Senior Counsel, Technology & Privacy

Overview

This full-time role (Senior Counsel, Technology & Privacy) is responsible for developing, supporting, and advancing the organization’s data governance program with a focus on privacy, data protection, and product counseling. The position reports to the Deputy General Counsel, Commercial & Business Affairs and provides practical, risk-based guidance to help the organization innovate responsibly while meeting evolving regulatory and ecosystem expectations.

Responsibilities

Privacy & Data Protection Counseling

• Monitor and assess evolving privacy and data protection laws, regulatory guidance, and enforcement trends, and advise on impacts to the business
• Assess the compliance posture under applicable privacy and data protection laws and lead development and maintenance of scalable governance processes, documentation standards, monitoring approaches, and reporting practices
• Provide practical, business-focused guidance on the collection, use, sharing, retention, and protection of personal data and health data across the organization’s products and operations
• Respond to data sharing and ecosystem questions, including governance and contractual expectations
• Support data governance uplift efforts, including roadmap development, milestone tracking, stakeholder alignment, and executive reporting
• Work cross-functionally with IT and Product teams to advise on, develop, and deliver privacy training and awareness; identify training needs, define content expectations and target audiences, and create/update course materials

Product & Technology Counseling

• Partner closely with Product, IT, Sporting, and Soccer Services teams to embed privacy considerations into design, development, and deployment of products and platforms, implementing practical, scalable controls across the product lifecycle
• Review and advise on privacy implications of new products, features, technologies, and data uses, including conducting and supporting privacy impact and risk assessments
• Counsel on data-driven initiatives, including analytics, marketing technologies, and emerging technologies such as AI, from a privacy and data governance perspective

Commercial & Vendor Support

• Draft, review, and negotiate a wide variety of technology and data-related agreements, including SaaS agreements, cloud services agreements, software development and licensing agreements, master services agreements, statements of work, and technology integration, data processing, and information security agreements
• Review, draft, and negotiate privacy and data protection provisions in commercial agreements, including data processing agreements and vendor contracts

Regulatory & Risk Management

• Own the cybersecurity and privacy legal strategy and operating model; establish standards, playbooks, escalation paths, and risk tolerances aligned to organizational goals
• Advise on responses to data subject requests, regulatory inquiries, and privacy-related incidents
• Lead legal readiness for enterprise incident response (tabletops, playbooks, training) and advise on third-party breach response; serve as lead legal point of contact for significant cybersecurity incidents and privacy incidents
• Lead regulatory readiness, audits, and internal assessments related to privacy and data security compliance

Other Transactional Support

• As time permits, assist other transactional lawyers by drafting, reviewing, and negotiating services agreements, event-related agreements, content acquisition agreements, licensing, and facility-related agreements
• Assist other transactional lawyers in developing and maintaining contract templates and playbooks to streamline technology and other contract processes

Expectations of all Members of the Legal & Corporate Affairs Department

• Be a supportive mentor: share professional and industry knowledge generously, provide active guidance to staff more junior than you, and contribute to a culture of intellectual curiosity and high standards
• Provide thought leadership on legal operations, including efficiencies, use of technology, better service to internal clients, and cost control
• Contribute to the creation and maintenance of the standard forms library
• Treat others with respect, kindness, patience, and empathy

Requirements

Minimum Qualifications

• J.D. from an accredited law school and an active license to practice law in at least one U.S. jurisdiction, in good standing
• Minimum 8-10 years of legal experience, with a significant focus on privacy, data protection, and technology-related matters
• Demonstrated experience providing product counseling and advising engineering, product, and technical teams
• Solid understanding of data protection, cybersecurity, and information security principles
• Minimum 5 years in-house experience
• Sports industry experience preferred, but not required
• Experience in an engineering or technical project management role preferred, but not required
• Strong ability to translate complex legal and regulatory requirements into clear, actionable guidance for technical and non-technical stakeholders
• Knowledge of HIPAA and other healthcare privacy requirements preferred
• Familiarity with security frameworks and control environments (NIST, ISO 27001)
• Experience designing and implementing policies, standards, controls, and metrics in a complex organization
• Excellent communication, collaboration, and organizational skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment
• Exceptional drafting, negotiation, analytical, and communication skills
• High level of commitment to quality work product and organizational ethics, integrity, and compliance
• General knowledge of soccer
• Capable of working in fast-paced and demanding environments
• Able to connect “micro” details to the “macro” vision and mission
• Proficient experience with Microsoft Suite (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Outlook)

Compensation & Benefits

• Comprehensive compensation package
• Casual work environment
• Inclusive culture
• Atmosphere for professional development

Location

• Not specified in the provided description.

Equal Opportunity

The organization is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any kind based on race, color, sex, religion, national origin, citizenship, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, genetic information, military status, political belief, or any other characteristic protected under the law. This policy applies to all employment practices. Women, people of color, LGBTQIA, veterans, parents, and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply.