Jim Snell has more than thirty years of experience in union leadership. Since April 1, 2019, Jim has served as the business manager of Steamfitters Local Union 420, which represents 5,000 members in Philadelphia and its collar counties, as well as the Lehigh Valley and Reading areas. Jim has held varied leadership positions in unions including serving as financial secretary-treasurer of the Pennsylvania Pipe Trades, trustee of the Pennsylvania State Building and Construction Trades Council, executive board committee member of the Philadelphia AFL-CIO, and president of the Mechanical Trades District Council of the Delaware Valley.

In 2023, Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity appointed Jim to serve as the treasury representative on the Delaware River Port Authority (DRPA) Board of Commissioners. He also served separately on the transition teams for both Governor Josh Shapiro and Mayor Cherell Parker as they began their new administrations.