Senior Counsel, Privacy Counsel

About Ancestry:

When you join Ancestry, you join a human-centered company where every person’s story is important. Ancestry®, the global leader in family history, connects everyone with their past so they can discover, preserve, and share their unique family stories. With our unparalleled collection of more than 65 billion records, over 3.5 million subscribers, and over 27 million people in our growing DNA network, customers can discover their family story and gain a new level of understanding about their lives. Over the past 40 years, we’ve built trusted relationships with millions of people who have chosen us as the platform for discovering, preserving, and sharing the most important information about themselves and their families.

We are committed to our location flexible work approach, allowing you to choose to work in the nearest office, from your home, or a hybrid of both (subject to location restrictions and roles that are required to be in the office- see the full list of eligible US locations HERE). We will continue to hire and promote beyond the boundaries of our office locations, to enable broadened possibilities for employee diversity.

Together, we work every day to foster a work environment that's inclusive as well as diverse, and where our people can be themselves. Every idea and perspective is valued so that our products and services reflect the global and diverse clients we serve. 

Ancestry encourages applications from minorities, women, the disabled, protected veterans and all other qualified applicants. Passionate about dedicating your work to enriching people’s lives? Join the curious.

About the Role

Ancestry is looking for a Senior Counsel, Privacy to support the Global Product and Privacy Team on privacy initiatives and governance. You will be the "boots on the ground" for US privacy operations and corporate governance, focusing on the negotiation of data protection terms and the implementation of our global privacy frameworks. This is a high-impact role for a lawyer who enjoys the intersection of complex commercial transactions, Sensitive Data handling, AI governance, and evolving privacy law.

What You’ll Do

• Support day-to-day operation of Ancestry’s global privacy governance program, including policy lifecycle management, DSARs, control validation, and risk escalation pathways

• Negotiate and manage data protection terms across a range of commercial agreements, including vendor contracts, DPAs, and content acquisition deals, serving as the primary legal point of contact for privacy-related contract matters.

• Advise on employee privacy matters, including HR data handling, internal tools, and development of employee-facing privacy policies and notices

• Draft clear and concise disclosures, disclaimers, FAQs, terms of use, policies and implement related processes.

• Review content acquisition agreements and provide legal advice to the content acquisition team on various issues relating to licensing content, scanning and indexing records.

• Partner cross-functionally to embed privacy requirements across the data lifecycle, from collection through deletion

• Support internal audits, regulatory inquiries, and compliance reporting related to privacy and data protection

• Monitor and interpret developments in privacy and consumer protection law (GDPR, CCPA, and emerging U.S. state and global laws)

• Support global consent management operations, including implementation and ongoing governance of tracking technologies

• Develop training, playbooks, and self-service guidance to scale privacy-by-design across the organization

Who You Are

• Juris Doctor (JD) or equivalent from an accredited institution and active bar membership in at least one U.S. jurisdiction.

• 5–7 years of legal experience, with a heavy focus on privacy law, governance, and negotiated data protection contract terms.

• IAPP certification preferred, not required.

• Deep understanding of GDPR and CCPA; experience with privacy governance tools and AI governance is highly preferred.

• Proven ability to design and scale legal playbooks for repeatable privacy reviews and internal audits.

• You deliver clear, actionable legal guidance in fast-moving environments and can build trusted relationships across the business.

Compensation

Ancestry values pay transparency and equity. As a signatory of the ParityPledge in Support of Women and the ParityPledge in Support of People of Color, we are pleased to share the base salary range for this position: $153,000 - $180,000 with eligibility for bonus, equity, and comprehensive benefits including health, dental, and vision. Actual salary will depend on location and experience. We will provide detailed compensation data for a specific location during the recruiting process.

Additional Information:

Ancestry is an Equal Opportunity Employer that makes employment decisions without regard to race, color, religious creed, national origin, ancestry, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, mental or physical disability, medical condition, military or veteran status, citizenship, marital status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. In addition, Ancestry will provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities.

All job offers are contingent on a background check screen that complies with applicable law. For candidates who live in San Francisco, CA, pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, Ancestry will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Ancestry is not accepting unsolicited assistance from search firms for this employment opportunity. All resumes submitted by search firms to any employee at Ancestry via-email, the Internet or in any form and/or method without a valid written search agreement in place for this position will be deemed the sole property of Ancestry. No fee will be paid in the event the candidate is hired by Ancestry as a result of the referral or through other means.