Privacy Counsel job description

If you’re looking to hire Privacy Counsel, this job description template can help with easily defining the key responsibilities and qualifications required. This template provides a clear framework to attract the best candidates with the right skills and experience, streamlining your recruitment process and ensuring accuracy.

Job description template

Reporting to: Chief Legal Officer/General Counsel/Chief Privacy Officer (or equivalent)

Level/experience: Approximately 5–10+ years of relevant legal/privacy/data protection experience, ideally in a corporate/in‑house environment with international or multi‑jurisdictional exposure

General role and responsibilities

The Privacy Counsel will provide legal advice, counsel, and support on privacy, data protection, and related regulatory matters. You will work closely with legal, product, engineering, compliance, operations, and risk teams to embed privacy compliance into business operations and commercial contracts, manage regulatory risks, ensure that new products or processes are privacy‑by‑design, and help the organisation stay ahead of evolving global privacy obligations.

You will help ensure that privacy policies are drafted, maintained, and applied consistently; act as a point of escalation for privacy issues (data subject requests, breaches, regulatory enquiries); and support governance, training, and internal awareness.

Key responsibilities include:

• Advising on the privacy/data protection aspects of new products, services and features, incorporating privacy by design approaches from the outset
• Reviewing, drafting, and negotiating contracts, vendor agreements, partner agreements etc., ensuring appropriate privacy and data protection clauses
• Leading or assisting with impact assessments (e.g. DPIAs/LIAs) and risk analyses for data processing activities
• Handling data subject rights requests, complaints and escalations; managing investigations of data breaches, regulatory enquiries, enforcement actions
• Supporting or leading privacy compliance audits, monitoring, and internal reviews
• Developing, maintaining and updating privacy policies, procedures, guidelines, playbooks
• Training, awareness, and guidance for internal stakeholders (product, engineering, marketing, operations) on privacy best practices
• Keeping up to date with privacy laws, regulatory developments, case law, guidance (domestic and international) and interpreting their impact on the business
• Supporting implementation of regulatory change initiatives (e.g. for AI, cross‑border transfers, data localisation, Schrems II/adequacy issues)
• Escalating high‑risk issues to senior management, recommending remediation and ensuring action is taken

Experience and qualifications

• Qualified solicitor or equivalent legal qualification, or other significant legal/privacy professional credential
• Substantial experience in privacy/data protection law, ideally in‑house or advising commercial entities; experience across jurisdictions preferable
• Solid experience of drafting and negotiating contracts with privacy/data protection obligations
• Proficiency with risk assessments, DPIAs, privacy governance frameworks
• Experience with regulatory enforcement/investigations is a plus
• Excellent communication and influencing skills: able to present complex legal/regulatory risk in practical business terms
• Ability to collaborate with multiple stakeholders, work under ambiguity, prioritise tasks
• Detail‑oriented, with strong judgment, able to balance legal risk and business priorities
• Professional privacy/data protection certifications are desirable (CIPP/E, CIPM, CIPT etc.)

Optional sector-specific responsibilities

Depending on the organisation’s sector and structure, additional responsibilities may include:

• Advising on AI governance, algorithmic fairness, automated decision‑making regulation
• Supporting global data transfer compliance (e.g. adequacy, SCCs, other transfer tools)
• Working with external counsel/regulators on litigation, enforcement
• Providing input to marketing/advertising, digital/cookies compliance, consumer protection laws
• Overseeing data privacy in mergers & acquisitions or strategic partnerships