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Key details
Why this role is notable
Stripe is standing up a new in-house AI policy function in Washington, signaling that it expects AI regulation to materially shape the payments and commerce infrastructure it sells, and that it wants to shape those rules rather than just react to them.
Job Description
Who we are
About Stripe
Stripe is a financial infrastructure platform for businesses. Millions of companies - from the world’s largest enterprises to the most ambitious startups - use Stripe to accept payments, grow their revenue, and accelerate new business opportunities. Our mission is to increase the GDP of the internet, and we have a staggering amount of work ahead. That means you have an unprecedented opportunity to put the global economy within everyone's reach while doing the most important work of your career.
About the team
Stripe is building the economic infrastructure that makes it easier for entrepreneurs and companies across the globe to grow their businesses. We are establishing a new function within our Washington, DC Government Relations & Public Affairs team and seeking an experienced professional with demonstrated expertise in Artificial Intelligence and policy advocacy to join our team and further Stripe’s mission. Stripes on the Government Relations & Public Affairs team operate in a fast-paced internal and external environment that requires collaborating with teams across our organization and with outside stakeholders. The culture is thoughtful, transparent, academically rigorous, and kind.
What you’ll do
As AI becomes central to how businesses are built and run, businesses like Stripe face a new set of questions: how infrastructure for AI should operate, what responsibilities sit at the infrastructure layer, and how to keep that infrastructure open, secure, and trusted. We are seeking to work with a colleague who combines substantive AI-policy knowledge with the interpersonal skills to earn trust with policymakers. You will help officials understand the nuances of frontier technology and develop practical policy proposals that support innovation while addressing legitimate concerns about security, privacy, and misuse. This role will sit in the DC-metro area. We are not open to remote or travel candidates at this time.
Responsibilities
- External Advocacy: Establish trusted working relationships with congressional offices and administration officials across political parties. Lead engagement with internal stakeholders alongside the Federal and State GR teams to recommend advocacy priorities for Stripe’s AI-policy portfolio, connecting developments in Congress and the executive branch to the needs of Stripe, and the businesses and developers they serve. Connect AI-infrastructure policy to Stripe's work in payments and agentic commerce, and share relevant US developments with international government relations colleagues. Keep clear records of engagements, decisions, and follow-up so the team can judge progress against its policy goals.
- Policy Acumen: Examine Federal and State legislation, proposed regulations, and government guidance on model access, AI governance, privacy, cybersecurity, and accountability. Recommend specific changes and turn those recommendations into achievable advocacy plans. Working with the Policy team, this role will assist in the development of our positions on competition, interoperability, and access to proprietary and open-weight models, informed by the practical needs of developers and businesses of different sizes.
- Strategic Leadership: Assess how national-security policy, export restrictions, cross-border data rules, and the treatment of models developed outside the United States could affect an AI platform offering access to multiple providers. Work with legal and technical colleagues to separate established requirements from unresolved questions. Recognize when an emerging controversy or government inquiry requires a rapid response. Bring together the right colleagues, establish the facts, and help leaders choose a proportionate course of action.
- Collaboration: Work with product, engineering, legal, privacy, security, and communications colleagues to understand operational realities before making policy recommendations or external commitments. Help the organization reach decisions when priorities differ. Find common ground with other companies, trade associations, researchers, and public-interest organizations. Build support for specific policy outcomes without losing sight of where interests diverge.
- Thought Leadership: Write concise policy recommendations, meeting briefs, regulatory submissions, and executive preparation materials. Make clear recommendations on decisions or actions required.
Who you are
We're looking for someone who meets the minimum requirements to be considered for the role. If you meet these requirements, you are encouraged to apply. The preferred qualifications are a bonus, not a requirement.
Minimum requirements
- At least 8 years of relevant work in government, public policy, government relations, or technology advocacy, including meaningful responsibility for AI or closely related technology-policy issues.
- A record of influencing federal policy through work in Congress, the executive branch, a technology company, or another organization engaged in substantive Washington advocacy. You should understand how decisions are made and how to move a proposal from analysis to action.
- Personal credibility with officials and staff, supported by examples of earning trust, sustaining relationships, and working effectively with people whose political or policy views differ from your own.
- Sufficient technical knowledge to discuss foundation models, inference, APIs, model and provider selection, and open-weight ecosystems with product teams and government officials.
- Evidence of strong policy judgment: identifying what matters in a proposal, anticipating unintended effects, and developing alternatives that are technically workable and persuasive to government decision-makers.
- The interpersonal range to brief a senior official, ask a careful question of an engineer, manage disagreement with a colleague, and maintain a productive conversation when the stakes are high. Listening, discretion, and dependable follow-through matter as much as presentation skills.
- Writing style that helps people make decisions. You should be able to explain a complicated policy issue accurately, distinguish evidence from advocacy, and make a clear recommendation without unnecessary jargon.
- Familiarity with the issues most relevant to AI platforms: data protection, security, platform responsibility, model availability, competition, and national-security restrictions. You should also be able to develop expertise in unfamiliar areas as priorities change.
- Curiosity about how developers and businesses use AI, an interest in Stripe's mission, and the humility to revise a position when the evidence changes. Experience in AI infrastructure, cloud services, or financial technology would be useful, but is not a substitute for strong policy and relationship skills.
- The ability to work from Washington, DC and travel as needed for government meetings, team collaboration, and policy events.
