Director of Public Policy

A public-spirited entrepreneur to create and lead the government affairs function as KoBold builds public- and private-sector partnerships, enters new jurisdictions, makes discoveries, grows new companies, and opens many new critical minerals mines worldwide.

About the Company

KoBold Metals is a mineral exploration company inventing AI to explore for the metals we need for a low-carbon economy. Our business is discovering and developing mineral resources, and our objective is to achieve a step-change improvement in exploration success: we aim to discover more tier 1 resources, faster, and with fewer failures.

KoBold has built a fast-growing global portfolio of more than 50 exploration properties targeting nickel, copper, cobalt, and lithium, in Zambia, Namibia, Australia, Canada, Greenland, and the U.S., with evaluation of more opportunities in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Botswana underway.  We work closely with governments to advance the widely-acknowledged imperative to secure critical minerals.

Our team includes the best of the industry in exploration geoscience, data science, software engineering, operations, and business. Prior to joining KoBold, our team members made nearly 20 discoveries. Our exploration programs are co-led by our geoscientists and data scientists, who develop exploration hypotheses, rigorously quantify uncertainty in our understanding of the subsurface, and design data collection programs that most effectively reduce uncertainty, drawing upon a large suite of proprietary exploration technology built by our data scientists and software engineers. Our field programs validate and improve the system and have demonstrated material improvements over conventional exploration methods.

KoBold is privately held, and our investors include: institutional asset managers T. Rowe Rice and Canada Pension Plan Investments; technology venture capitalists Andreessen Horowitz, Bill Gates’s Breakthrough Energy Ventures, BOND Capital, Standard Investments, and Sam Altman’s Apollo Projects; and leading natural resources companies Equinor, Mitsubishi, and BHP.

Responsibilities

Be the primary face of the company to governments around the world

• Uphold KoBold’s ethical commitments in every interaction with government
• Be a daily contact with public officials and staff around the world

Lead our government engagement and political risk strategy:

• Find and strengthen areas of alignment between the priorities of KoBold, governments, and the public and create and drive initiatives to advance these shared priorities
• Monitor and assess major risks and opportunities facing KoBold from the perspective of how governments and geopolitical developments influence those opportunities and risks
• Serve as a key member of the team assessing whether, when, and how to enter or exit jurisdictions

Advance KoBold’s interests in the jurisdictions where we operate

• Accelerate government approvals of KoBold work
• Secure financing for KoBold projects from public loans or grants
• Prevent government expropriation of KoBold assets
• Work with public partners to develop shared-use infrastructure such as roads, rail, and power

Build a strong government affairs function that’s tightly integrated in the business:

• Oversee government affairs resources for KoBold, such as consultants and staff
• Work as a key member of many KoBold teams, including global company planning, regional and national leadership, strategic partnerships, and leadership of specific development projects and exploration campaigns
• Work across the company to set high standards of ethics and transparency, with a focus on safety, anti-corruption, community support, environmental protection, anti-discrimination, and integrity
• Support and coordinate with KoBold’s legal, communications, and community engagement teams
• Build and maintain systems to create order out of chaos
• Work on whatever needs to be done

Qualifications

The candidate must have:

• Substantial experience serving in government
• A decade of professional experience engaging with public policy important to a global critical minerals company, including international experience
• Knowledge of the critical minerals industry
• A proven record of entrepreneurial initiative to create new opportunities
• A compulsion to move fast
• A strong professional network and skills to build relationships for the company
• Desire to work in a science company where inventing new technology is the key to long-term success
• Desire to work in a global company and learn many different business environments
• Strong ability to learn and solve new problems continuously
• Commitment to be a leader in setting a high standard of ethics

Helpful qualifications include:

• Experience with officials, companies, and critical minerals issues in KoBold’s priority regions, including Southern Africa
• Fluency in French
• Active U.S. government security clearance

KoBold Metals is an equal opportunity workplace and an affirmative action employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunities for people of any race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, or veteran status.

This position is full-time, exempt.

Salary range: $180,000 to $240,000 + stock options

Location: Remote, anywhere in the U.S.

Travel is required.  The Director of Public Policy will report to the General Counsel.

Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the U.S.