We believe in the power and joy of learning

At Cengage Group, our employees have a direct impact in helping students around the world discover the power and joy of learning. We are bonded by our shared purpose – driving innovation that helps millions of learners improve their lives and achieve their dreams through education.

Our culture values diversity, engagement, and discovery

Our business is driven by our strong culture, and we know that creating an inclusive and diverse workplace is absolutely essential to the success of our company and our learners, as well as our individual well-being. We recognize the value of diverse perspectives in everything we do, and strive to ensure employees of all levels and backgrounds feel empowered to voice their ideas and bring their authentic selves to work. We achieve these priorities through inclusive programs, benefits, and initiatives that are integrated into the fabric of how we work every day. To learn more, please see https://www.cengagegroup.com/about/inclusion-and-diversity/ .

We are seeking a highly motivated, pragmatic and business-oriented privacy attorney with an operational mindset and significant subject matter expertise in privacy law to join Cengage’s global commercial legal team. This role will report to and support the SVP, Deputy General Counsel, Commercial & Privacy, with a diverse range of responsibilities, primarily focused on creating the vision and setting the roadmap and strategy for Cengage Group’s privacy program. As a key legal leader and privacy subject matter expert, you will have the opportunity to reimagine our privacy program, shape our approach to privacy in a commercially minded manner to support our portfolio of businesses, and act as a trusted advisor to senior leadership on privacy-related risks. The position will be remote first with a willingness / ability to travel as needed.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Design and execute a privacy strategy and roadmap that is aligned to and supportive of Cengage Group's overall business objectives, considering our products, customers, and geographic presence.

• Collaborate with Legal Operations to develop and deploy an integrated, risk-based privacy program that is right-sized for Cengage Group and have primary responsibility for continuing to grow and mature the privacy program.

• As Cengage Group's subject matter expert, provide ongoing privacy counseling and advice to our businesses and corporate functions, collaborating closely with stakeholders at all levels across the organization.

• Collaborate with internal teams, such as Security, Product, Sales, and Technology to ensure privacy considerations are an integral part of business roadmaps, systems and initiatives, as well as new or modified products and platforms.

• Assess and respond to potential privacy risks and implement a risk-based approach to reduce exposure with the ability to communicate privacy risks in a business-friendly manner.

• Partner with our Government Affairs team and maintain continuous awareness and familiarity with all new and proposed privacy legislation, support state and federal lobbying efforts with respect to privacy-related initiatives and advise on the company’s risk exposure associated with new and proposed legislation.

• Oversee implementation and maintenance of privacy-related processes and controls, including a scalable and self-sustaining data mapping program.

• Negotiate commercial terms related to data privacy.

• Conduct ongoing privacy compliance monitoring and provide reporting to senior leadership.

• Assist in investigations of potential data breach incidents, act as the primary privacy contact for such incidents, and ensure compliance with the Company’s reporting obligations, if any, related to such incidents.

• Design a data discovery / classification process and oversee data protection impact assessments (DPIA), privacy impact assessments (PIA), and record of processing activities (RoPA) in addition to contributing to enterprise risk management initiatives from a data privacy perspective.

• Drive enterprise and employee awareness around privacy-related topics and conduct regular training.

What You’ll Bring to the Role

• Ability to evangelize and explain the “why” behind our vision for privacy, and the ability to translate complex privacy topics into easily digestible content for internal stakeholders.

• Comfort working in a globally distributed, highly matrixed organization.

• Exceptional problem-solving, decision-making, and risk assessment skills.

• Proven leadership and mentoring skills. Experience advising and guiding senior-level management.

• Adept at building strong working relationships with colleagues at all levels to influence (at times without direct authority) and successfully lead cross-functional teams.

• Self-starter who proactively initiates tasks and drives projects forward independently.

• Ability to handle multiple, concurrent high-priority projects in a fast-paced environment.

• Comfortable navigating change with a keen ability to adjust as needed to remain productive.

• Ability to be flexible and operate effectively when faced with certain levels of ambiguity, while always maintaining the highest standards of ethics and integrity.

• Adept at taking on new opportunities and challenges with high energy, and passion.

• Personal commitment towards development, proactively seeking feedback with a receptiveness to coaching on areas for growth.

• Embody the Cengage Ethos – put learning first, set the bar higher, do more together, embrace the unknown and be candid.

And extra credit if you have experience / interest in any of the following:

• Creating and maintaining templates in the education technology space while complying with changing state privacy laws, privacy notices, policies, and privacy-related contractual language

• Prior work at a major education technology company

Skills You Will Need Here

• J.D. from an ABA-accredited law school and admission to, and good standing with, a state bar. Can be licensed in any state.

• 8+ years of privacy experience with a top-tier law firm, or in-house legal department.

• Deep legal expertise in current and proposed privacy laws, in particular US (e.g., CCPA, COPPA) and GDPR.

• Strategic thinking grounded in strong, pragmatic business acumen with demonstrated ability to balance legal risk with business considerations ( i.e., comfort operating in situations which are often "grey" instead of "black and white").

• Ability to provide succinct, accurate, and business-centric advice and recommendations.

• Experience advising & monitoring data processing operations including data transfers to other countries [strongly preferred].

• Experience building and overseeing an enterprise-wide privacy program [strongly preferred].

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills. Experience drafting and negotiating privacy related contracts, such as data processing agreements.

Cengage Group is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, veteran status, marital status, parental status, cultural background, organizational level, work styles, tenure and life experiences. Or for any other reason. You may view Cengage’s EEO/Affirmative Action Policy signed by CEO Michael Hansen (https://p.widencdn.net/pdvq6j/EEO_Policy_Statement_January_2017) and Equal Employment Opportunity is the Law notice (http://embed.widencdn.net/pdf/plus/cengage/ybs5gt19ik/eeopost-merged.pdf) by visiting their corresponding links.

Cengage Group is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities in our job application procedures. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, you may contact us at accommodations.ta@cengage.com or you may call us at +1 (617) 289-7917.

About Cengage Group

Cengage Group, a global education technology company serving millions of learners, provides affordable, quality digital products and services that equip students with the skills and competencies needed to be job ready. For more than 100 years, we have enabled the power and joy of learning with trusted, engaging content, and now, integrated digital platforms. We serve the higher education, workforce skills, secondary education, English language teaching and research markets worldwide. Through our scalable technology, including MindTap and Cengage Unlimited, we support all learners who seek to improve their lives and achieve their dreams through education.

Compensation

At Cengage Group, we take great pride in our commitment to providing a comprehensive and rewarding Total Rewards package designed to support and empower our employees. Click here (https://www.cengagegroup.com/news/perspectives/2024/cengage-group-total-rewards-philosophy/) to learn more about our Total Rewards Philosophy .

The full base pay range has been provided for this position. Individual base pay will vary based on work schedule, qualifications, experience, internal equity, and geographic location. Sales roles often incorporate a significant incentive compensation program beyond this base pay range.

$163,100.00 - $260,900.00 USD

Compensation

At Cengage Group, we take great pride in our commitment to providing a comprehensive and rewarding Total Rewards package designed to support and empower our employees. Click here (https://www.cengagegroup.com/news/perspectives/2024/cengage-group-total-rewards-philosophy/) to learn more about our Total Rewards Philosophy .

The full base pay range has been provided for this position. Individual base pay will vary based on work schedule, qualifications, experience, internal equity, and geographic location. Sales roles often incorporate a significant incentive compensation program beyond this base pay range.

$163,100.00 - $260,900.00 USD

Cengage Group , a global education technology company serving millions of learners, provides affordable, quality digital products and services that equip students with the skills and competencies needed to be job ready. For more than 100 years, we have enabled the power and joy of learning with trusted, engaging content, and now, integrated digital platforms.

We serve the higher education, workforce skills, secondary education, English language teaching and research markets worldwide. Through our scalable technology, including MindTap and Cengage Unlimited, we support all learners who seek to improve their lives and achieve their dreams through education.