Legal Counsel, Privacy

Couchbase’s Legal Team leverages its business-minded and practically oriented expertise to support stakeholders across the organization, advocate for the company’s strategic interests, and scale the business at a rapid pace.

This position is an exciting opportunity to join an incredible legal team, reporting to our VP, Associate General Counsel. Remote applicants in the US will be considered. Travel may be required if requested by the company.

We are looking for a resourceful and team-oriented privacy lawyer with a passion for technology  to support the legal team in executing and elevating our privacy processes and procedures to incorporate privacy by design. The right candidate has excellent problem-solving and communication skills and an ability to thrive in a fast-paced, ever-changing environment.

Responsibilities:

Privacy Expertise and Leadership:

• Managing, advising on, and executing all tasks related to privacy compliance matters in collaboration with the privacy and product legal team and other functions, e.g. data protection impact assessments, data subject access requests, privacy compliance requirements under relevant privacy frameworks and regulations (e.g. GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA, etc.), data mapping and data flows tracking, compliant usage of online tracking technologies, etc.
• Negotiating, and enabling the go-to-market legal team to negotiate, data processing agreements (DPAs), business associate agreements (BAAs) and other similar agreements with customers, partners and vendors to support Couchbase’s compliance obligations.
• Maintaining and elevating Couchbase’s privacy policies and processes, privacy templates (e.g. DPAs, BAAs, and other similar agreements), as well as privacy playbooks and legal processes to enable Couchbase to continue scaling globally.
• Driving and contributing to cross-functional and organization-wide privacy and security initiatives, such as privacy and security certification audits, compliance audits and process reviews, employee privacy enablement and education regarding company privacy policies and practices.
• Drafting and negotiating a wide range of technology agreements, such as large-scale enterprise software license agreements, technology partner agreements, nondisclosure agreements, etc.

Strategic Advising and Leadership:

• Serving as a go-to resource for internal stakeholders for privacy matters in conjunction with the Privacy Legal Team Lead.
• Supporting and driving improvements in Couchbase’s regulatory compliance programs, including global privacy and other areas as may be needed.
• Providing tailored advice and actionable guidance related to new and existing features and products to Couchbase’s product management and engineering teams to ensure regulatory compliance and mitigate risks.
• Serving as a trusted legal advisor and business partner to Couchbase leadership across the company in line with Couchbase’s overall goals.
• Using excellent judgment and communication skills to partner with both internal business stakeholders, as well as external customers and partners, to address complex issues across diverse subject matters.
• Supporting ad hoc requests from across the organization of almost any size and type, including go-to-market legal work and vendor agreements (e.g. customer licensing agreements, order forms, professional services agreements, subcontracting agreements, etc.)

Operational Rigor:

• Providing bespoke training and enablement to stakeholders on privacy as well as other topics as needed.
• Understanding, demonstrating, and honing operational best practices set by the Couchbase Legal Team while striving for constant improvement.
• Continuously improve the design and implementation of internal Couchbase processes as the business scales.
• Solving complex issues cross-functionally and creatively from start to finish.
• Coordinating with colleagues in US, Europe and APAC time zones as needed.

Requirements:

• J.D. or equivalent degree with strong academic credentials
• Member of a state bar, or eligible to register as Registered In-House Counsel
• 3+ total years of relevant experience in a law firm, government agency, or in-house, with 1+ years experience in-house preferred
• Deep understanding of privacy laws and regulations (e.g., GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA) and ability to apply them to real-world situations.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills with significant attention to detail.
• Demonstrated ability to be organized, work efficiently, prioritize workflow, meet deadlines, and manage cross-functional projects.
• Sound and practical business judgment with an awareness of when issues need to be escalated
• Proven track record of learning quickly, taking initiative, working proactively, being resourceful and taking on additional responsibility.
• Demonstrated ability to operate independently and effectively across a variety of operational areas in several jurisdictions and within multiple time zones.
• Flexibility to work with colleagues in the US, Europe and APAC to accommodate meetings and deadlines aligned to their time zones, as may be necessary.
• Prior experience working with large multinational customers and partners