---
title: 'Director, Public Policy at Perplexity'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/director-public-policy-perplexity-washington-sav38t03en4h'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-10-18'
---

# Director, Public Policy at Perplexity

- **Company:** [Perplexity](https://feeny.ai/companies/perplexity)
- **Location:** Washington, DC
- **Compensation:** $265k–$325k
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-10-15
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-10-18
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/perplexity/846e6848-dfb5-4f60-ac5d-5803f6a5e73d

## Job description

## About Perplexity

Perplexity helps people find answers, explore ideas and get things done with AI. As we grow, we want policymakers around the world to understand what we're building and how it works.

## Overview

We're hiring a Director, Public Policy as a founding member of our policy team. Based in Washington, D.C., this role will help build and scale our engagement with governments, regulators and policy communities worldwide. Ideal candidates have built this function before, not only operated within an established team. The role requires hands-on coordination and will help set policy priorities with company leadership. We will prioritize candidates who can demonstrate resourcefulness, persistence, and a willingness to work through the details to get things done. This role reports to the Senior Director, Product, Privacy & Regulatory Legal and will operationalize our public positions set by Comms and executive leadership.

## What you'll do

- Build the program. Turn company priorities into a global engagement plan, with clear market priorities, owners and measures of progress.
- Scale how we work. Establish stakeholder tracking, policy monitoring and briefing standards that keep a growing team coordinated across regions.
- Build relationships across markets. Engage policymakers, regulators, trade associations, think tanks and civil society in the U.S. and key international markets.
- Anticipate change. Listen closely to policymakers to understand current priorities and emerging debates. Use expertise and trusted relationships to identify risks and raise opportunities the company may not yet see.
- Lead advocacy. Advance approved company positions through direct engagement and coalitions, adapting to local contexts and applicable lobbying and ethics requirements.
- Advise leadership. Translate political and regulatory developments into business implications and recommendations. Bring intelligence back to Legal, Comms, Product and executives.
- Connect policy and communications. Inform and execute the strategy Comms and executive leadership set, with clear messages and coordinated engagement across markets.
- Build regional capacity. Coordinate external advisers and partners, recommend future hiring priorities, and develop colleagues as the team and its reach grow.
- Make engagement effective. Prepare leaders for government meetings and run briefings, roundtables and product demonstrations, with clear objectives and follow-through.

## What we're looking for

- At least 10 years of relevant experience in public policy, government affairs or legislative advocacy.
- A record of building and scaling a policy function, program or team, ideally at a growing technology company.
- Experience managing policy engagement across multiple jurisdictions, including the U.S. and at least one other major market.
- Experience representing a company, association or clients before government. Government service is strongly preferred.
- A network you've built yourself, and evidence that you can establish credibility and relationships in new markets.
- Strong writing and judgment. You can explain complex issues plainly, advise senior leaders and know when to escalate.
- A hands-on approach. You can write the brief, take the meeting and handle details while building for the next stage of growth.
- Experience coordinating internal teams and external advisers across regions, with clear priorities and accountability.

Bonus

- Experience hiring, managing or developing policy professionals.
- Experience with AI, privacy, competition, copyright or other technology policy issues.
- Experience on Capitol Hill, in the executive branch, or in a comparable government role outside the U.S.
- Registered lobbying experience and familiarity with lobbying disclosure and ethics requirements.

## About Perplexity

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Perplexity builds an AI-powered answer engine that delivers accurate, real-time answers to any question, serving curious minds and professionals who demand precision and speed.
- **Entity Type**: Private (total funding $1.7B across 16 rounds)
- **Headquarters**: San Francisco, California, United States
- **Founded**: 2022
- **Founders**: Aravind Srinivas, Denis Yarats, Johnny Ho, Andy Konwinski

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: AI-powered search and knowledge retrieval, Software Development
- **Target customers**: B2C (general users), B2B (enterprise API customers), and power users seeking reliable information
- **Mission**: “AI for people who expect more – more accuracy, more agency, more signal, less noise.”

## Products & Services
- **Perplexity AI (Free Tier)**: Real-time conversational search engine that synthesizes web results with citations, accessible via web and mobile app. *Type*: SaaS
- **Perplexity Pro**: Subscription offering enhanced features such as advanced AI models, multimodal search, and increased usage limits. *Type*: SaaS (subscription)
- **Perplexity API Platform**: Enables developers to integrate Perplexity’s search and reasoning capabilities into their own applications. *Type*: API
- **Perplexity Browser Extension**: Brings AI-powered search directly into the browser for quick answers without leaving the page. *Type*: Browser extension

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly available in provided sources (prior reports indicate ~$9B valuation as of 2024, but not confirmed in this data set)
- **Key Metric**: Total funding $1.7B (16 rounds); annual revenue ~$50M (LinkedIn estimate)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Not explicitly listed in provided search results; widely known investors include IVP, NEA, Jeff Bezos, and others (not sourced here)
- **Growth Signals**: Headcount grew 11.3% YoY to 1,152 employees; operates in 54 countries; LinkedIn followers grew 131.8% yearly to >1.6M; active hiring across 48+ open roles including AI Research, Engineering, and Go-to-Market teams

## Competitive Advantages
- **Real-time, cited answers**: Unlike traditional chatbots, Perplexity grounds answers in live web results with transparent sources, building trust and accuracy.
- **Multimodal and agentic capabilities**: Continuously pushes frontier research (e.g., query-aware context compression, agents for knowledge work) that differentiates from generic LLM interfaces.
- **Vertical integration from research to product**: In-house AI research team tackles open problems unique to Perplexity’s scale, enabling fast iteration on novel methods.
- **Strong brand and user base**: Rapid consumer adoption with millions of monthly active users and high engagement.

## Strategic Focus
- **Pushing the frontier of search**: Evolving from retrieval services to code generation, agents, and full autonomy in knowledge work.
- **Expanding enterprise and API revenue**: Growing B2B footprint with API platform and enterprise solutions.
- **Global hiring and office expansion**: Offices in San Francisco, Palo Alto, New York, Austin, Washington D.C., London, Berlin, and Belgrade, with “4 days in office” hybrid model.
- **Investing in AI research**: Dedicated research division (Perplexity Research) exploring reasoning, agents, and systems to redefine how people navigate the internet.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture & Environment**: “Thoughtful support” culture with emphasis on craftsmanship, ownership, entrepreneurship, scholarship, and partnership. Hybrid schedule (4 days in-office) based on location.
- **Perks**: Daily catered meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner in office), office snacks, ride home program, commuter benefits, home office reimbursement, fitness classes, gym memberships.
- **Compensation & Benefits**: Competitive salary and equity packages; retirement plans with company match; flexible PTO; holiday shutdown between Christmas and New Year; 12 weeks paid bonding leave; comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance.
- **Relocation & Visa Support**: Relocation assistance and visa/green card sponsorship for eligible roles. Partners with immigration firm to support the process.
- **Engineering Excellence**: “Technical assessment for relevant roles”; values hands-on contribution, broad skill sets, and merit-based evaluation. Frequent Tech Talks and exposure to greenfield AI research problems.

## Sources
1. [perplexity.ai/hub/careers](https://www.perplexity.ai/hub/careers)
2. [jobs.ashbyhq.com/perplexity](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/perplexity)
3. [perplexity.ai](https://www.perplexity.ai/)
4. [linkedin.com/company/perplexity-ai](https://www.linkedin.com/company/perplexity-ai)
5. [research.perplexity.ai](https://research.perplexity.ai/)

## Other roles at Perplexity

- [Member of Technical Staff (Software Engineer, Enterprise Trust & Governance)](https://feeny.ai/job/member-of-technical-staff-software-engineer-enterprise-trust-governance-gbjcrmcayx99) — San Francisco, CA
- [Member of Technical Staff (Android Engineer, Computer Growth)](https://feeny.ai/job/member-of-technical-staff-android-engineer-computer-growth-perplexity-san-r84vs4f1hj4h) — San Francisco, CA
- [Member of Technical Staff (iOS Engineer, Computer Growth)](https://feeny.ai/job/member-of-technical-staff-ios-engineer-computer-growth-perplexity-san-francisco-dk908ym84acw) — San Francisco, CA
- [Technical Recruiter, AI](https://feeny.ai/job/technical-recruiter-ai-perplexity-san-francisco-p8ayc06ej16g) — San Francisco, CA
- [Strategic Finance Lead - GTM](https://feeny.ai/job/strategic-finance-lead-gtm-perplexity-san-francisco-1st509eajqbt) — San Francisco, CA
- [Recruiting Coordinator](https://feeny.ai/job/recruiting-coordinator-perplexity-san-francisco-4x1rn32gh440) — San Francisco, CA
- [Commercial Sales Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/commercial-sales-manager-perplexity-new-york-aekr8evt7dy5) — New York, NY
- [Enterprise Sales Manager](https://feeny.ai/job/enterprise-sales-manager-perplexity-new-york-ytxkmp4pv896) — New York, NY
- [Member of Technical Staff (Search Crawler Analyst)](https://feeny.ai/job/member-of-technical-staff-search-crawler-analyst-perplexity-belgrade-q4eejfs3xf2b) — Belgrade, Serbia
- [Billing Operations Lead](https://feeny.ai/job/billing-operations-lead-perplexity-san-francisco-70wwr3wjxg7r) — San Francisco, CA