Assistant General Counsel - Privacy and Technology

Compeer Financial; Town of Sun Prairie (WI); Hybrid; USD 150,000 - 203,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work model

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

HSA/FSA

Life & AD&D insurance

Disability insurance

Wellness program

Paid time off

Learning & development

Mentorship

Inclusion Council

Certification reimbursement

Job summary

Compeer Financial is seeking a seasoned attorney to lead privacy, information law, and data governance efforts within its growing legal and compliance team. The role focuses on third-party risk, AI governance, data protection, and complex technology agreements for a regulated financial services environment.

You will own privacy program design, advise on data-related contracts, and guide leadership on legal risk in collaboration with cross-functional teams.

Qualifications

• Juris Doctor from an ABA-accredited law school.
• Active admission to practice law in at least one U.S. state; Minnesota, Wisconsin or Illinois preferred or able within the first year.
• Extensive experience in privacy, technology transactions, or information law.
• Experience advising on intellectual property data use and analytics, data security requirements, including electronic signatures and records.
• Experience serving in a designated privacy-officer capacity or readiness to serve.
• IAPP certification strongly preferred.
• Experience advising on data breach or cybersecurity incident response; technical IT security knowledge preferred.
• Experience in financial services or another regulated industry preferred.
• Ability to set the organization’s legal strategy when the law is unsettled.

Responsibilities

• Owns and drafts the third-party risk management framework’s legal requirements, risk thresholds, and governance for significant vendor relationships.
• Structures, drafts, and negotiates complex technology, data, and services agreements; advises on high-risk vendor arrangements including AI, data processing, and privacy issues; approves legal risk exceptions.
• Acts as Privacy Officer, leading privacy program legal design and standards, advising on privacy and data protection compliance including GLBA and state laws.
• Oversees privacy operations—statements, notices, DPAs, data subject requests; guides teams on data collection, use, ownership, and licensing.
• Provides counsel on information law and data governance, including records management and data as an enterprise asset; addresses emerging legal issues.
• Advises on AI governance, IP rights in data and model development, e-signatures, authentication risk, and data-driven products.
• Leads legal responses to data breaches and cybersecurity incidents as part of the incident response team.
• Monitors regulatory developments; drafts opinions and educates leadership to reduce reliance on outside counsel.
• Supports other attorney matters across the department as needed.

Skills

Privacy & data governance

Contract negotiations

AI governance

Cybersecurity incident response

Regulatory compliance

Vendor management

SaaS & cloud knowledge

Legal research

Communication

Negotiation

Education

Juris Doctor

Bar admission MN/WI/IL or eligibility

IAPP certification (CIPP/US/CIPM/CIPT) or equivalent

Job description

Empowered to live. Inspired to work.
Compeer Financial is a member-owned cooperative located in Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin. We bring together team members with a variety of backgrounds and experiences to help provide financial services to support agriculture and rural communities. Join us in a culture that not only promotes meaningful work and professional development, but provides a flexible, hybrid work environment and excellent benefits, which empower you to thrive both personally and professionally.

How we support you:

• Hybrid model - up to 50% work from home
• Flexible schedules including ample flexibility in the summer months
• Up to 9% towards 401k (3% fixed Compeer contribution plus up to 6% match)
• Benefits: medical, dental, vision, HSA/FSA, life & AD&D insurance, short-term and long-term disability, wellness program & EAP
• Vacation, sick leave, holidays/floating holidays, parental leave, and volunteer paid time off
• Learning and development programs
• Mentorship programs
• Cross-functional committee opportunities (i.e. Inclusion Council, emerging professional groups, etc.)
• Professional membership/certification reimbursement and more!

Casual/seasonal & intern team members are not eligible for benefits except for state-mandated programs.

To learn more about Compeer Financial visitwww.compeer.com/careers.

Where you will work: This position offers a hybrid work option up to 50% and is open to any Compeer office location in Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

The contributions you will make:

Provides legal counsel for privacy, technology, information law, and data governance, leading the legalapproach for these practice areas and providing recommendations to leadership on matters of enterprisesignificance. Holds the organization's designated Privacy Officer role and owns the legal design,standards, and requirements supporting the privacy program and related legal frameworks, with-accountability for their legal adequacy. Provides enterprise-level legal counsel and leadership acrosstechnology and data contracting; information law and data governance, including artificial intelligence;and cybersecurity incident and breach response, independently making risk-based legal decisions,including approval of legal risk exceptions to contracting standards and directing outside counsel. Come join our growing legal and compliance team!

A typical day:

• Owns the legal design and standards of the third-party risk managementframework, including the legal requirements, risk thresholds, andgovernance standards applicable to significant vendor and third-partyrelationships.
• Structures, drafts, and negotiates the organization's most complextechnology, data, and services agreements and establishes contractingstandards; provides legal counsel on high-risk third-party and vendorarrangements, including data processing, security, artificial intelligence (AI),and privacy matters; approves legal risk exceptions when contractual termsdeviate from organizational standards; and leads legal, compliance, andprivacy due diligence on significant vendors.
• Serves as the organization's designated Privacy Officer, leading theorganization's legal approach to privacy and data protection and owning theprivacy program framework's legal design and standards in support of theenterprise privacy program; provides legal counsel on privacy and dataprotection compliance, including the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and stateprivacy laws.
• Oversees the legal aspects of privacy operations, including privacystatements, notices, and policies; responses to data subject access requests; and legal guidance to teams on data collection, use, ownership,and licensing, escalating when the business proceeds against privacyrecommendations.
• Owns the legal framework for information law and data governance,including records and information law, data use and sharing, and thegovernance of data as an enterprise asset; developing legal posture andrecommendations where the law is emerging or unsettled.
• Provides legal counsel on data ownership, licensing and use restrictions;artificial intelligence governance, including AI-driven decisioning, modeldata, and emerging AI-law obligations; intellectual property rights related todata and model development; electronic signatures and records, includingauthentication risk, admissibility, and eVaulting; and the legal aspects ofartificial intelligence tools and data-driven products.
• Serves as the organization's primary legal advisor for data breach andcybersecurity incidents as a member of the security incident response team,owning the legal dimensions of the cybersecurity program and serving asthe accountable legal lead for information-security incidents, data breaches,and the organization's breach-response and notification documentation, andescalation under the oversight of legal leadership.
• Monitors, researches, and interprets legal and regulatory developmentsaffecting the organization, drafting legal opinions and guidance forleadership and teams and providing education on legal matters to reducereliance on outside counsel.
• Provides counsel across the department's practice areas as needed,including coverage of other attorney matters.

The skills and experience we prefer you have:

• Juris Doctor from an American Bar Association accredited law school.
• Admission to practice law in at least one U.S. state, with a professional license in Minnesota,Wisconsin or Illinois or the ability to obtain one within the first year.
• Expert-level experience in a law firm, corporate legal department, or regulated financialinstitution, or an equivalent combination of legal and relevant professional experience sufficient toperform the essential functions of the role, with substantial experience in privacy, technologytransactions, or information law.
• Experience advising on intellectual property data use and analytics, insurance data securityrequirements, including electronic signature and electronic records law, including authentication,admissibility, and eVaulting.
• Experience serving in a formally designated privacy-officer capacity or demonstrated readiness toserve.
• International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) certification (CIPP/US, CIPM, or CIPT)or equivalent employment history, strongly preferred.
• Experience advising on data breach or cybersecurity incident response, or technical expertise indata security, information technology, or SaaS and cloud solutions, preferred.
• Experience in financial services or another regulated industry, preferred.
• Expert knowledge of privacy and data protection law, including the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, stateand federal privacy laws applicable to financial institutions, and AI governance, and data breachnotification laws, and the ability to set the organization's legal strategy and posture where the lawis unsettled.
• Skill in structuring, drafting, and negotiating complex technology agreements, including SaaS, AI,cloud, licensing, and data processing arrangements.
• Functional knowledge of common cybersecurity, AI, privacy, and IT risk managementframeworks, such as the NIST Cybersecurity Framework/CIS Controls, NIST Privacy Framework,ISO 27001, and AI Risk Management Framework.
• Skill in applying legal principles to complex, ambiguous business problems and making risk-basedlegal decisions.
• Strong oral and written communication skills to communicate complex topics to a variety ofaudiences and to draft sophisticated legal documents.
• Strong negotiation, influencing, and relationship-building skills with business leaders and externalcounterparties.
• Familiarity with using AI-enabled tools to support legal research, drafting, and workflows.
• Analytical, critical thinking, and decision-making skills; ability to remain objective in balancingbusiness needs and risk; and ability to manage competing priorities and work independently.

How we will take care of you:

Our job titles may span more than one career level (associate, senior, principal, etc.). The actual title and base pay offered is dependent upon many factors, such as: training, transferable skills, work experience, business needs and market demands. The base pay range is subject to change and may be modified in the future. This role is eligible for variable compensation and other benefits.

Base Pay $149,700 — $202,500 USD

Compeer Financial is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Must be authorized to work for any employer in the United States. Compeer is unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment visa at this time.