Director, Legal Counsel, Privacy, Product, & AI – Americas

Company Description

R24_0005889

Job Description

Role Summary: 

The Director, Legal Counsel of Privacy, Product, & AI for the Americas region will play a pivotal role in ensuring the company’s adherence to data privacy laws and regulations throughout the Americas, while providing expert advice on product development and data utilization processes. This individual will report to the global Chief Privacy Officer, General Counsel, Privacy, Product, & AI and will be instrumental in shaping the Americas governance framework, implementing data privacy policies, supporting Americas regional entities in aligning to NIQ’s comprehensive privacy program, ensuring ongoing compliance with local regulations, and managing risks associated with data privacy and product advice. 

Key Responsibilities: 

Governance & Policy Implementation – You will develop, maintain, and update NIQ’s internal data privacy policies and training materials and external data privacy notices and consent materials to ensure compliance with regional data protection laws, and implement standard operating procedures across the Americas region. You will additionally manage the process for individual data subject rights requests originating from the Americas.

Partnering & Advice – You will serve as a privacy subject-matter expert, offering strategic advice and collaborating with business units such as product, data acquisition and research, commercial legal, information technology, sales, procurement, HR, and other departments during the development of new project, products, and initiatives to integrate data privacy principles in AI applications, product development, procurement strategies, and commercial contracts. This includes guiding and training employees on data privacy best practices and policies and developing and implementing regional-level data privacy awareness programs.    

Risk Management & Protection – You will monitor changes in privacy laws and regulations and update policies, procedures, notices, and consents accordingly. Your role also includes supporting the Global Privacy Team in maintaining records of data processing activities and ensuring regional-level documentation is up to date. As required, you may also conduct systematic audits and risk assessments to identify and mitigate potential data privacy risks. 

Compliance & Assessment – You will conduct privacy impact assessments as required for new and existing projects to identify and address potential privacy risks. You will support the procurement team in their work with external vendors and partners to ensure compliance with NIQ’s data privacy standards and negotiate data processing addendums.

Incident Response – You will serve as the primary Americas data privacy contact in the event of a data breach or privacy incident, and coordinate response efforts with the broader cybersecurity and incident response teams to minimize impact and implement necessary corrective actions. 

Qualifications

Qualifications:
•    Bachelor’s degree and Juris Doctor degree from an accredited law school 
•    Proof of admission to the Bar of the highest court of a state or territory, and current membership in good standing of such Bar as would permit the practice of law
•    6+ years of combined, relevant legal experience in law firms, governmental agencies, and/or in-house legal departments for data intelligence and/or technology companies
•    Deep knowledge of data privacy, data handling, and data classification
•    Proven experience in managing data privacy issues within a global organization
•    Experience with data governance technologies and privacy management solutions
•    Familiarity with data protection regulations, including CCPA/CPRA, GDPR, ePrivacy, EU AI Act
•    Strong organizational and project management skills
•    Ability to communicate complex data-related issues across functions and in a clear and effective manner
•    Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a global team setting
•    Excellent problem-solving skills and the ability to manage multiple priorities under tight deadlines
•    A sense of humor, positive energy, and high emotional intelligence
•    Preferred: CIPP certification 

Additional Information
Our Benefits
•    Flexible working environment
•    Comprehensive health insurance
•    Life insurance
•    401k plan
•    Volunteer time off
•    LinkedIn Learning
•    Employee-Assistance-Program (EAP)

About NIQ
NIQ is the world’s leading consumer intelligence company, delivering the most complete understanding of consumer buying behavior and revealing new pathways to growth. In 2023, NIQ combined with GfK, bringing together the two industry leaders wi