Director, Privacy (Remote)

Cengage; Kentucky; On-site; USD 138,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Cengage, a global education technology company, seeks a Director, Privacy to lead its enterprise privacy program and drive scalable governance across Legal, Technology, Cybersecurity, Product, and Sales. The role combines strategy with hands-on execution to embed privacy into processes and roadmaps.

The ideal candidate will have 10+ years of privacy leadership, deep regulatory knowledge, and experience implementing privacy platforms, with collaboration across senior teams to reduce regulatory

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience.
• 10+ years leading privacy, compliance, governance, or related enterprise programs.
• Practical understanding of GDPR, CCPA/CPRA, U.S. state privacy laws; familiarity with FERPA.

Responsibilities

• Lead the enterprise privacy program roadmap, priorities, and maturity strategy.
• Coordinate governance processes enabling privacy-by-design across the organization.
• Lead and improve the privacy program aligned to business objectives and customer base.
• Oversee privacy management platform implementation and optimization.
• Provide privacy mentorship and translate regulations into scalable business processes.

Skills

Privacy leadership

Cross-functional leadership

Regulatory compliance

Data protection

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Privacy management platform

Job description

We believe in the power and joy of learning

At Cengage, our employees have a direct impact in helping learners 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.

The Director, Privacy is responsible for leading Cengage's enterprise privacy program, ensuring it remains scalable, operationally effective, and aligned with evolving business needs and regulatory requirements. Reporting to the VP, Legal Operations, Privacy & Contract Management this role is responsible for the day-to-day management of the privacy program, partnering closely with Legal, Technology, Cybersecurity, Product, Sales, and other business teams to embed privacy into business processes and technology solutions.

This is a hands-on leadership role. The successful candidate will be equally comfortable setting strategy and rolling up their sleeves to build, operate, and continuously improve the privacy program. The Director will drive execution of the company's privacy strategy while coordinating legal mentorship with internal and external subject matter experts as needed.

What You’ll Do Here

• Lead the enterprise privacy program roadmap, priorities, and maturity strategy.
• Coordinate scalable governance processes that enable privacy-by-design across the organization.
• Lead and continuously improve Cengage's enterprise privacy program aligned to Cengage’s overall business objectives and customer base.
• Lead the continued evolution of Cengage’s coordinated, risk-based privacy program in partnership with Legal Operations, including implementation and optimization of the company’s privacy management platform.
• Provide practical privacy mentorship to business teams, translating regulatory requirements into scalable business processes and coordinating legal advice as needed.
• Partner with Technology, Cybersecurity, Product, and Sales teams to ensure technical controls align with privacy governance requirements and ensure privacy by design is an integral part of roadmaps, systems and new or modified products and platforms.
• Bridge legal, technical, and business perspectives by translating privacy regulations and legal mentorship into practical technical requirements and communicating privacy risks and recommendations in language appropriate for both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Assess and lead privacy risks through a risk-based framework, implementing appropriate mitigation measures and controls to reduce regulatory exposure
• Partner with Government Affairs and legal subject-matter experts to supervise relevant legislative developments, assess business impact, and support advocacy efforts where appropriate
• Partner with our Contract Management and Commercial Legal teams to develop and maintain privacy-related contractual language and provide training to those teams on privacy-related matters relevant to contracting.
• Support the assessment, investigation, and response to cybersecurity, data privacy, and information security events; serve as a primary Privacy and Legal point of contact; collaborate with senior leadership and relevant stakeholders to resolve and fulfill applicable legal, regulatory, contractual, and notification obligations.
• Lead privacy impact assessments and data protection impact assessments, maintain Records of Processing Activities (RoPA), and support related privacy-by-design, risk assessment, and compliance activities across the organization.
• Support data retention, data mapping, records of processing, and third-party privacy governance.
• Partner with Cengage’s Counsel, AI, Digital Content & Intellectual Property to provide privacy leadership relating to AI governance, responsible data use, and emerging technology initiatives.

Qualifications - Required

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience.
• 10+ years leading privacy, compliance, governance, or related enterprise programs.
• Practical understanding of GDPR, CCPA/CPRA, U.S. state privacy laws, and other applicable privacy regulations; familiarity student privacy requirements (FERPA, etc.)
• Experience building and operating enterprise privacy programs.
• Strong cross-functional leadership, program management, and communication skills.
• Ability to translate regulatory requirements into practical business processes and assess technical solutions.

Qualifications - Preferred

• Experience in education, publishing, SaaS, or technology organizations.
• Familiarity with international privacy regulations, particularly in Canada, Mexico, Brazil, the EU, China, India, and Australia.
• CIPP/US, CIPP/E, CIPM, or similar certification.
• Experience implementing or leading a privacy management platform (e.g., Transcend.io, MineOS, etc.) strongly preferred.

Cengage is committed to working with broad talent pools to attract and hire strong and most qualified individuals. Our job applicants are considered regardless of any classification protected by applicable federal, state, provincial or local laws.

Cengage is also committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities including during our job application process. If you are an applicant with a disability and require reasonable accommodation in our job application process, please contact us at [e-mail].

About Cengage

Cengage, 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 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.

In this position, you will be eligible to participate in the company’s discretionary incentive bonus program. This position's bonus target amount, which is not guaranteed and is dependent on individual performance and overall company results among other factors, is provided below.

25% Annual: Individual Target

$138,200.00 - $179,650.00 USD