Snapchat hired a high-level State Department official to lead its global public policy

Snap Inc. has hired Jennifer Park Stout, who is currently deputy chief of staff to the Secretary of State, to be its new head of global public policy. Stout’s job change was noted on her LinkedIn. Snap confirmed to Business Insider that she will be joining the company.

The move comes as Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, looks to deepen its ties to Washington ahead of a hotly-anticipated initial public offering that could value its business at around $20 billion. Last week, the company said it had also recruited senior state department official, Rick Stengel, to be a senior adviser to the Venice, Calif.-based company.

Stout has spent most of her career in government, having started her career working as legislative aide for then-Senator Joseph Biden in 1998. She spent one year working for insurance company MetLife as its VP for International Government Affairs, before returning to work at the U.S. Department of State, most recently as its deputy chief of staff.

Now, Stout is going back to the private sector to lead Snap’s global public policy initiatives. Ex-Googler Micah Shaffer will remain in his role as Snap’s director of public policy, reporting to Stout.

Stout’s hire makes her the latest government official to join the startup world, and one of the few female executives at the company. Airbnb’s head of global public policy, Chris Lehane, previously served as a close aide to Bill Clinton. Obama’s campaign mastermind, David Plouffe, also recently joined the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative after a short stint leading policy at Uber.