How a Series B Company Should Think About Its First Government Affairs Hire.
The window to build regulatory relationships before you need them closes faster than most growth-stage companies expect. By the time the commission proceeding is open, the groundwork should already exist.
There is a moment — usually six to eighteen months after a Series B close — where a technology company, cleantech developer, or infrastructure platform encounters government for the first time at scale. Not in the abstract, policy-discussion sense. In the concrete, proceeding-is-open, commission-has-jurisdiction, permit-is-pending sense.
When this moment arrives, the company’s standard response is to look for a lobbyist, start a search for a VP of Government Affairs, or retain a consulting firm that will staff the engagement with associates who know less about the specific regulatory environment than the company’s own engineers.
All of these are understandable responses. None of them address the actual problem — which is not that the company lacks representation. It is that the company lacks the relationship infrastructure that would have made representation effective.
“The commission is already in session. The legislative calendar is already set. The stakeholders who will determine the outcome have existing relationships with your competitors and no relationship with you. This is not a hiring problem. This is a timing problem.”
When Government Finds You vs. When You Should Have Found Government.
Series A → B
You have real regulatory exposure on the horizon but no active proceedings. This is the window. Build commissioner relationships before you need them. Map the stakeholder landscape before it maps you. Hire the GR function before the first FERC letter arrives.
✓ Proactive. Costs less. Works better.Series B → C
The regulatory environment has found you. A proceeding is open or imminent. You need GR capability immediately but don’t have the infrastructure, the relationships, or the 90-day search runway to find a full-time Director. This is the fractional moment.
⚡ Reactive. More expensive. Fractional solves it.Series C+
The proceeding is active. The intervenors are organized. The commission has already formed preliminary views. You are now building relationships you needed two years ago while simultaneously trying to manage an active docket. This is the most expensive version of the problem.
✗ Crisis mode. Costs the most. Outcomes uncertain.What the First Government Affairs Hire Actually Needs to Do.
Most job descriptions for a first GR hire read like a menu: lobbyist, policy analyst, communications lead, regulatory attorney, community relations manager. The organization does not know what it needs, so it lists everything and hopes the right person self-selects.
The actual need at Series B is more specific: a practitioner who can build the stakeholder map, establish the regulatory intelligence infrastructure, and develop the relationships that will give the company standing in the proceedings that are coming — whether the company is aware of them yet or not.
This is not a policy function. It is a government relations practitioner function. The distinction matters because policy people tell you what regulations mean. Government relations practitioners tell you how to influence what regulations say.
The Job Description That Gets You the Wrong Person vs. The One That Gets You the Right One.
| THE TYPICAL JD SAYS | WHAT IT ACTUALLY SIGNALS | WHAT TO SAY INSTEAD |
|---|---|---|
| “5-7 years of government affairs experience” | We don’t know what we need so we’re filtering by time served | “Has managed active commission proceedings and built stakeholder coalitions from scratch” |
| “Strong relationships on Capitol Hill” | We think government affairs means federal lobbying | “Understands the state regulatory environment where our capital is deployed” |
| “Excellent communicator and relationship builder” | We’re describing a personality, not a practitioner | “Can map a stakeholder landscape, identify gaps, and build a systematic engagement program” |
| “Will support government affairs strategy” | We expect this person to execute someone else’s thinking | “Will own the government affairs function and build it from the ground up” |
Fractional vs. Full-Time: The Honest Framework.
HIRE FULL-TIME WHEN
You have 12+ months before the first major regulatory proceeding
Your regulatory surface area spans multiple states and will only grow
You have the comp budget — $180K-$250K total — and a 90-day search runway
You need someone embedded full-time in the organization’s culture and operations
HIRE FRACTIONAL WHEN
A proceeding is open or imminent and you need principal-level expertise immediately
You need to build the function — the infrastructure, the relationships, the processes — before hiring a full-time director
Your regulatory exposure is real but not yet at the scale that justifies full-time overhead
You want to make the right full-time hire and need someone who knows what right looks like to define the role first
The Right First GR Hire Might Not Be a Hire.
Most Series B companies that think they need to hire a Director of Government Affairs actually need something different: principal-level GR leadership, embedded in the organization, building the function and the relationships — with a structured path to the right full-time hire when the timing is right.
That is what a fractional engagement provides. Not a consultant who attends strategy meetings and sends a summary. A practitioner who does the work, manages the relationships, represents the organization in proceedings, and builds the infrastructure that will outlast the engagement.
The organizations that get this right end up with a government affairs function that works. The ones that skip this step end up with a Director who spends their first year building what should have already existed.
“There is no government affairs candidate in this market who also built the relationship intelligence platform and the regulatory intelligence infrastructure their own industry runs on. When you’re ready to think about what that means for your organization — reach out directly.”
