Head of Product and Privacy
Over the coming years, biotech will fundamentally rewrite the way we live. Gene editing and cell therapy are dramatically changing how we treat cancer and other major illnesses. Biofuels and biomaterials are transforming the cars we drive, the clothes we wear, and the makeup of everyday objects. Crop science and synthetic biology are producing sustainable and ethical food. Benchling’s mission is to accelerate the research that propels us towards this reality, and magnify its impact, through modern software.
Every day, scientists around the world use Benchling’s applications, platform, & analytics in their efforts to solve humanity’s most pressing problems. For these scientists, Benchling is the central technology they use to conduct their research. Our customers include pharmaceutical giants, leading biotechs, and the world’s most renowned research institutes.
ROLE OVERVIEW
We are looking for a mission-driven, collaborative, and highly-motivated individual to join as an early member of the legal team as we assemble a world-class group from the ground up. The right person for this role must be a team player who is comfortable operating in a fast-paced, high-growth environment and is able to balance legal risk with business objectives. As Head of Product and Privacy, you will have a broad range of responsibilities, including partnering with our internal engineering, product, and design teams and serving as a trusted advisor to internal stakeholders. You will build and maintain our privacy compliance program, and handle all aspects of product, intellectual property, and privacy matters relating to Benchling’s platform, products and services.
WHAT YOU WILL WORK ON
- Partnering with product and engineering teams to provide guidance on legal issues related to product design, development, and operations, with specific attention to privacy, data protection, IP protection, and open source.
- Creating and developing legal processes and documentation to support new product or other business initiatives, including an invention disclosure program
- Designing, improving, and implementing our global privacy and data protection compliance program and processes, as well as educating our teams about relevant privacy and data protection laws.
- Establishing and maintaining privacy and data protection policies, notices or other documentation, as well as managing privacy and data protection terms in standard contractual arrangements and supporting the commercial legal team in negotiations with customers.
- Working closely with the product, engineering, security and IT teams to support our security initiatives, incident response plans, frameworks, and requirements.
- Monitoring and advising on regulatory and industry developments, including trends in privacy and security laws, regulatory guidance, enforcement actions, and public policy.
ABOUT YOU
- J.D., with strong academic credentials and membership in at least one U.S. state bar (CA, NY preferred).
- 7+ years of experience as product and privacy counsel (including in-house and law firm experience).
- Outstanding written and verbal communication skills, with ability to advocate for a position while maintaining a collaborative and open-minded approach.
- Highly organized, reliable, detail-oriented, and diligent.
- Ability to work on multiple issues simultaneously and to set appropriate priorities with clients and to deliver results efficiently.
- Proven ability to provide entrepreneurial, pragmatic, business-oriented advice, with a dedication to superior customer service.
- Ability to operate autonomously while being a team player who brings a positive attitude to the job.
- Deep experience and knowledge of U.S. and international security, privacy and data protection laws, including HIPAA, CCPA and GDPR.
- Ability to design and implement privacy compliance programs
- Experience working on enterprise SaaS, biotech, healthcare or life sciences-related technology products and services.
- Most importantly, you have a growth mindset, embrace change, and practice with kindness, humility, empathy, integrity, and levity.
Benchling welcomes everyone. We believe every member of our team enriches our diversity and inclusion by broadening our ways of problem-solving for future challenges. Even if you don't meet 100% of the qualifications for this job, we strongly encourage you to apply.
LEADERSHIP PRINCIPLES
- Admit mistakes and shortcomings
- Deliver results
- Disagree and commit
- Obsess over customers
- Rely on work ethic
- Show empathy
- Recruit and develop the best
- Sweat the details
- Think and communicate clearly
- Unite around the mission
PERKS AND BENEFITS
- Work with a talented yet humble team
- Competitive compensation & equity package
- Weekly virtual social events, and annual company retreats
- 401k, Medical, dental, and vision insurance (US Employees Only)
- Monthly health & wellness stipend
- Yearly educational stipend
- Flexible & Generous Vacation Policy: If you feel you need a break, you can talk directly with your manager to find coverage and support while you are out of the office. Need time off to vote? We've got you covered.
- Quarterly company-wide mental health days off
- Holiday Shut-down: company-wide holiday shut-down between Christmas Eve and New Years
- Major US and EMEA holidays observed
- To support remote work conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic, Benchling provides each employee a one-time stipend of $1,000(USD) upon commencing employment, and additional discounted employee purchase plans for home-office equipment.
Protecting the health of our employees and the candidates interested in a role at Benchling is our top priority. We appreciate your understanding and being open and flexible with any changes related to our interviewing process.
For applicants for U.S.-based roles only: All new hires in the United States are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and to provide proof of vaccination prior to their first day of employment. If you are unable to be vaccinated for medical or religious reasons, we will explore potential reasonable accommodations; however, Benchling may not be able to grant such accommodations in all cases if doing so would cause an undue hardship.
We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We also consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records, consistent with applicable federal, state and local law, including but not limited to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance.