Director, Public Affairs – Canada

The Director Public Affairs (Canada) serves as Mars lead for public affairs in Canada working in close partnership with the One Mars Corporate Affairs lead and in collaboration with each business unit to ensure alignment with public policy issues that impact market priorities. The role reports directly into the North America Government Relations Service Center (GRSC) to ensure consistency of messaging strategy and execution across regional national and local-level public affairs.

A central responsibility is to lead advocacy strategy development and implementation on business-critical Canadian policy issues working closely with the market Corporate Affairs teams and other relevant functions. The role plays a vital role in shaping Canadas positions on both domestic and international policy issues both directly and through trade association ensuring Mars priorities are understood early and reflected in policy actions. The Director builds and maintains senior relationships with policymakers regulators and relevant policy stakeholders and provides senior counsel across segments.

• Undergraduate degree required advanced degree in Public Policy Political Science Law International Relations or a related field preferred.
• Minimum 10 years of Public Affairs experience ideally with a mix of government corporate and/or industry association roles.
• Proven experience working within complex multi-national organizations and highly matrixed teams.

Canadian Public Affairs

• Lead monitoring and analysis of political and economic conditions in Canada to counsel internal business stakeholders on development risks and opportunities.
• Lead public affairs strategy development and engagement on domestic and international policies relevant to enterprise or segment priorities in close partnership with the One Mars Corporate Affairs lead the North American GRSC and in collaboration with relevant functional colleagues.
• Assess and communicate implications of fiscal environmental industrial and consumer policies on Mars operations.

Influence & Strategy

• Shape and influence positions on priority policy issues (e.g. trade circular economy & packaging sustainability frameworks food policy) ensuring Mars enterprise priorities are understood early and reflected in legislation and regulation at the national and local levels.
• Provide early intelligence analysis and strategic advice on Canadian government priorities political dynamics and regulatory trends with implications for Mars operating environment.

Stakeholder Engagement & Representation

• Represent Mars in key Canadian trade associations (including FHCP PFAC and IE Canada) ensuring aligned and proactive positions.
• Represent Mars at senior-level engagements with ministries agencies parliament and relevant stakeholder organizations.

Build and maintain senior relationships with:

• Key ministries (Economy Agriculture/Food Health Environment etc.)
• Legislators and key policy staff at all levels of government.
• Regulatory agencies.
• Industry associations and relevant NGOs.
• Foreign embassies.
• Academia and Think Tank Community.

Internal Leadership & Alignment

• Partner closely with the One Mars Corporate Affairs and segment CA teams (Petcare Snacking Food) as well as relevant functional team in each segment.
• Work directly with the North America Government Relations Service Center (GRSC) to ensure sequencing and coherence of regional and national engagement.
• Provide clear timely internal communication on political developments and advocacy plans.
• Contribute to enterprise-wide strategies for external engagement reputation and policy positioning.

• Work with diverse and talented Associates all guided by the Five Principles.

• Join a purpose driven company where were striving to build the world we want tomorrow today.

• Best-in-class learning and development support from day one including access to our in-house Mars University.

• An industry competitive salary and benefits package including company bonus.

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