A role at the center of one of the most consequential policy conversations happening anywhere in technology: what AI means for the legal profession, the judiciary, and access to justice.

  • A direct line to the CSO and a seat at the table on key strategic decisions.

  • A clear path to building and leading a growing team as the function scales alongside the company, with this role expected to grow in scope as Harvey matures.

  • A company at a genuine inflection point, with strong product-market fit, rapid growth, and increasing recognition as the defining platform for AI in legal and professional services.

Compensation

$260,000 - $350,000 USD

 

Depending on your location, an Applicant Privacy Notice may apply to you. You can find all of our Applicant Privacy Notices here.

#LI-BL1

 

Harvey is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, national origin, disability, age, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, pregnancy or related condition, or any other basis protected by law.

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities, and requests can be made by emailing accommodations@harvey.ai

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About IT Governance

IT Governance is the area responsible for ensuring that information technology resources are used strategically, efficiently, and in compliance with standards and regulations. IT governance professionals ensure that technology supports business objectives in a secure and reliable manner.

Key skills include IT service management (ITIL), IT audit and compliance, risk management, business continuity, disaster recovery, metrics and indicators (SLAs, KPIs), and strategic alignment between IT and business. Frameworks like COBIT, ITIL, ISO 27001, and compliance standards are essential.

IT Governance professionals in technology companies are highly valued, especially those who master ITSM, IT audit, and risk management. The field offers opportunities from governance analyst to CIO/CTO, with a focus on efficiency, compliance, security, and business value.

About Product Owner

The Product Owner (PO) is the professional responsible for maximizing the value of the product delivered by the development team. They act as the voice of the customer and stakeholders, managing and prioritizing the product backlog, defining clear user stories, and ensuring the team works on the most valuable items for the business.

Key skills include backlog management, user story writing, prioritization (Mascow, RICE), agile methodologies (Scrum, Kanban), and stakeholder communication. Knowledge of tools like Jira, Trello, Azure DevOps, and Miro is essential.

Product Owners are highly sought-after professionals in the technology market, working collaboratively with Scrum Masters, Product Managers, and engineering teams to drive agility and continuous value delivery.

Discover Other Areas

Understand the scope of work, key skills, and tools used in different career areas.

About Business Analysis

The Business Analyst (BA) is the professional responsible for identifying problems, opportunities, and solutions in organizational processes, acting as a bridge between business areas and the technology development team. They gather and specify requirements, map value streams, design future processes, and help ensure that software deliveries align with the company's strategic goals.

About Project Management

Project Management is essential to ensure strategic initiatives are delivered on time, within scope, and with quality. PM professionals coordinate teams, manage risks, and communicate with stakeholders.

Key methodologies include PMBOK, PRINCE2, Scrum, and Kanban. Tools like Jira, Asana, Monday, and MS Project are widely used in daily work.

Certifications like PMP and PgMP are important differentiators in the market, with growing demand in technology and consulting companies.

About Automation Analyst

The Automation Analyst is the professional responsible for identifying process optimization opportunities and developing automated workflows (RPA, scripts, or integrations). They map manual and repetitive tasks across various company areas and build automation solutions using low-code/no-code platforms (such as Zapier, Make, Power Automate, n8n) or RPA tools (such as UiPath), driving operational efficiency and error reduction.

About Business Intelligence

Business Intelligence (BI) is the area responsible for transforming raw data into strategic information for decision-making. BI professionals build dashboards, reports, and analyses that help companies understand their performance and identify growth opportunities.

Key skills include data modeling (star schema, snowflake), ETL (extraction, transformation, loading), advanced SQL, BI tools (Power BI, Tableau, Looker), data warehousing, KPIs, and business metrics analysis (MRR, churn, cohort). Knowledge of dbt, Airflow, and data pipelines is a differentiator.

BI professionals in technology companies are highly valued, especially those who master data visualization, analytics engineering, and can translate complex data into actionable insights for the business. The field offers opportunities from BI analyst to head of data, with a focus on data-driven decision making.

About Technical Support

Technical Support is essential to ensure customer satisfaction and retention. Support professionals resolve technical issues, document solutions, and identify patterns that can lead to product improvements.

Key skills include troubleshooting, customer service, technical documentation, ITIL knowledge, and ticketing tools (Zendesk, Freshdesk, Intercom).

Technical support has evolved from a reactive to a proactive function, with high-level professionals working in Customer Engineering and Support Engineering.

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Product Career Guide

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Tech & Remote Glossary

Stop getting lost in interviews and job descriptions

The job market, especially within tech and global companies, has developed its own dialect. Not understanding these acronyms can make you lose valuable opportunities or poorly negotiate your contract. To end this problem, we created the Definitive Glossary for the Remote Professional.

🏢 Work Models & Routine

Async (Asynchronous Work)
A communication model where responses don't need to be immediate. Instead of back-to-back meetings, the team relies on well-structured documents, threads, and messages. It's the gold standard for global companies spanning multiple time zones.
Sync (Synchronous Work)
The opposite of Async. It requires the team to be online and available at the same time for meetings, live chats, and real-time collaboration.
Daily / Stand-up
A quick daily meeting (usually 15 minutes) common in Agile (Scrum) methodologies. The team answers three questions: What did I do yesterday? What will I do today? Are there any blockers?
All-Hands / Town Hall
A company-wide meeting involving all employees. Usually led by the founders (C-Levels) to present results, new goals, and answer team questions.
1:1 (One-on-One)
A recurring individual meeting between a professional and their direct manager. It is used for career alignment, feedback, and problem-solving, not just for project status updates.

💰 Contracts, Benefits & Compensation

PTO (Paid Time Off)
Instead of strict, categorized leave policies, modern US companies usually offer a flexible pool of days (e.g., 20 days of PTO, or even "Unlimited PTO") that you can use for vacations, sick days, or personal matters, while receiving your regular compensation.
Equity / Stock Options
Company ownership. The startup offers you the right to buy shares at a heavily discounted strike price in the future. If the company grows, goes public, or is acquired, these shares can be highly lucrative.
Vesting (Vesting Schedule)
The rule that controls your Equity. It usually lasts 4 years. You don't get all the shares on day one; you "earn" them gradually as you stay with the company. A "1-year Cliff" means you must stay for at least one year to receive your first batch of shares.
RSUs (Restricted Stock Units)
Unlike Stock Options (where you have the right to buy the stock), RSUs are actual shares the company grants you as a bonus or part of your compensation package, following a strict Vesting schedule.
Independent Contractor (1099 / B2B)
The most common international hiring model for global talent working for US companies. You act as a service provider (business-to-business), receiving the gross salary (often six-figure compensation) without standard local payroll tax deductions at the source.

🤖 Recruitment & Hiring Process

ATS (Applicant Tracking System)
The "robot" that reads your resume. Software like Greenhouse, Ashby, and Workday are used to filter candidates by keywords before a human even looks at the document. (Pro tip: this is why your resume must be clean, semantic, and have the right keywords).
JD (Job Description)
The document that lists the responsibilities, technical requirements, and benefits of the open position.
Cultural Fit
The interview stage that evaluates if your core values, communication style, and worldview align with the company's culture. This is the ultimate test of your Soft Skills.
Onboarding
The integration process. It's the period of your first few weeks at the company, where you get your access credentials, learn about the culture, study the internal documentation, and understand how the product works.

🚀 How to use this to your advantage?

The secret isn't just knowing what these acronyms mean, but using them actively. If during an interview for a premium tech role you ask, "How does your PTO policy and Vesting schedule work?", the recruiter will immediately perceive you as a high-level professional, familiar with the global market standards.

The remote job market requires preparation. And having the right vocabulary is the first big step to securing six-figure proposals and standing out among thousands of applicants.

Expert Tip

The Current State of the Cloud & DevOps Market

By Mondywork | The ultimate guide for tech professionals looking to level up their careers, land global remote roles, and master modern infrastructure.

The End of the "SysAdmin" and the Rise of Platform Engineering

If you've been tracking the most sought-after roles at startups and Fortune 500 companies, you've probably noticed a drastic shift. The Cloud Computing and DevOps market is no longer just about "keeping the app online." Today, companies demand extreme resilience, automation, and cost optimization (the famous FinOps).

DevOps culture has evolved. We are now in the era of Platform Engineering, where infrastructure teams build internal platforms to grant developers full autonomy (Self-Service). For those aiming for global remote roles with six-figure compensation, understanding this transition isn't just a plus—it's a strict requirement.

"Elite DevOps teams deploy code 973 times more frequently and boast a Mean Time To Recovery (MTTR) that is 6,570 times faster than low-performing teams."

— State of DevOps Report (DORA / Google Cloud)

What Do Recruiters and ATS Systems Really Look For?

Automated filters (ATS platforms like Greenhouse, Ashby, and Workday) are hardwired to scan for a very specific set of skills in Cloud/DevOps resumes. Simply listing 20 tools won't cut it anymore; you must demonstrate culture and real-world impact.

  • Infrastructure as Code (IaC): Forget clicking around the AWS console. Declarative tools like Terraform, Pulumi, and Ansible are the true industry standards.
  • Container Orchestration: Mastery of Docker and, above all, Kubernetes (K8s) is practically mandatory for premium roles.
  • CI/CD Culture: Building automated pipelines (GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, ArgoCD) that guarantee continuous and secure deployments.
  • Cloud Providers and Architecture: Proficiency in at least one major public cloud provider (AWS, Google Cloud, or Microsoft Azure), with a strong focus on Serverless, microservices, and system resilience.

How to Transition: The Roadmap to Success

Many Back-End developers, support analysts, and network professionals want to pivot to Cloud and DevOps. If that's your goal, follow this market-validated roadmap:

  1. Master the Basics (Linux and Networking): Modern DevOps runs on Linux. Understanding permissions, processes, bash scripting, and the fundamentals of TCP/IP, DNS, and Load Balancers is your foundation.
  2. Learn to Code: A DevOps engineer doesn't need to be a Senior Developer, but you must know how to automate tasks. Python and Go (Golang) are currently the most highly valued languages in this ecosystem.
  3. Are Certifications Worth It? Yes, especially to get past the initial HR screening. Certifications like the AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate or the CKA (Certified Kubernetes Administrator) carry massive weight in the global market.
  4. Build a Real Portfolio: Publish a project on GitHub where you provision infrastructure via Terraform, set up a CI/CD pipeline using GitHub Actions, and deploy a simple app to a Kubernetes cluster. Practical projects always beat theoretical resumes.

Essential References and Study Links

To stay up-to-date, we highly recommend following official organizations and annual market reports:


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