Head of Government Affairs, Middle East

About the role

Microsoft's Corporate, External and Legal Affairs (CELA) unit is looking for a Head of Government Affairs for the Middle East to support innovation, drive the diffusion of artificial intelligence and build trust with key external stakeholders. The role leads the CELA Middle East team and advises the Middle East Area Vice President and the wider Microsoft Customer & Partner Solutions (MCAPS) team, reporting to the VP & Deputy General Counsel for EMEA.

Key responsibilities

• Lead, manage and coach a team of government affairs specialists and other business professionals, and coordinate a wider community of CELA professionals focused on the Middle East.
• Support cloud and AI adoption and public policy engagement, promoting an enabling public policy environment for digital services, digital markets, data and AI.
• Develop and run public affairs and external communications campaigns that influence public policy debates and build trust with communities in the Middle East.
• Coordinate legal services support for sales teams and help customers' digital transformation.
• Act as a trusted advisor to the Middle East Area Vice President and join the MCAPS Middle East leadership team.
• Serve as the primary CELA representative on the MCAPS compliance committee and contribute to CELA EMEA leadership strategy.
• Manage the CELA Middle East budget and coordinate strategic advisors, outside counsel and vendors.

Required profile

• Graduate degree in political science, public policy, law or a related field.
• Extensive experience managing complex regulatory, government affairs, public affairs, legal or policy matters.
• Demonstrated experience leading teams and advising senior executives in matrixed organisations.
• People leadership experience coaching and developing high-performing teams.
• Fluent written, reading and conversational Arabic and English, as business and customer communications are in both languages.

Preferred qualifications

• Spokesperson experience with public and private sector leaders.
• Medium-to-long-term strategy and advocacy campaign execution.
• Program management and prioritisation skills.
• Strong ethical standards, integrity and inclusive leadership.