Vice President, Data Privacy Officer

Strada Education Foundation, Inc. is seeking a highly experienced data privacy officer and legal counsel to join the Office of the General Counsel. This role is dedicated to supporting CredLens, a non-profit subsidiary of Strada, and is essential for ensuring compliance with all applicable privacy laws, managing CredLens contracting processes and legal matters, and advising on regulatory issues. A crucial element of the role will be to ensure consistency and/or compliance with Strada's policies as applicable to the function of CredLens, and to provide transparency to the Office of General Counsel on legal, compliance and regulatory matters involving CredLens. The successful candidate will play a critical role in overseeing the legal framework that supports CredLens' mission to deliver actionable insights and power ongoing research for industry-based, professional and workforce credentials.

CredLens, established in 2024, is an independent corporate entity affiliated with Strada Education Foundation. Our mission is to build a nonprofit national data trust focused on verified outcomes for non-degree credentials. CredLens will deliver actionable insights and power ongoing research for industry-based, professional, and workforce credentials.CredLens is designed to fill the data gap for non-degree credentials. The attainment of these credentials is growing, but there is little to no data tracking their outcomes. CredLens will offer tailored data analytics and visualizations to credential issuers, workforce training providers, philanthropic funding partnerships, and state system partnerships to support the continuous improvement of credential quality and to support informed funding and scaling decisions.

Strada Education Foundation is a national nonprofit social impact organization that supports programs, policies, and organizations that strengthen connections between education and employment in the U.S., with a special focus on helping those who have faced the greatest challenges securing economic opportunity through postsecondary education or training (PSET). Our new strategic plan focuses on five strategic pillars: clear outcomes, quality coaching, affordable PSET, work-based learning, and employer alignment. We work with partners in education and training, nonprofit organizations, industry, startups, and public policy. We leverage strategic philanthropy, investments, research, communications, advocacy, and collaborating organizations as tools to help advance equitable pathways to opportunity. Strada aspires to be a nonprofit partner of choice working with education and training providers and leaders, policymakers, and peer organizations. Strada offers a dynamic, collaborative, and inspiring professional environment that provides learning and professional development opportunities, both within the organization and with external partners.

Key Responsibilities

• Data Privacy: Ensure the protection and privacy of highly sensitive personal information at CredLens, including data submitted by credential issuers and training providers, including collaborating with the CTO and information security team to implement technical and organizational measures for securing sensitive data.
• Compliance Oversight: Oversee and ensure compliance with all applicable privacy laws and regulations at CredLens, including the development and implementation of a comprehensive privacy policy and data governance framework across the organization.
• Agreement Drafting and Negotiation: Draft, review, and negotiate all agreements, including for outcomes data sources, issuer customers, and other strategic partnerships, ensuring continued compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
• Agreement Management: With the CTO, establish procedures for managing and complying with all agreement terms with multiple sources of outcomes data and numerous issuers, ensuring data are only used for authorized use cases and all that data are de-identified or expunged in accordance with agreement terms.
• Advisory Role: Advise the CEO and leadership team on all data privacy and security-related compliance, legal, and regulatory issues; monitor changes in privacy and information security laws and regulations and advise on evolving compliance expectations.
• Collaboration: Act as a full member of the Strada legal team to ensure compliance by CredLens with Strada policies, including, without limitation, those governing employment, corporate compliance and governance, and applicable laws and regulations, including non-profit tax regulations, employment and labor laws. Work in collaboration with other SEF team members to Identify, report, assess and mitigate legal risks associated with the organization's operations through insurance coverage, contract provisions limiting or transferring risk, or use of other strategies.
• Policy Development: Develop and implement policies and procedures to ensure CredLens compliance with privacy and data security-related legal and regulatory requirements including, without limitation, policies for addressing data subject rights and incident response protocols.
• Ethical Standards: Uphold the highest ethical standards and promote a culture of compliance within CredLens.

The Person: Qualifications and Experience

• Education: Juris Doctor (JD) degree from an accredited law school.
• Licensure: Licensed attorney with a minimum of 8 years of legal experience.
• Data Privacy: At least 4 years of experience in the area of data privacy and compliance. Experience with companies or organizations that manage sensitive data is preferred.
• Contract Negotiation: Proven experience in drafting, negotiating, and managing complex commercial contracts.
• Regulatory Knowledge: Deep understanding of privacy laws, including GDPR, CCPA, FERPA, and other relevant regulations.
• Advisory Experience: Experience advising senior executives on legal and regulatory matters.
• Communication Skills: Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Skills

• Strategic Thinking: Ability to think strategically about legal and compliance issues.
• Problem-Solving: Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to navigate complex legal environments.
• Attention to Detail: High level of accuracy and attention to detail in legal documentation and compliance matters.
• Interpersonal Skills: Strong interpersonal and relationship-building skills.
• Project Management: Excellent organizational and project management abilities.
• Ethics and Integrity: Commitment to ethical practices and integrity in all dealings.

Mission and Values Alignment

• Commitment to DEI: Demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• Collaborative Capabilities: Ability to cultivate and manage positive relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
• Personal Attributes: Thrives under pressure, mission-driven, operationally focused, excels in building relationships, and is a collaborative team player. Maintains a positive and energetic attitude. Demonstrates sound judgment and possesses impeccable character.

Travel Requirements

• Willingness to travel as required to meet with stakeholders and attend relevant conferences and meetings.

Committed to providing equitable pathways to opportunity through PSET, particularly for individuals who have faced significant barriers. Demonstrated alignment with Strada's guiding values, commitment to building a strong and healthy workplace culture, and working in a collaborative environment.

Adept at operationalizing strategy and effectively communicating strategic endeavors within the organization and in external contexts, both verbally and in writing. Particular skill in designing annual plans, monitoring progress, and refining plans as needed. Adaptable with tolerance for ambiguity. Able to problem-solve and navigate varied viewpoints. Capacity to refine efforts based on evidence that change is needed. Ability to lead efforts to visualize and monitor change. Capability to see and support innovative ideas and opportunities across the organization, and to embed innovation within operational plans. Capabilities in taking the perspective of others and adapting an agenda and approach – toward a shared aim - accordingly.

Ability to effectively utilize a hypothesis-driven approach to problem solving, with effective quantitative and communication skills. Ability to take on broad-reaching and sometimes ambiguous questions while working collaboratively and cross-functionally with Strada team members across the organization.

Ability to translate innovative, strategic ideas into tangible, actionable steps, as well as to effectively monitor progress and partner with others on identifying improvements during implementation to increase the likelihood of successful execution.

Commitment and professional experience advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion within and organization, including incorporating stakeholder perspectives in the design, implementation, and evaluation of strategic efforts.

Demonstrated ability to cultivate, grow, and manage positive, mutually beneficial relationships at all levels of an organization and with partners outside the organization. Strong communication, interpersonal and relationship management skills—including identifying and working through challenges—underscored by strong judgment and emotional intelligence. Proven collaborator, able to work with colleagues at all levels in the organization.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion are central to Strada's organizational vibrancy, employee experience, and mission. Strada is Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Workplace-certified by Diversity for Social Impact, a strategic professional and organization development company dedicated to promoting diversity and inclusion to drive social impact worldwide. We strongly encourage applicants from people of color/the global majority, immigrant, bilingual, and bicultural individuals; people with disabilities, members of the LGBTQIA2S+ and gender nonconforming communities; and people with other diverse backgrounds and lived experiences. We believe every member on the team enriches our workplace by exposing us to a broad range of ways to understand and engage with the world, identify challenges, and discover, design, and deliver critical insights and solutions.