Senior Counsel, Privacy & Data Protection

What you’ll be responsible for:

Circle is seeking a Senior Counsel, Privacy & Data Protection to provide legal counsel on Circle’s global privacy and cybersecurity program. You will be advising on a multitude of regulatory, compliance, governance, enterprise risk, privacy and cybersecurity matters. and working with cross functional stakeholders to design and lead operational objectives. We are looking for someone who is proactive, accountable, team-oriented, capable of managing many competing priorities, and excited to join a lean team that executes on a variety of novel and complex legal issues.

What you’ll work on:

• Providing support to Circle’s global legal operations, risk management efforts and strategic business objectives and priorities.
• Advising Circle stakeholders on comprehensive approaches to a variety of product development initiatives, regulatory compliance and enterprise risk management matters,  and implementation and maintenance of  global crisis management, privacy, data protection and cybersecurity frameworks.
• Collaborating closely with Information Security, Compliance and Enterprise Risk team members to define scope, prioritize and drive execution of key crisis management, privacy compliance, data protection and cybersecurity initiatives.
• Owning and managing multiple project initiatives, legally compliant process improvements and workstreams critical to large scale, complex privacy projects.
• Conducting privacy impact and risk assessments, and leading adoption of internal privacy principles, ensuring privacy by design into business operations.
• Providing training, thought leadership and mentoring worldwide on privacy and cybersecurity consistent with Circle’s related policies, standards and procedures.
• Conducting, overseeing and providing support in connection with internal investigations.
• Proactively identifying a variety of compliance risk areas and strategies to mitigate them.

You will aspire to our four core values:

• Multistakeholder – you have dedication and commitment to our customers, shareholders, employees and families and local communities.
• Mindful – you seek to be respectful, an active listener and to pay attention to detail.  
• Driven by Excellence – you are driven by our mission and our passion for customer success which means you relentlessly pursue excellence, that you do not tolerate mediocrity and you work intensely to achieve your goals. 
• High Integrity – you seek open and honest communication, and you hold yourself to very high moral and ethical standards.  You reject manipulation, dishonesty and intolerance.

What you’ll bring to Circle:

• 15+ of legal experience with a strong knowledge of:
  • Development and management of an effective global privacy and cybersecurity program, including relevant laws, regulations, and industry standards, ideally in a financial services environment.
  • Privacy laws and issues in relation to evolving technology.
  • Broad product development and compliance experience ideally in fintech or crypto, including implementation of enterprise risk management standards and Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) tools and systems. 
• Experience working with and presenting to diverse, cross-functional teams and senior leadership.
• You are passionate about Circle’s mission and values, financial technology and the disruptive potential of cryptocurrency and blockchains.
• You are comfortable working outside of your comfort zone in an evolving and growing environment that is prone to rapid changes, extreme velocity and managing multiple projects simultaneously.
• You apply sound, practical business judgment, in time-sensitive and high-pressure situations and are creative at solving problems while balancing important legal risks for the business.
• You are comfortable working autonomously and also collaboratively as part of a team.
• You are passionate, organized, energetic and a team player.
• You have a JD (or foreign equivalent degree) and an active membership in at least one US State Bar.
• Prior experience at in-house and publicly traded companies. 
• CIPP certification is preferred.
• Experience/familiarity with Slack, Apple MacOS and GSuite.

Additional Information:

• This position is eligible for day-one PERM sponsorship for qualified candidates.

Circle is on a mission to create an inclusive financial future, with transparency at our core. We consider a wide variety of elements when crafting our compensation ranges and total compensation packages.

The compensation range for this role added below is specific to the location of this job posting. Actual starting pay is determined by various factors, including but not limited to: relevant experience, skill set, qualifications, and other business and organizational needs. Please note that compensation ranges may differ for candidates in other locations.

Base Pay Range: $190,000 – $265,000

Annual Bonus Target: 20%

Also Included: Equity & Benefits (including medical, dental, vision and 401(k)). Circle has a discretionary vacation policy. We also provide 10 days of paid sick leave per year and 11 paid holidays per year in the U.S.