He was the leader of the party's regional section Steirische Volkspartei in Styria from 2001 to 2010, and a member of the Bundesrat from 2002 to 2010.
From 2009 onwards, he worked in an advisory capacity for federal ministries, for both Education, the Arts and Culture, and for Science and Research [de], serving as chair of the preparatory group for a new pedagogical education ("PädagogInnenbildung Neu") in 2010/11, and further as chair of the development council for it until 2013.
Subsequently, he was elected for a five-year term as chair of the new "Qualitätssicherungsrat für Pädagogen- und Pädagoginnenbildung" (QSR), supervising the quality of the education of pedagogues.
[1] In this function he not only advocated the possibility of marriage between homosexuals, but also demanded the right of child adoption for them.
[6] From 17 December 2002 Schnider also became a member of the Federal Council in the Austrian Parliament in Vienna, succeeding Fritz Grillitsch [de].