Public Policy Manager, CEE Berlin, Germany

Airbnb is a mission-driven company dedicated to helping create a world where anyone can belong anywhere. It takes a unified team committed to our core values to achieve this goal. Airbnb's various functions embody the company's innovative spirit and our fast-moving team is committed to leading as a 21st century company.

The Team:

Airbnb’s public policy team exists to further the interests of our community of hosts and guests with politicians, regulators, opinion leaders and others who shape the political and legal context for our business, helping them to understand the significant social and economic contributions of our platform. Across the EMEA region, we are engaged in well over a hundred local conversations and negotiations with governments big and small. We engage governments at local, regional and national levels directly and also use innovative advocacy and partnership strategies that actively involve our community and our stakeholders in making the case for fair, progressive home sharing rules.

We organise ourselves in integrated campaign groups, drawing on a wide range of tools and disciplines - from detailed policy and government relations work, through high-impact partnerships, proactive media relations, community organising, digital platforms and content, polling, and innovative data science and research. We use the combined might of these disciplines to progress our overall policy agenda.

The Role:

We are looking for a Public Policy Manager to support our campaigns across Central Eastern Europe, based in Berlin, Germany. This role will be responsible for helping develop and executing integrated plans, with the ultimate goal of legitimising our community of home-sharers in relevant local, regional and national legislation.

It is our mission to work closely with politicians, regulators, and legislators to educate them about Airbnb and the “sharing economy”, highlight the significant social and economic impact our business has on cities, and showcase best practices from around the world.

We want policy makers to understand the regulatory challenges that affect our host community and find solutions that are good for cities and our thriving local communities.

This role will report to the Campaign Lead DACH/CEE, and will focus primarily on policy work in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland, with a secondary focus on the rest of Central Eastern Europe. To do this role effectively you must be skilled in research and policy project delivery as well as engagement with a wide variety of stakeholders. You will be expected to confidently work on a municipal, regional and national level, to help stakeholders understand the contribution that our community makes, and engage them in the process of creating fair legal and regulatory frameworks that embrace the potential of the sharing economy.

You must also be able to work as part of a multi-disciplinary team and deploy first-rate organisational skills to help support the execution of agreed strategies and deliver projects on time. The ideal candidate will be passionate about Airbnb and the sharing economy, and have proven experience in regulatory and political work in a relevant business or non-governmental organisation, or in a political, governmental or regulatory context (a mix of public and private
sector experience is an advantage).

Frequent travel across Central Eastern Europe should be expected.

Responsibilities:

• Support the Campaign Lead DACH / CEE in developing political strategies and priorities, advise on local needs, plan relevant activities and design policy positions across these geographies;
• Execute the company’s regional public policy strategy, concentrating mainly on engaging with lawmakers and authorities across Central Eastern Europe.
• Identify partnership and alliance opportunities - new potential partners and partnerships programmes - work with partners to develop MOU’s, work with internal teams to deliver on partner MOU’s and maintain partner/stakeholder relationships;
• Work independently and with others to monitor and research legislative and regulatory matters, policy developments and the political environment across Central Eastern Europe, with particular attention on the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland.
• Engage in analysis, writing and other activities to provide analysis and critical thinking on developments affecting Airbnb’s priorities.
• Act as Airbnb’s representative in meetings with government and political stakeholders, in coalitions and collaborations to advance Airbnb’s advocacy initiatives, including crafting and negotiating language for legislation, drafting comments on administrative registrations, and authoring issue briefs and position papers;
• Advise Airbnb’s teams on public policy matters to guide development of products, services and policies and manage the operational implementation of national and local policy proposals and legislative measures, working with colleagues in our legal and US-based product teams;
• Manage the consultants who provide on-the-ground support, ensuring that they are properly briefed and engaging energetically on behalf of Airbnb in line with the agreed strategy;
• Flag local policy issues that may have pan-regional implications, and work with colleagues elsewhere in Europe and in San Francisco to develop global solutions and approaches as required.

Requirements:

• At least seven years of direct experience working with complex political or regulatory issues in a relevant business or non-governmental organisation, or in a political, governmental or regulatory context. Ideally, this experience has been built in travel, urbanism or technology.
• Detailed knowledge of the political landscape and legislative processes in the Czech Republic and Hungary is mandatory; knowledge of these in at least two more Central Eastern European countries is an asset
• Proven ability to build and sustain networks of influence across a broad range of stakeholders;
• Experience in managing resources and a tracked record of partnerships would be an advantage;
• Experience of managing complex projects with multiple stakeholders. Highly organised and able to stay on top of multiple projects simultaneously;
• First-rate personal, political, analytical and organisational skills;
• Proven ability to establish networks within political stakeholder communities on local, regional and/or national level;
• An eye for detail - with an ability to very quickly get up to speed on complex technical and regulatory issues;
• Excellent communicator with great interpersonal, writing and presentation skills;
• Ability to work independently as well as a team player in a multi-task work environment while producing the highest calibre work product in a timely manner;
• Self-starter with the ability to thrive in a fast moving and sometimes stressful environment;
• Candidates must speak fluent English and either Czech or Hungarian. Other Eastern European languages are an advantage. You must submit your application in English.
• Airbnb’s office in Germany is located in Berlin