Strategic Affairs Manager, EMEA

Overview

You're the government affairs and public policy lead for Instructure across EMEA. Your job is to monitor education policy changes, build relationships with national and regional education officials, support the sales team on public sector deals, and make sure Instructure is compliant with evolving regulations (data privacy, accessibility, procurement rules). You're part strategic advisor, part lobbyist, part sales enablement.

Role Snapshot

Company Context

Stage: Public company (KKR-owned, 2,000+ employees)

Size: 2,166 employees

Growth: Expanding government and business segments beyond core higher ed market

Market Position: Leader in higher ed LMS (Canvas), pushing into K-12 and government markets internationally

GTM Reality

This isn't a sales role, but you directly support revenue by:

• Helping AEs navigate government procurement processes (tenders, frameworks, compliance requirements)
• Building relationships that open doors for sales teams
• Positioning Instructure favorably in policy discussions that affect EdTech purchasing
• Ensuring product/company compliance with regional regulations (GDPR, accessibility standards, data localization)

Who You Work With:

• EMEA sales team (AEs selling to government and public education)
• Product and legal teams (on compliance and feature requirements)
• Marketing (on messaging for public sector)
• External: government education ministries, EU officials, trade associations, industry groups

Competitive Landscape

Main Competitors in EMEA Public Sector: Moodle (open-source, popular in Europe), Blackboard, D2L Brightspace, Microsoft Teams for Education, Google Classroom

Policy Landscape: GDPR, digital education initiatives (EU Digital Education Action Plan), national ed-tech procurement frameworks, accessibility regulations (EN 301 549)

Challenges: Some countries prefer open-source or EU-based vendors, procurement processes favor incumbent vendors, price sensitivity in public education budgets

What You'll Actually Do

Time Breakdown

Relationship Building (40%) | Policy Monitoring (25%) | Sales Support (20%) | Internal Coordination (15%)

Key Activities

• Stakeholder engagement: You're attending education conferences, meeting with ministry officials, joining industry working groups, and building relationships with decision-makers and influencers in EMEA education policy. Lots of travel pre-COVID, now a mix of virtual and in-person.
• Policy tracking and analysis: Monitoring legislative changes, procurement frameworks, funding programs (e.g., EU education funding), and regulatory developments. Writing internal briefs on what it means for Instructure's business.
• Sales enablement: Briefing AEs on how to navigate a specific country's procurement process, providing talking points for data privacy questions, connecting sales to the right government contacts, sometimes joining customer meetings.
• Compliance coordination: Working with product and legal to ensure Canvas meets regional requirements (GDPR compliance, accessibility standards, data residency). Flagging gaps and pushing for roadmap prioritization.

The Honest Reality

What's Hard

• Government and policy work is slow—relationship-building takes years, and policy changes don't always align with company priorities or timelines
• You're often in a reactive mode—responding to regulatory changes, procurement requirements, or sales team fire drills
• EMEA is incredibly fragmented (different languages, regulations, procurement processes by country), so you can't take a one-size-fits-all approach
• Success is hard to measure—did your relationship open a door, or would sales have won anyway? Did your policy input prevent a problem or just create busy work?
• You're pulled in many directions—sales wants immediate help, product wants strategic input, leadership wants proof of ROI

What Success Looks Like

• Instructure gets on approved vendor lists or framework agreements (e.g., UK G-Cloud, national education procurement frameworks)
• Sales team wins competitive government deals where your relationships or intel made a difference
• Product stays ahead of compliance requirements (no scrambling to fix GDPR or accessibility issues)
• You're a trusted voice in EMEA EdTech policy circles (invited to speak, quoted in articles, consulted by policymakers)

Who You're Working With

Internal Stakeholders:

• EMEA sales leaders and AEs (your main customers—they need your help winning public sector deals)
• Product and engineering (to advocate for compliance features)
• Legal and privacy teams (on regulatory interpretation)
• Marketing (on public sector messaging and thought leadership)

External Stakeholders:

• National education ministry officials (various countries across EMEA)
• EU education and digital policy staff
• Education trade associations and industry groups
• Procurement officials and framework administrators
• Sometimes: university CIOs, K-12 district IT leaders (in a policy/advocacy capacity, not sales)

What They Care About:

• Government officials: Student data privacy, vendor accountability, value for money, supporting local/EU companies
• Sales team: Faster deal cycles, help navigating procurement red tape, competitive intel, executive intros
• Product/Legal: Clear requirements, avoiding compliance issues, prioritizing what matters vs. what's nice-to-have

Requirements

• Deep understanding of EMEA education policy landscape (ideally from previous government affairs, public sector sales, or policy roles)
• Experience working with national or EU-level policymakers
• Strong relationship-building and stakeholder management skills
• Ability to translate policy developments into business implications
• Comfortable working across cultures and countries (EMEA is not monolithic)
• Strong written communication for policy briefs and internal updates
• Willingness to travel across EMEA (likely 30-40% of the time)
• Remote role, UK-based