Public Affairs Roles
Dober Partners specialises in the recruitment of European public affairs staff within corporate affairs and association leadership teams. We are particularly well networked in Brussels among the 29,000 public affairs professionals who work in the city across different types of organisations, as well as other major European capitals including Berlin, Paris, Geneva, Rome and London.
Association Public Affairs
We recruit senior public affairs advocates for global, European and national trade associations. Most associations exist to achieve specific advocacy goals. Indeed advocacy is the business and lifeblood of most associations. Having the right spokespersons and efficient teamwork between members and secretariat are critical.
When we ask association leaders and members how they measure advocacy success the top three responses are; being consulted on policies before they are drafted; achievements versus planned/agreed actions; and reputation among high-level decision makers. For advocates to secure a place in the room having a trusted conversation with policy-makers requires special personality traits. In our experience people who are able to bring about change at a very high level commonly share three important personality attributes; trustworthiness; proactivity and resilience. These are the kind of people we like to recruit.
As well as the leaders of trade associations we recruit the most senior public affairs roles for instance – we have recruited public affairs leaders for numerous associations including; ACCIS — Association of Consumer Credit Information Suppliers, Animalhealth Europe, APEAL — Association of European Producers of Steel for Packaging, CLIA — Cruise Lines International Association, COCERAL — European Association of Trade in Cereals and Agrosupply, CropLife Europe, DCSA — Digital Container Shipping Association, EIGA — European Industrial Gases Association, ERT — European Round Table for Industry, EURIMA — European Insulation Manufacturers Association, Eurometaux — European non-ferrous metals association, FERMA — Federation of European Risk Management Associations, FoodDrink Europe, ICMA — International Capital Market Association, IRE — Independent Retail Association, and Plastics Europe.
Corporate Affairs
We recruit senior practitioners across Europe particularly in Belgium, Holland, France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland; and with our partners in other markets, including the UK.
We conduct and publish serious research into key corporate affairs recruitment issues, including on compensation and benefits.
In Brussels, the vast majority of EU corporate affairs staff are involved in public affairs and outreach to the EU institutions, anticipating threats and opportunities posed by EU policy, and advocating company positions.
Companies from 6 continents are represented in EU institutions. Over 2,100 multinational companies actively lobby the EU, and almost 600 have offices in or around Brussels. These companies originate from 38 countries and employ around 2,500 staff in key EU these functions.
Our team has previously recruited public affairs leaders for some of the world’s largest companies, including; Amadeus, Amundi, American Express, Astra Zeneca, Chemours, Cloudflare, FedEx, General Motors, GSK, Heidelberg Materials, Holcim, Johnson & Johnson, LVMH, Mastercard, McDonald’s, Moët Hennessy, MSC Shipping, Novartis, RELX, Schroders, Syngenta, Teva, Thales and TUI Group.