Microsoft’s Corporate, External and Legal Affairs (CELA) Department has an immediate opening in Seoul for a senior and highly experienced professional to be the lead in government affairs and policy in Korea. The collective mission of the team is to anticipate and manage policy issues impacting Microsoft’s business in Korea; to proactively work with Microsoft’s business to create and support market opportunities; and to demonstrate Microsoft’s commitment to being a responsible and engaged organization that contributes to local ecosystems and supports our customers and partners in the market. The successful candidate will lead the team to actively monitor the policy and regulatory issues relevant to our business in Korea, develop a comprehensive strategic plan to support Microsoft’s business objectives and drive focused and timely execution.

Central to this role will be the close collaboration and deep partnerships with internal Microsoft teams and regional and Corp-based resources, including the Global Government Affairs team, the US Government Affairs team and other functional teams and subject matter experts around the globe. The role will support all Microsoft business units in Korea – with a deep focus on the enterprise and public sector businesses – and will play a key role in advising and working with the Korea Leadership Team.  

Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. As employees we come together with a growth mindset, innovate to empower others, and collaborate to realize our shared goals. Each day we build on our values of respect, integrity, and accountability to create a culture of inclusion where everyone can thrive at work and beyond.

Strategic Planning and Execution

A key function of the role will be to lead, coordinate, and orchestrate the development and execution of a high impact, issue-specific regulatory or policy strategy that advances the business interests of Microsoft in Korea. The ability to strategize and develop effective outreach plans tailored to the unique local circumstances will be crucial, as will be the ability to help oversee related campaigns as required. The role also requires the ability to respond to regulatory and legislative issues that arise from time to time and to proactively monitor and mitigate risk and crisis issues as they arise.

Stakeholder Management

Within the complex political and regulatory environment in Korea, the role will be responsible for identifying, developing, and nurturing the relationships with central, provincial, and local governments and their agencies to protect Microsoft’s interests and position Microsoft as a responsible participant in the domestic IT ecosystem. Responsibilities in this area will also include developing and advancing appropriate relationships with industry bodies, policy think-tanks, civil society groups, academia, and media and orchestrating the overall engagement across Microsoft internal stakeholders to advance the company’s interests most effectively.

Trusted Advisor

The role will play a key and trusted advisory role to the leadership in Korea. Responsibilities will include working with the Area Vice President to align and integrate engagement and outreach strategies, aligning with business segment leads to help them identify and advance business opportunities in the public sector and regulated industries, and to keep the business leadership appraised as to relevant regulatory, legislative and political trends and risks. The role will also be required to engage and support the communications and marketing teams to align on key messages and talking points in response to external issues and demands. 

Advocacy

The role will often be called upon to be a lead spokesperson and contributor to external discourse on a wide range of issues and initiatives related to Microsoft’s business, regulatory and policy work across our priority industries. The role will spend time speaking at public fora and with media and analysts.  Working with the regional legal, industry and government affairs team, he/she will also contribute to publications, blogs, and whitepapers and be a regular speaker at customer and company events.

Compliance

In a dynamic external environment, the role will be an advocate and leader for the ethics and compliance standards of the company both with respect to ensuring compliance in the conduct of all external and engagement activities and, as importantly, in supporting the advocacy positions of the company in areas such as the responsible use of AI, the protections of the use of personal data and human rights.