Data Protection and Management Engineer

Dentons US LLP; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical benefits

Dental benefits

Vision benefits

401k

Profit sharing

Disability insurance

Life insurance

Tuition reimbursement

Paid time off

Paid holidays

Discretionary bonuses

Job summary

Dentons US LLP is seeking a Data Protection and Management Engineer in Chicago to build and operate technical controls that keep client and matter data confidential and properly labeled. This hands-on role focuses on DSPM, DLP, retention, and insider risk management across the firm’s data estate.

You will own daily DSPM operations, collaborate with Records, IT and GC teams, and drive security policy management, access controls, and defensible disposition. Travel and on-call work may be required.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in information technology, computer science, or related field.
• 4+ years in data protection, information security, or related infrastructure discipline.
• Hands-on experience with data loss prevention, data classification, or insider risk tooling.
• Experience with Purview and related data lifecycle tools.

Responsibilities

• Operate the DSPM platform and onboard data sources across Microsoft 365, file shares, and cloud infra.
• Remediate data exposure with cross-functional teams and track remediation to closure.
• Configure retention labels and policies, support defensible disposition and legal holds.
• Reduce redundant data and support decommissioning of legacy repositories.
• Support security policy management for DMS and access controls.
• Operate Insider Risk and Information Rights Management and apply guardrails for AI tools.
• Automate policy deployment, labeling, and reporting; explore AI for classification workflows.
• Occasional off-hours work and on-call rotations; limited travel may be required.

Skills

Data protection

Data governance

DSPM

DLP

Insider risk

Retention labeling

Policy management

Scripting & automation

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in IT/CS

Tools

Microsoft Purview

Varonis

Cyera

BigID

Netwrix

iManage Work

Threat Manager

Job description

Dentons US LLP is currently recruiting for a Data Protection and Management Engineer. This role will be responsible to build and operate the technical controls that keep the Firm's client and matter data confidential, correctly classified, and retained only as long as it should be. This is a hands-on engineering role centered on data protection and management technologies.

Data Protection and Management Engineer will own day-to-day operation of data security posture management, data loss prevention, insider risk management, and sensitivity labeling, and will support Records and Information Governance in applying retention and disposition across the same estate. You will work alongside document management system administrators on security policy management, ethical walls, and access controls, and partner with infrastructure, practice support, Risk, and the Office of General Counsel to protect confidential material without slowing the practice of law.

Responsibilities

• Data Posture and Discovery - Operate the Firm's DSPM platform. Onboard and maintain data sources across Microsoft 365, the document management system, file shares, and cloud infrastructure; tune discovery and classification accuracy; and report on sensitive data location, exposure, and entitlement sprawl.
• Remediation of Data Exposure. Partner with infrastructure, application, and practice support teams to remediate overshared repositories, excessive permissions, orphaned accounts, and unmanaged data stores identified through DSPM. Track remediation to closure and measure the reduction in data exposure over time.
• Retention and Disposition - Partner with Records and Information Governance to implement the Firm's retention schedule. Configure retention labels and policies, support disposition review and defensible destruction, and ensure legal holds correctly suspend retention where required.
• Data Minimization - Reduce redundant, obsolete, and trivial content as a protection control as much as a storage one. Identify aging and duplicate data, support decommissioning of legacy repositories, and report on volume under management and storage reclaimed.
• Document Management System Controls - Support DMS administrators in the operation of security policy management, ethical walls, and access management. Assist with need-to-know security models, matter-level provisioning, access request workflows, periodic access reviews and recertification, and evidence for client audits and outside counsel guidelines.
• Insider Risk and Rights Management - Operate Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management, Information Protection, and Information Rights Management. Build and tune policies for departing timekeepers, lateral hires, and data staging and exfiltration, working within agreed privacy, escalation, and legal review protocols.
• Adoption of AI and New Technology - Apply data protection controls to generative AI and collaboration tools. Assess oversharing and content-hygiene risk before rollout, define guardrails for prompt and output handling, and evaluate emerging tooling.
• Automation and Continuous Improvement. Reduce manual effort through scripting and automation across policy deployment, label and retention operations, alert enrichment, evidence collection, and reporting. Identify opportunities to apply AI to classification, investigation, and triage workflows.
• Occasional off-hours work to support maintenance windows, participation in an on‑call rotation for data protection escalations, and limited travel to Firm offices may be required.

Experience & Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in information technology, computer science, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience
• 4+ years of experience in data protection, information security, or a closely related infrastructure discipline, including at least 2 years of hands‑on work with data loss prevention, data classification, or insider risk tooling.
• Hands‑on experience with Microsoft Purview, including Data Loss Prevention, Information Protection and sensitivity labels, Insider Risk Management, Audit, and Communication Compliance.
• Working knowledge of at least one DSPM or data access governance platform, such as Microsoft, Varonis, Cyera, BigID, or Netwrix, and familiarity with third‑party DLP and email security gateways.
• Working familiarity with retention schedules, retention labeling, and defensible disposition, including how legal holds interact with retention.
• Strong written communication and the ability to explain data protection risk to attorneys, business stakeholders, and firm leadership.
• Experience in a law firm, professional services, or another environment with strict client confidentiality obligations.
• Familiarity with legal document management systems and their security models, such as iManage Work with Security Policy Manager and Threat Manager, or NetDocuments.
• Hands‑on experience with Purview Data Lifecycle Management, Records Management, or eDiscovery.
• Certifications such as Microsoft SC-401 (Information Security Administrator, formerly SC-400), SC-200, CISSP, CIPT, IGP, or vendor‑specific data protection certifications.

Dentons US LLP offers a competitive salary and benefits package including medical, dental, vision, 401k, profit sharing, short-term/long-term disability, life insurance, tuition reimbursement, paid time off, paid holidays and discretionary bonuses.

Dentons US LLP is an Equal Opportunity Employer - Disability/Vet. Pursuant to local ordinances, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

If you need any assistance seeking a job opportunity at Dentons US, LLP, or if you need reasonable accommodation with the application process, please call our Talent Acquisition Lead at [phone] or contact us at [e-mail].