Privacy Operations Director, Senior Counsel

Job Description

As Privacy Operations Director, Senior Counsel at Thomson Reuters, you’ll lead global privacy operations and report directly to the Chief Privacy Officer, serving as their Chief of Staff. You’ll lead a team of privacy specialists and engineers, advise executives and the Board, and translate privacy law into technical controls that protect personal data across our products and operations. This hybrid role is based in Washington, DC, or Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN, with three days onsite per week.

Key Responsibilities

• Set the direction for global privacy operations. Advise the Chief Privacy Officer, lead strategic initiatives, oversee budgets and resource allocation, and brief executives and the Board on program performance and risk.
• Run the global privacy program. Own the operational roadmap, implement privacy policies and procedures, oversee responses to data subject access requests, and use performance metrics to improve how the program operates.
• Strengthen privacy risk management and data visibility. Monitor regulatory changes, lead privacy and data transfer impact assessments, oversee audits and vendor reviews, and improve data inventories, automated data mapping, and records of processing activities.
• Build privacy into products. Partner with Product, Engineering, Information Security, and Legal to translate obligations for sensitive data into privacy-by-design controls. Support privacy training and help business teams meet contractual obligations when working with vendors and subprocessors.
• Coordinate the privacy response to cyber incidents. Work with Information Security, IT, Legal, and business teams to triage and escalate incidents, assess breach notification obligations, coordinate timely notifications when required, and improve response playbooks.
• Lead and develop the privacy operations team. Set clear priorities and performance expectations, coach privacy specialists and engineers, and help teams across the business adopt consistent privacy practices.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in law, information systems, computer science, cybersecurity, or a related legal or technical field, plus a Juris Doctor (J.D.) or a master’s degree in legal studies.
• At least 8 years of combined experience in privacy law, technical privacy operations, and program management, including experience managing privacy operations in a large, complex organization.
• At least 4 years of experience leading technical or legal teams, driving program strategy, and advising executives in a Chief of Staff or comparable capacity.
• A relevant privacy or cybersecurity certification, such as Certified Information Privacy Manager (CIPM), Certified Information Privacy Technologist (CIPT), or Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP).
• Strong knowledge of global privacy laws, including the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), and Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA).
• Hands-on experience conducting technical privacy risk assessments, with expertise in privacy management platforms such as OneTrust, automated data mapping, and privacy-enhancing technologies.
• Experience advising product and technology teams on sensitive data and translating legal obligations into system-level controls for privacy by design, data classification, retention, and data lifecycle management.
• Ability to manage competing priorities, resolve complex privacy problems across teams, and explain legal and technical issues clearly to executives and nontechnical audiences.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience combining legal counsel and technical privacy operations at an enterprise software, software-as-a-service, or data provider.
• Experience using Power BI, Power Automate, scripting, or artificial intelligence and machine learning tools to improve compliance reporting or automate privacy workflows.
• Experience with data governance tools, security information and event management systems, or information security frameworks.
• Project management experience or certification.
• Experience supporting a General Counsel or Chief Privacy Officer with strategic planning, budget management, and executive communications.

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What’s in it For You?

• Hybrid Work Model: We’ve adopted a flexible hybrid working environment for our office-based roles while delivering a seamless experience that is digitally and physically connected.
• Flexibility & Work-Life Balance: Flex My Way is a set of supportive workplace policies designed to help manage personal and professional responsibilities, whether caring for family, giving back to the community, or finding time to refresh and reset. This builds upon our flexible work arrangements, including work from anywhere for up to 8 weeks per year, empowering employees to achieve a better work-life balance.
• Career Development and Growth: By fostering a culture of continuous learning and skill development, we prepare our talent to tackle tomorrow’s challenges and deliver real-world solutions. Our Grow My Way programming and skills-first approach ensures you have the tools and knowledge to grow, lead, and thrive in an AI-enabled future.
• Industry Competitive Benefits: We offer comprehensive benefit plans to include flexible vacation, two company-wide Mental Health Days off, access to the Headspace app, retirement savings, tuition reimbursement, employee incentive programs, and resources for mental, physical, and financial wellbeing.
• Culture: Globally recognized, award-winning reputation for inclusion and belonging, flexibility, work-life balance, and more. We live by our values: Obsess over our Customers, Compete to Win, Challenge (Y)our Thinking, Act Fast / Learn Fast, and Stronger Together.
• Social Impact: Make an impact in your community with our Social Impact Institute. We offer employees two paid volunteer days off annually and opportunities to get involved with pro-bono consulting projects and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) initiatives.
• Making a Real-World Impact: We are one of the few companies globally that helps its customers pursue justice, truth, and transparency. Together, with the professionals and institutions we serve, we help uphold the rule of law, turn the wheels of commerce, catch bad actors, report the facts, and provide trusted, unbiased information to people all over the world.

In the United States, Thomson Reuters offers a comprehensive benefits package to our employees. Our benefit package includes market competitive health, dental, vision, disability, and life insurance programs, as well as a competitive 401k plan with company match. In addition, Thomson Reuters offers market leading work life benefits with competitive vacation, sick and safe paid time off, paid holidays (including two company mental health days off), parental leave, sabbatical leave. These benefits meet or exceeds the requirements of paid time off in accordance with any applicable state or municipal laws. Finally, Thomson Reuters offers the following additional benefits: optional hospital, accident and sickness insurance paid 100% by the employee; optional life and AD&D insurance paid 100% by the employee; Flexible Spending and Health Savings Accounts; fitness reimbursement; access to Employee Assistance Program; Group Legal Identity Theft Protection benefit paid 100% by employee; access to 529 Plan; commuter benefits; Adoption & Surrogacy Assistance; Tuition Reimbursement; and access to Employee Stock Purchase Plan. Thomson Reuters complies with local laws that require upfront disclosure of the expected pay range for a position. The base compensation range varies across locations.

Eligible office location(s) for this role include one or more of the following: New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and/or Irvine, CA; McLean, VA; Washington, DC. The base compensation range for the role in any of those locations is $181,400 USD - $337,000 USD.
For any eligible US locations, unless otherwise noted, the base compensation range for this role is $157,500 USD - $292,500 USD.

Base pay is positioned within the range based on several factors including an individual’s knowledge, skills and experience with consideration given to internal equity. Base pay is one part of a comprehensive Total Reward program which also includes flexible and supportive benefits and other wellbeing programs.
This role may also be eligible for an Annual Bonus based on a combination of enterprise and individual performance.


About Us

Thomson Reuters informs the way forward by bringing together the trusted content and technology that people and organizations need to make the right decisions. We serve professionals across legal, tax, accounting, compliance, government, and media. Our products combine highly specialized software and insights to empower professionals with the data, intelligence, and solutions needed to make informed decisions, and to help institutions in their pursuit of justice, truth, and transparency. Reuters, part of Thomson Reuters, is a world leading provider of trusted journalism and news.

We are powered by the talents of 26,000 employees across more than 70 countries, where everyone has a chance to contribute and grow professionally in flexible work environments. At a time when objectivity, accuracy, fairness, and transparency are under attack, we consider it our duty to pursue them. Sound exciting? Join us and help shape the industries that move society forward.

As a global business, we rely on the unique backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences of all employees to deliver on our business goals. To ensure we can do that, we seek talented, qualified employees in all our operations around the world regardless of race, color, sex/gender, including pregnancy, gender identity and expression, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, age, marital status, citizen status, veteran status, or any other protected classification under applicable law. Thomson Reuters is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer providing a drug-free workplace.

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More information about Thomson Reuters can be found on thomsonreuters.com