Lead Counsel, Data Protection

Meta; Dublin; On-site; EUR 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Meta is seeking a Lead Counsel for its Data Protection team within Product Counseling to advise on Personalization and Monetization. You will work across product, operations and business teams to identify legal risks in privacy, AI and EU regulation in a fast-paced environment.

You should have 5+ years of experience as a solicitor or barrister with strong GDPR knowledge and proven ability to translate complex law into practical product guidance.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of relevant legal experience, including in-house or law firm work.
• Qualified to practice law in at least one European jurisdiction or the UK.
• Deep knowledge of GDPR and privacy regulatory issues.
• Experience with GDPR, ePrivacy, DSA and DMA frameworks.
• Strong analytical and communication skills.
• Experience influencing cross-functional teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead strategic and tactical legal counselling to internal teams.
• Identify and mitigate legal risk across product development in personalization and monetization.
• Advise on EU digital regulation, privacy compliance, and AI governance.
• Collaborate with regulators and external counsel as needed.

Skills

GDPR compliance

Regulatory affairs

Cross-functional work

Legal risk mgmt

AI governance

EU data protection

Education

Qualified solicitor or barrister

Job description

Meta seeks a highly motivated and experienced team player to serve as Lead Counsel on Meta's Data Protection team in the Product Counseling organization, with a focus on Personalization and Monetization. The role is a great opportunity for any candidate who is keen to tackle some of today's toughest and most important legal challenges in this fast evolving area of law.

As the successful candidate, you will be joining an international legal team and working at the intersection of privacy, product development, artificial intelligence, and EU digital regulation in a vibrant, fast-paced environment. In this role, you will lead on strategic and tactical legal counselling to internal legal, product, operations, and business teams in order to identify and mitigate legal risk in all phases of product development across Meta's personalization and monetization products.

• Solicitor or barrister (qualified to practice law in at least one European jurisdiction or the UK) 5+ years of relevant legal experience, including at a law firm or prior in-house experience (applicable litigation, regulatory or more general product counselling experience will be considered)
• In-depth knowledge of legal issues in the area of the operation of online social media platforms including an understanding of data protection law
• Knowledge and experience in GDPR and privacy regulatory compliance, ePrivacy requirements and the broader EU digital regulatory framework, including the Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• Experience partnering with and influencing cross-functional teams in a highly matrixed organization
• Communication and presentation skills with proven success, specifically manages to distill complex concepts and translate insights and data into actionable recommendations for leadership
• Meta requires all employed attorneys to have a law degree or equivalent certificate to permit the practice of law and be appropriately licensed and authorized to practice law for the company in their assigned work location. Unless prohibited under local law, an attorney must hold a current practicing certificate (including where required from the relevant authority in the jurisdiction of the assigned work location) or the local law equivalent bar registration or license as may be applicable
• The role requires sound judgment, the ability to translate complex legal requirements into practical product advice, demonstrated commitment to delivering high-quality work on time, and a keen interest in understanding new technologies
• Experience working directly with European Data Protection Authorities
• Demonstrated ongoing AI skill development (e.g., prompt/context engineering, agent orchestration) and staying current with emerging AI technologies
• Experience working with mobile, application development, social networking, online advertising, machine learning, or other Internet technologies
• Demonstrated ability to integrate AI tools to optimize/redesign workflows and drive measurable impact (e.g., efficiency gains, quality improvements)
• Knowledge of, or fluency in, other European languages to support engagement with regulators and stakeholders across multiple EU jurisdictions
• Experience adhering to and implementing responsible, ethical AI practices (e.g., risk assessment, bias mitigation, quality and accuracy reviews)
• Experience working independently in fast-paced environment, providing pragmatic and considered advice under tight deadlines