Senior Counsel

Senior Counsel Position in Germany

This position is listed on behalf of a partner company, who manages all applications and next steps. Our partner is looking for a Senior Counsel based in Germany.

This role offers the opportunity to provide strategic legal guidance across product, privacy, regulatory, and trust & safety matters in a highly distributed environment. You will advise product, engineering, marketing, and safety teams on complex legal requirements affecting digital products and global users. The position combines practical product counseling with regulatory analysis, compliance strategy, and advocacy around emerging laws. You will help teams launch innovative products while balancing customer needs, user safety, privacy, security, and freedom of expression. A key part of the role involves simplifying complex legal issues and turning them into clear, actionable recommendations for business and technical stakeholders. You will also design scalable legal processes and workflows that enable the organization to respond effectively to evolving regulatory requirements. This is an ideal opportunity for a versatile attorney who thrives in ambiguity, works independently, and enjoys partnering closely with cross-functional teams.

Accountabilities:

• Advise Product, Engineering, and Trust & Safety teams on regulations and industry standards covering content safety, consumer protection, intellectual property, privacy, and data security.
• Provide practical product counseling across web hosting, site creation, content publishing, ecommerce, social media, and other digital product areas, using a business-oriented approach centered on user needs.
• Provide subject matter expertise on data protection and privacy requirements, including GDPR and CCPA, as well as consent frameworks for digital marketing and advertising.
• Develop scalable processes for documenting and demonstrating compliance with privacy and regulatory obligations.
• Monitor emerging global regulations, assess their potential business impact, and help teams prepare for upcoming requirements.
• Participate in industry groups and engage with regulators, government agencies, and officials to represent organizational interests and contribute to relevant policy discussions.
• Partner with Trust & Safety teams to develop and oversee policies that balance freedom of expression and user safety with applicable legal requirements.
• Design legal processes and workflows that allow compliance activities to scale effectively as regulatory and privacy requirements increase.
• Support cross-functional teams in navigating complex or uncertain legal issues by providing clear recommendations and practical paths forward.
• Contribute to broader legal matters and stretch into areas such as litigation or intellectual property when business needs require additional support.

Requirements:

• Hold a JD from a U.S.-accredited law school with 5+ years of relevant legal experience, or qualify as an EU-based attorney under the applicable exception.
• Bring familiarity with industries, concepts, and business models such as open source, user-generated content, web hosting, social media, ecommerce, and digital advertising.
• Have strong knowledge of product, privacy, and regulatory requirements relevant to digital products and online platforms.
• Demonstrate familiarity with regulations such as GDPR, CCPA, the Digital Services Act, the UK and Australian Online Safety Acts, the EU AI Act, and global age-assurance laws; experience with these areas is a significant advantage.
• Be comfortable advising on complex regulatory and privacy matters while balancing legal requirements with product and business objectives.
• Demonstrate strong judgment and the ability to provide clear, actionable recommendations even when information is incomplete or circumstances are ambiguous.
• Be a collaborative and humble teammate who can also work independently and effectively in an asynchronous environment.
• Demonstrate flexibility and willingness to develop expertise in new legal areas as organizational needs evolve.
• Communicate complex legal concepts clearly to product, engineering, marketing, safety, and other cross-functional stakeholders.
• Be capable of operating with minimal friction while maintaining a high standard of legal analysis and practical business judgment.
• Candidates may be considered at either Counsel or Senior Counsel level, with title, compensation, and scope of independent ownership reflecting experience and qualifications.

Benefits:

• Salary range of $180,000–$300,000 USD, with global salary ranges paid in local currency.
• Compensation may exceed the stated range in certain cases based on the candidate's potential contribution and expected impact.
• Fully remote work environment.
• Open vacation policy.
• Opportunity to work on complex global product, privacy, regulatory, and trust & safety matters.
• Exposure to emerging regulations and rapidly evolving legal issues affecting digital products and online communities.
• Opportunity to work across international markets and collaborate with globally distributed teams.
• Country-specific benefits are available according to the applicable location.
• Scope, title, and compensation can be aligned with the experience and qualifications brought to the role.