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Open nowPosted 101 days ago

VP, U.S. Policy — Cognition

a16z portfolio7,337 open roles

Where
Washington DC, United States; Washington DC
Work mode
On site
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Your applicationOpen nowVP, U.S. Policy — Cognitiona16z portfolio · Washington DC, United States; Washington DC

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This job: posted 101 days ago

The posting

We are an applied AI lab building end-to-end software agents.

We're the makers of Devin, the first AI software engineer.

Our team is extremely talent-dense. Among our founding team, we have world-class competitive programmers, former founders, and leaders from companies at the cutting edge of AI including Scale AI, Palantir, Cursor, Waymo, Tesla, Lunchclub, Modal, Google DeepMind, and Nuro.

Building Devin is just the first step—our hardest challenges still lie ahead. If you’re excited to solve some of the world’s biggest problems and build AI that can reason on real-world tasks, apply to join us.

About the Role

AI is becoming central to economic competitiveness, national security, and how the U.S. government operates. The decisions policymakers make over the next few years (on procurement, workforce, compute, security standards, and federal adoption) will shape how software agents are deployed in the public and private sectors, and how the U.S. competes globally. Cognition needs a senior leader who can represent us in those conversations from day one.

We’re hiring a VP, U.S. Policy to build and lead Cognition’s public policy and government affairs function in the United States. You will own our policy strategy end-to-end: developing our positions, building trusted relationships across Congress, the Executive Branch, and federal agencies, and translating what our engineers are building into clear narratives that senior policymakers can act on.

This role sits at the intersection of technology, government, and company strategy. You’ll work directly with our founders, our Legal, Federal, GTM teams, and product leadership, and you’ll be the person who anticipates policy risks and opportunities before they reach us. This is a builder’s role: there is no existing playbook, no inherited team, and no shortage of surface area. Based in Washington DC, reporting to the Chief Legal and Global Affairs Officer.

Core Responsibilities

  • Own Cognition’s U.S. policy strategy – define our positions on AI, federal adoption, national security, workforce transformation, and technology competitiveness, and align them with company strategy
  • Industry Collaboration – lead engagement with Congress, the Executive Branch, regulators, and federal agencies, including direct advocacy and support for executive-level engagements
  • Regulatory Affairs – Monitor and analyze legislative, regulatory, and geopolitical developments in the U.S. and key international markets, and translate them into clear recommendations for leadership
  • Content and Communication – Produce the substance: policy positions, white papers, comment letters, briefing materials, and thought leadership that articulate a distinctive point of view
  • Represent Cognition externally in policy discussions, industry working groups, conferences, and strategic forums
  • Partner with engineering and product teams to bring policy signal back into product and roadmap decisions, and build the internal policy team as the function grows

What We Value

  • Builder mentality – you operate independently, build from scratch, and possess low ego - no problem is too small
  • Exceptional writing – you can produce a white paper, a one-pager for a member of Congress, and an internal strategy memo, and each will land with its audience
  • Communication – Ability to learn technical concepts quickly and explain them clearly to non-technical audiences
  • Focus on outcomes, with the judgment to navigate complex political environments and make calls in high-stakes, fast-moving situations
  • Ability to balance innovation, competitiveness, and responsible governance in the positions you take

Requirements

  • 10+ years in public policy, government affairs, national security, or technology policy – including time in Congress, the White House, a federal agency, a national security organization, or a leading policy institution
  • Sufficient facility with AI and its underlying technical concepts to communicate with engineers and policymakers alike
  • Strong command of U.S. government institutions, the legislative process, regulatory frameworks, and federal budgeting cycles
  • Established bipartisan relationships among policymakers, regulators, and agency leadership, and a track record of influencing senior stakeholders

You Might Excel If You...

  • Have advised senior government officials, executives, or technology leaders directly
  • Have worked on AI, cybersecurity, defense technology, cloud infrastructure, or emerging technology policy
  • Have built a policy function, or been the first policy hire, at a fast-growing technology company
  • Understand both public and private sector perspectives on innovation and regulation

Equal Opportunity

Cognition is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law. We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations for candidates with disabilities throughout the hiring process - please let us know if you need any.

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