Head of External Affairs

Carbon3.ai is an emerging AI infrastructure start-up building next-generation data centres and high-performance compute environments to power AI, LLM training, and cloud-scale workloads, powered by renewable energy, rooted in sovereign capability, and designed to give enterprises and innovators the compute they need. Backed by leading investors, we are rapidly expanding our site development pipeline, engineering capabilities, and commercial partnerships.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead corporate and external affairs activity for major sites, shaping stakeholder engagement strategies aligned with broader company goals.
• Gain a deep understanding of the needs & priorities of local communities, governments, key partners and stakeholders.
• Shape Carbon3’s regional offering, leveraging stakeholder insight, supporting initiatives to align company activities with the needs & priorities of local communities, governments & key partners.
• Manage relationships with key stakeholders including local and devolved governments, universities, community groups, cross-party groups, and other influential partners.
• Reframe and tailor communications to ensure language is appropriately calibrated for diverse audiences, including shadow government and politically sensitive stakeholders.
• Monitor landscapes surrounding each site, policy developments, planning requirements, energy constraints, and relevant news, and provide strategic insight to internal teams.
• Support efforts to secure increased power capacity for sites, working closely with internal energy and infrastructure teams and engaging effectively with Regional Power Networks.
• Maintain oversight of local press and communications activity, ensuring timely intelligence-sharing with the Carbon3 team.
• Develop a strong understanding of local policy environments, stakeholder relationships, and community expectations to anticipate opportunities and risks.
• Act as a cross-functional link between the strategy team and energy/infrastructure functions, ensuring integrated planning and cohesive external engagement.
• Stay up to date with regulatory changes, network reform, and policy shifts that impact energy access, infrastructure development, and local operations.
• Support the broader policy and public affairs team bringing experience and learnings to bear on strategic decisions and prioritisation.

Previous Experience

• Proven experience in corporate affairs, external relations, public affairs, or stakeholder engagement, ideally within infrastructure, energy, planning, or large-site operations.
• Demonstrated ability to manage complex stakeholder networks, including local and devolved government bodies, community organisations, universities, and political groups.
• Track record of working with or within regulated sectors, with exposure to energy systems, planning processes, or infrastructure development.
• Experience shaping communications and messaging for politically sensitive audiences, including shadow government or cross-party stakeholders.
• Background in monitoring policy, regulatory changes, and regional developments, and translating insights into actionable recommendations for senior teams.
• Experience collaborating with press, media, or communications teams to ensure aligned messaging and proactive issue management.
• Evidence of cross-functional working, particularly partnering with strategy, infrastructure, energy, or operations teams.
• Experience developing or adapting organisational offerings based on stakeholder needs, community insight, or policy drivers.
• Solid record of representing an organisation in external forums, consultations, or networks, ideally including engagement with power networks or similar regional bodies.
• Ability to work in teams, meet tight deadlines, and work to an agreed set of objectives (OKRs).

Why Join Carbon3.ai

You’ll be joining a mission-driven start-up building critical national infrastructure, where operational excellence directly enables growth. This role offers high visibility with leadership, real autonomy, and the chance to shape how a next-generation company operates at scale.