Senior Counsel

Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com, Jetpack, WooCommerce, Tumblr and more, is seeking a talented attorney to support our product, privacy, and regulatory work.

We’re looking for a versatile lawyer who gets things done with minimum friction, makes the complex seem simple, and can provide actionable advice to help business teams launch great products for our vibrant community of users. You’ll advise product, engineering, and marketing teams to launch new products that delight our users; untangle the complex web of global regulations that apply to Automattic’s business; and protect free expression and the open web.

Responsibilities: 

• Advise product, engineering, and trust & safety teams on implementation of a broad assortment of regulations and industry standards, with a focus on content safety, consumer protection, intellectual property, privacy, and data security. Familiarity with laws like DSA, the UK and Australian Online Safety Acts, EU AI Act, and worldwide age-assurance laws is a major plus.
• Provide product counseling on a wide array of products relating to web hosting, site creation, content publication, ecommerce, social media, and more, using a business-forward approach that puts our customers at the center of your analysis.
• Provide subject matter expertise on data protection and privacy laws, such as GDPR and CCPA, advise on consent frameworks for digital marketing and advertising, and build scalable processes for documenting compliance.
• Track and prepare for upcoming regulations, and participate in industry groups around the globe, representing Automattic before regulators and advocating for Automattic’s interests before government agencies and officials.
• Work with trust & safety teams to develop and oversee policies championing freedom of expression and user safety while complying with applicable laws.
• Design processes and workflows that enable the legal team to effectively scale compliance in a manner that meets the increase in regulatory and privacy requirements.

Requirements: 

• JD from a US accredited law school with 5+ years of relevant experience (or an exception EU-based attorney)
• Familiarity with the industries, concepts, and business models relevant to Automattic’s products (e.g., open source, user-generated content, web hosting, social media, ecommerce, and digital advertising) and the product, privacy, and regulatory requirements that apply to them.
• Humble and eager teammate who is also able to function independently and work in an asynchronous environment, with a willingness and ability to stretch into new areas like litigation or IP if needed.
• Be comfortable in the grey areas, and have the ability to provide recommendations and offer clear thinking even with imperfect information.

We are hiring at either the Counsel or Senior Counsel level, and we encourage candidates across both levels to apply. Title, compensation, and the scope of independent ownership over the matters described above will reflect the experience and qualifications a candidate brings to the role. 

Compensation and Benefits

We are currently prioritizing candidates who reside in the United States or Europe.

Salary range: $180,000 - $300,000 USD.  Please note that salary ranges are global, regardless of location, and we pay in local currency.

We are searching for high-caliber candidates with the skills and qualities to have a net positive for Automattic. Pay will reflect the potential contribution and the impact you can bring, which may, in some cases, go beyond the range stated.

This isn’t your typical work-from-home job; we are a fully-remote company with an open vacation policy. Read more about our compensation philosophy. To see a full list of benefits by country, consult our Benefits Page. And check out these links to learn more about How We Hire and What We Expect from Ourselves. #LI-DNI

About Automattic 

Now in our 20th year, we’re the people behind WordPress.com, WooCommerce, Beeper, Tumblr, Simplenote, Jetpack, Longreads, Day One, PocketCasts, and more. We believe in making the web a better place.

We’re a distributed company with more than 1500 Automatticians in nearly every corner of the globe, speaking over a hundred different languages. Enriched by this diversity, we’re united by a singular mission: to democratize publishing, commerce, and messaging so anyone with a story can tell it, anyone with a product can sell it, and everyone can manage their communications from a single source. In short, we help maintain a balance in society, creating and continually refining powerful tools people can use to compete fairly—regardless of income, gender, politics, language, or where they live in the world.

We believe in Open Source, and the vast majority of our work is available under the GPL. Automattic is a Most Loved Company, an Equal Opportunity employer, and Disability Confident Committed. (Here’s what that might mean for you.) If you need accommodations during the application or interview process, please fill out this form. We are committed to ensuring an accessible hiring process for all candidates. Learn more about our Employee Resource Groups.

You can track your application status and more at MyGreenhouse.

To learn about how we handle your data, please review our Job Applicant & Candidate Privacy Notice and our Privacy Policy.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran. View the “Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal” poster here. Automattic participates in the E-Verify program in certain locations, as required by law.