Director, Privacy and Compliance

About

Our talented and experienced teams grow our customers’ businesses 365 days a year with products that create connections, deliver content, and drive commerce. We produce over 140 annual events, create and deliver content through print and digital channels, and power commerce through our seamlessly integrated in-person and digital platforms and channels.

Emerald is seeking a Director, Privacy & Compliance with extensive knowledge of global privacy regulations and hands-on experience building, implementing and operating a global privacy infrastructure. Reporting to the Deputy General Counsel, this role owns our end-to-end privacy program and shares accountability for regulatory compliance. This role will also support legal operations, and commercial contracting as needed.

CORE RESPONSIBILITIES

1.  Privacy Program Ownership

• Own and continuously mature the global privacy program, including program strategy, roadmap, and governance framework. 

• Configure and manage the cookie consent lifecycle in OneTrust: banner deployment, geolocation-based logic, category management, and consent-symmetry / anti-dark-pattern design. 

• Administer the end-to-end Data Subject Request (DSR) workflow: intake, identity verification, response orchestration, and fulfillment tracking within statutory deadlines across all applicable jurisdictions.

• Lead Privacy Impact Assessments (PIAs) and Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs) for new products, features, third-party integrations, and high-risk processing activities; embed privacy-by-design into the product development lifecycle.

• Assist the Deputy General Counsel in advising on privacy considerations for AI and machine learning initiatives, including lawful basis for automated decision-making, data minimization in model training, and compliance with emerging AI regulations (EU AI Act, CCPA/GDPR AI requirements); partner with Product to embed privacy-by-design into AI development

• Draft, negotiate, manage, and maintain Data Processing Agreements (DPAs), Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs), and Binding Corporate Rules (BCRs) with vendors, partners, and customers.

• Oversee and maintain the company's Records of Processing Activities (RoPA) and ensure accuracy across all business units.

• Track and manage relationships with data processors and licensees. 

2.  Legal & Regulatory Compliance

• Monitor the global privacy and data protection regulatory landscape; translate emerging requirements (new laws, guidance, enforcement actions) into actionable compliance obligations and internal policy updates.

• Own privacy-related policies, notices, and internal standards — including the external Privacy Notice, Cookie Policy, and internal data handling standards — ensuring they remain accurate and audit-ready.

• Partner with Information Security on data breach response plans, ensuring privacy obligations are embedded in incident response procedures.

• Assist the Deputy General Counsel in advising on AI/ML governance from a privacy lens, including requirements under emerging AI regulations.

3.  Commercial Contract Support

• Support commercial and enterprise contract negotiations particularly where privacy, data use, or data security provisions are in scope.

• Assist with review, redline, and advise on customer and vendor agreements including MSAs, SaaS agreements, NDAs, and data-related addenda.

• Act as a trusted legal partner to Sales, Procurement, and Partnerships teams on time-sensitive privacy and commercial matters.

QUALIFICATIONS

Required

• 4-5 years of privacy, data protection, or related legal experience at a global company or top-tier law firm.

• Deep, hands-on expertise with GDPR and at least one other major global privacy regime (CCPA/CPRA, LGPD, PIPL, etc.).

• Genuine hands-on implementation experience, not just oversight: direct, personal work configuring OneTrust (including banners, DSR automation, assessments, vendor risk) and/or building DSR, consent, or RoPA processes from scratch.   

• Experience negotiating privacy clauses in commercial contracts, DPAs, and SCCs.

• Excellent written and verbal communication, able to translate complex legal/technical concepts for non-legal audiences.  

Preferred

• JD/MBA.

• CIPP/US, CIPP/E, CIPM, or equivalent certification.

• Experience negotiating data-related terms in commercial contracts, DPAs, and SCCs.

• Experience with legal ops technology (CLM, e-billing, matter management).

• Background in SaaS or other data-intensive industries.

• Familiarity with AI governance frameworks.

About Emerald

At Emerald, we strive to foster a diverse and inclusive community. We actively recruit and champion candidates who bring new perspectives from varied professional backgrounds and experiences, and we are intentional about ensuring a positive hiring experience for everyone. Our job postings don’t contain experience inflation, and most don’t require college degrees. Instead, they’re crafted to focus on outcomes and transferable experiences that are assessed in a structured interview process carried out by trained hiring teams. 

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

Target Compensation: $120,000 - $135,000 plus Bonus eligible

Please note that this range reflects a reasonable estimate of the target compensation for this position. This range may ultimately vary based on a candidate’s qualifications and may be higher where required by applicable law. 

We offer a competitive benefits package designed to strengthen our employees’ physical and mental health, including unlimited vacation for exempt employees, flexible working locations, 401(k) plan with a company match, medical/dental/vision coverage with inclusive provisions including transgender services and fertility benefits, parental and caregiver leave, dependent, commuter and FSA benefits, professional development programs like Toastmasters, and mental wellness tools.

If you need accommodation in our application process or have questions about our posted salary range, please email our Talent Acquisition team at [email protected].