Vice President, Government Relations & Public Policy

Who You Are: (Job Summary) 

You are a strategic, pragmatic public policy leader with deep experience navigating complex, multi-jurisdictional policy environments. You understand how European Union institutions, the UK government, and national and regional authorities shape outcomes for large-scale infrastructure investment.

You bring credibility, judgment, and precision to politically sensitive and highly regulated environments. You own and translate policy developments into business-relevant insight and focus relentlessly on outcomes, lowering risk, increasing certainty, and creating durable competitive advantage for QTS.

What You Will Do: (Job Responsibilities) 

As VP, Government Relations & Public Policy, you will own and lead QTS’s European government relations and public policy agenda across the European Union, the United Kingdom, and priority regional and local jurisdictions. You will shape policy and regulatory conditions that enable QTS’s European growth strategy, support market entry and expansion, protect development timelines, and reduce risk across major infrastructure investments. Serving as a trusted advisor to senior leadership and as QTS’ senior European representative on public policy matters, you will influence external stakeholders, align closely with Blackstone Government Relations, and orchestrate cross-functional engagement across internal teams.
 

European & UK Strategy and Advocacy

• Develop and execute QTS’s government relations and public policy strategy across the European Union, the United Kingdom, and relevant national and regional jurisdictions.

• Lead engagement on European and UK initiatives to expand domestic compute capacity, including programs, incentives, and regulatory frameworks designed to accelerate digital infrastructure growth.

• Advocate for QTS priorities before EU institutions, UK government departments and regulators, and national and regional governments in key markets.

• Anticipate and interpret EU directives and regulations, UK legislation, and member state policies related to data center standards, data localization and compute sovereignty, energy markets, water use, permitting, sustainability, taxation, and AI infrastructure.
 

Policy Development and Thought Leadership

• Lead development of policy positions, briefing materials, consultation responses, and executive communications, particularly on issues tied to European digital infrastructure expansion.

• Provide strategic insight on key policy debates including compute sovereignty, data governance, sustainability requirements, and resource constraints such as power and water availability.

• Translate complex EU and UK policy developments into clear, actionable insights for internal teams and senior leadership.

• Partner with Legal, Energy, Development, Finance, and Economic Development teams to ensure alignment between policy positions and business priorities.
 

Stakeholder and Relationship Management

• Build and maintain relationships with EU policymakers, UK ministers and officials, national governments, regulators, and regional authorities in priority markets.

• Represent QTS in European and UK trade associations, coalitions, and industry groups, particularly those shaping policy related to digital infrastructure growth, sustainability, and sovereignty.

• Coordinate closely with Blackstone Government Relations to ensure consistent engagement strategies and aligned messaging across shared priorities.

• Manage and coordinate external advisors and advocacy partners across multiple jurisdictions to ensure disciplined, high-impact engagement.
 

Cross-Functional Integration

• Work closely with internal teams to align European and UK engagement strategies with broader global government relations efforts.

• Support data center development projects by proactively identifying and addressing policy risks and opportunities across EU, UK, and member state frameworks.

• Provide forward-looking analysis on emerging issues, including compute capacity expansion objectives, evolving data center standards, grid constraints, and water resource policy.
 

Governance and Compliance

• Ensure compliance with lobbying, transparency, and ethics requirements across the EU, UK, and relevant jurisdictions.

• Support internal governance, reporting, and coordination of government relations activities across Europe.

What You Will Need to Be Successful:  (Required Qualifications, Education, Experience, Certifications) 

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent professional experience in public policy, government, law, or a related field.
• Significant experience (typically 13+ years) in government relations, public policy, or regulatory affairs in Europe and/or the United Kingdom.
• Demonstrated experience advancing policy outcomes in complex, multi-level governance systems.

Other Key Skills: (KSAs)   

• Deep understanding of EU institutional processes and UK legislative and regulatory frameworks.
• Familiarity with national and regional policymaking across key EU member states.
• Experience engaging on issues such as digital infrastructure growth, industrial policy, energy and water policy, and data governance.
• Strong policy judgment with the ability to balance advocacy, credibility, and long-term relationship building.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills; ability to brief senior executives with clarity and precision.
• Proven ability to work cross-functionally in a fast-paced, growth-oriented environment.
• High degree of integrity, discretion, and professionalism.

The duties and responsibilities described here are not exhaustive and additional assignments, duties, or responsibilities may be required of this position.  Assignments, duties, and responsibilities may be changed at any time, with or without notice, by QTS in its sole discretion. We provide individuals with disabilities reasonable accommodations to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment in accordance with applicable law. Please contact us to request an accommodation on [email protected]