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Salary: USD 265,000 - 295,000 / annual
Anthropic is seeking a Community Engagement Manager to serve as the company's on-the-ground presence in Virginia and West Virginia, where data centers are being sited, built, and operated. This is a relationship-focused role that bridges Anthropic's Policy and Infrastructure teams with local officials, community organizations, economic development partners, and residents.
Key responsibilities include:
- Building and maintaining trusted relationships with local government bodies (boards of supervisors, city/town councils, planning commissions, county commissions), state economic development agencies, community groups, civic leaders, educational institutions, and workforce partners
- Developing and executing community engagement strategies for each market, spanning site selection, pre-development, construction, and ongoing operations
- Building external coalitions, hosting education and listening sessions, and designing local solutions that deliver real community benefits
- Representing Anthropic in public forums, town halls, planning hearings, community events, and local media
- Monitoring community sentiment and local political dynamics, advising internal teams on risks, opportunities, and appropriate engagement pace and posture
- Partnering with Real Estate and Infrastructure teams to integrate community input into project planning and delivery
- Collaborating with Communications on locally relevant messaging
- Coordinating charitable giving, community investment, and economic development commitments, including managing nonprofit partnerships
- Partnering with Energy and Sustainability teams to address environmental stewardship questions (power, water, noise, transmission, land use)
- Building scalable community engagement playbooks and repeatable processes as Anthropic's infrastructure footprint expands
The role requires regular travel within Virginia and West Virginia (up to 50% of the time) and occasional travel to other Anthropic data center markets. You will work independently, manage multiple concurrent engagements across different markets, and help establish processes that will be used as the company expands to new regions.
Requirements:
- Experience in community affairs, public affairs, economic development, government relations, local or state government, or closely related field
- Direct experience working for or engaging with local governments and diverse community stakeholders on large infrastructure, construction, energy, or technology projects, with working understanding of local politics and community dynamics
- Demonstrated ability to build and maintain trusted relationships with diverse stakeholders and navigate difficult conversations
- Ability to represent a company credibly in public settings (town halls, hearings, press interviews)
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, including ability to translate complex operational plans into plain language
- Ability to work independently, get up to speed quickly on complex policy issues, and manage multiple concurrent engagements
- Based in Virginia or West Virginia or willing to relocate, with readiness to travel regularly across both states
- Bachelor's degree or equivalent combination of education, training, and professional experience
Preferred qualifications:
- 7+ years of experience in community engagement on data center, utility, energy, or large-scale industrial infrastructure projects, or in local government
- Familiarity with land use, zoning, and permitting processes at county and municipal level, including rezoning and special use permit hearings in Virginia
- Experience with community concerns around data center siting (noise, transmission lines, water, proximity to residential areas)
- Experience managing corporate social responsibility programs
- Established relationships with economic development, workforce, or civic organizations in the target markets, particularly in Appalachian and energy-transition communities
- Experience working with real estate, legal, communications, and policy teams simultaneously
- Genuine interest in the communities where you work, not just the projects you manage
