Head of Public Policy

🚀 Join the Future of Commerce with Whatnot! 

Whatnot is the largest livestream shopping platform in North America and Europe to buy, sell, and discover the things you love. We’re re-defining e-commerce by blending community, shopping, and entertainment into a community just for you. As a remote co-located team, we’re inspired by innovation and anchored in our values. With hubs in the US, UK, Ireland, Poland, and Germany, we’re building the future of online marketplaces—together.

From fashion, beauty, and electronics to rare collectibles like trading cards, comic books, and even live plants, our live auctions have something for everyone.

And we’re just getting started! As one of the fastest growing marketplaces, we’re looking for bold, forward-thinking problem solvers across all functional areas. Check out the latest Whatnot updates on our news and engineering blogs and join us as we enable anyone to turn their passion into a business, and bring people together through commerce.

💻 Role 

The Head of Public Policy is responsible for creating and maintaining Whatnot’s public policy engagement strategy; facilitating relationships across various governing bodies, authorities, commissions and councils, the purpose of which is to represent and further Whatnot’s interests.

The Head of Public Policy will report to the Whatnot General Counsel and help establish and direct policies, corporate strategies and objectives involving local, state, and federal/national government affairs. As part of this role, the Head of Public Policy will lead in the analysis of proposed legislation and treaties globally, as well as determine potential impact(s) on Whatnot and develop strategy and appropriate responses accordingly. For example, the Head of Public Policy will:

Develop Whatnot’s public policy program and approach to engagement with US and European lawmakers, regulatory authorities, governments, councils and commissions.

• Develop Whatnot’s public policy program and approach to engagement with US and European lawmakers, regulatory authorities, governments, councils and commissions.
• Monitor and report on key developments in tech regulation and policy across all jurisdictions, including the United States and EU.
• Advise senior leaders of the implications of emerging technology policy and regulatory proposals. 
• Partner with leadership and other stakeholders across Whatnot to address policy-related matters, including the implications of emerging technology trends, proposed legislation and regulatory proposals.
• Collaborate with teams across Whatnot to educate and influence emerging regulatory and policy proposals on topics such as: e-commerce, marketplace regulation, user generated content, antitrust/competition, privacy and security.
• Lead the analysis of proposed legislative actions and the development of responses on behalf of Whatnot, including responses to inquiries or calls for submissions from legislative bodies or government regulators.

 Team members in this role are required to be within commuting distance of our Los Angeles, CA, San Francisco, CA, or New York, NY hubs.

👋 You 

Curious about who thrives at Whatnot? We’ve found that embodying a low ego, growth mindset, and high-impact drive goes a long way here.

As our next Head of Public Policy you should have (12+ years of public policy and/or government affairs experience, in-house experience preferred), plus:

• Proven experience with direct lobbying and ability to conceive and execute policy campaigns, both in the United States and other jurisdictions including the European Union.
• Strong familiarity with emerging technology public policy trends in the areas of e-commerce, social media, user generated content, cybersecurity, privacy, antitrust/competition and law enforcement access.
• The ability to articulate complex regulatory and policy matters into easily understood language.
• Adept ability to work with other industry representatives to build coalitions and form strategic relationships.
• A keen understanding of policy and legislative processes and dynamics within the U.S. Government and Congress; and the operation of the European Union (Parliament, Council and Commission).
• Strong project management capabilities including planning, prioritizing and execution.
• You are comfortable operating on a small team and will get in the weeds to produce results in a highly ambiguous environment. You are scrappy and no job is too small.
• Capable of building strong relationships cross functionally at all levels across Whatnot

💰Compensation

For US-based applicants: $275,000/year to $380,000/year + benefits + equity.

The salary range may be inclusive of several levels that would be applicable to the position. Final salary will be based on a number of factors including, level, relevant prior experience, skills, and expertise. This range is only inclusive of base salary, not benefits (more details below) or equity.

🎁 Benefits 

• Flexible Time off Policy and Company-wide Holidays (including a spring and winter break)
• Health Insurance options including Medical, Dental, Vision
• Work From Home Support
  • Home office setup allowance
  • Monthly allowance for cell phone and internet
• Care benefits
  • Monthly allowance for wellness
  • Annual allowance towards Childcare
  • Lifetime benefit for family planning, such as adoption or fertility expenses
• Retirement; 401k offering for Traditional and Roth accounts in the US (employer match up to 4% of base salary) and Pension plans internationally
• Monthly allowance to dogfood the app
  • We expect all employees to actively use the product!
• Parental Leave
  • 16 weeks of paid parental leave + one month gradual return to work *company leave allowances run concurrently with country leave requirements which take precedence.

💛 EOE 

Whatnot is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We value diversity, and we do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, parental status, disability status, or any other status protected by local law. We believe that our work is better and our company culture is improved when we encourage, support, and respect the different skills and experiences represented within our workforce.