General Counsel

The Role

As Optery's General Counsel, you'll be responsible for building and leading the company's legal function. This includes commercial transactions, regulatory compliance, litigation, international expansion, corporate governance, employment matters, and strategic initiatives. You'll utilize external counsel in most of these areas. You will also play a central role in holding data brokers accountable for noncompliance, interfacing with enforcement bodies such as CalPrivacy / California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA), and state Attorney General and Department of Justice offices, and advocating for consumer data privacy rights.

Our platform submits opt out requests to hundreds of data brokers on behalf of our customers, referencing privacy rights set forth by data privacy laws such as the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (VCDPA), Texas Data Privacy and Security Act (TDPSA), Oregon Consumer Privacy Act (OCPA), Colorado Privacy Act (CPA), and others. We're seeking a mission-aligned General Counsel to help scale our legal infrastructure, meet the needs of our demanding business, and help ensure data brokers comply with our opt out requests backed by these critical regulations.

This is a unique opportunity to define and execute the legal strategy at a mission-driven, high-growth startup at the forefront of applying Artificial Intelligence (AI) to data rights management and the privacy tech movement.

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as a key advisor to the CEO, Board of Directors, and leadership team on legal, regulatory, and risk matters.

• Draft, review, manage, and negotiate a wide range of commercial agreements, including B2B SaaS, vendor, and partnership contracts. Create processes and systems for manage greater volumes across each of these areas.

• Lead our data privacy and regulatory compliance efforts.

• Maximize data broker compliance with Optery's opt out requests by:

  • Communicating directly with non-compliant data brokers to compel compliance.

  • Building collaborative relationships with state enforcement bodies (e.g., CalPrivacy / California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA), State Attorneys General, Departments of Justice).

  • Assembling evidence of non-compliance and filing complaints with regulators to enforce compliance with consumer data privacy laws.

• Support corporate governance, board matters, and equity administration.

• Support financing transactions, equity and debt instruments, and potential M&A activity.

• Advise on employment matters, intellectual property, and risk mitigation.

• Manage outside counsel relationships and develop internal legal processes and policies.

• Build and lead the legal function, including potential future legal hires.

Ideal Candidate

• 8–15 years of legal experience, with time spent at a top-tier law firm and in-house at a technology or privacy-focused company.

• Strong expertise in U.S. consumer data privacy law and regulatory frameworks; familiarity with enforcement trends under the CCPA, VCDPA, CPA, TDPSA, OCPA, and other state data privacy laws is strongly preferred.

• Demonstrated experience navigating or working with regulatory agencies such as the CPPA, Attorney General offices, Departments of Justice, or Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

• Strong background in commercial contracts, corporate governance, and startup equity and debt financing matters.

• Excellent communicator and negotiator with a bias for action and pragmatism.

• Passion for consumer privacy and strong motivation for holding data brokers accountable to consumer data privacy laws.

• Track record of professional success and achievement

• Licensed to practice law in the U.S. (California preferred, but not required).

Why Join?

• Lead the legal strategy of a fast-growing, high-impact cybersecurity and privacy tech company

  • Optery is profitable, and growing rapidly

• Help enforce the groundbreaking consumer data privacy laws that are cascading across the United States and globally

• Work closely with the CEO, CISO, CTO, VP Finance & Operations, Chief Commercial Officer, Board of Directors, and leadership team on key initiatives

• Influence industry practices and regulatory momentum around data broker compliance

• Make a measurable difference in protecting consumer rights and digital safety

  • Optery has processed tens of millions of opt out requests for over hundreds of thousands of people

Location

While Optery is a fully-remote global team, this position is based in the United States and is required to work regular U.S. business hours, i.e. in the U.S. Eastern, Central, Mountain, and/or Pacific time zones.

Compensation & Benefits

• Base salary: $240K - $270K

• Great health, dental, and vision insurance

• 401k program with employer match

• Paid time off policy

• Stipend for home office setup

Equal Opportunity

Optery values diversity and is an equal opportunity employer. Optery does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, retaliation, parental status, military service, or other non-merit factor.