Hybrid Head of Product, Technology, and Data Legal

at Vonage

• Job title: Head of Product, Technology, and Data Legal
• Job type: Full Time
• Experience level: Lead
• Salary: $237,380 - $312,000 per year
• Degree requirement: Postgraduate Degree
• Tech skills: Cloud, Open Source, Swift
• Location requirements: Hybrid, Holmdel, United States

About the role

• Lead and manage a team of attorneys advising on product, technology, and data legal matters at Vonage. Collaborating with business leadership while ensuring compliance and driving innovation globally.

Responsibilities

• Provide leadership and legal guidance as a strategic business partner who is wanted in the room to execute growth plans in direct partnership with the Vice President of APIs, and Product, Architecture, Data, Developers, Marketing/Communations, and Intellectual Property leadership.
• Lead, mentor, and manage a team of attorneys and legal professionals working as one-team that is open and inclusive, fostering a culture of integrity and compliance, business partnership, and professional development with simple, outcome based solutions that support the company's product roadmap, technology initiatives, and long-term business goals.
• Facilitate and execute impactful and outcome based solutions while leading and encouraging continuous learning, curiosity and innovation to enable swift and well informed product, technology and data decisions that accelerate growth.
• Develop and support customer-friendly, compliant, and risk-appropriate solutions for products that can be easily built into Vonage operations.
• Serve as the Legal Department’s subject matter expert in relation to Vonage products, data, and intellectual property consideration. Direct the company’s global data and privacy compliance, providing expert counsel on regulations such as GDPR, CCPA, AI and Data Act, and emerging global data laws. Implement legal frameworks and easy to understand policies for the responsible and compliant development and deployment of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) technologies. Lead team that advises on data governance, data security, data retention, and legal obligations related to data responsibilities.
• Collaborate with product, legal/compliance and marketing to ensure E2E support for Vonage products and services.
• Oversee the strategic management and protection of the company’s global IP portfolio, in partnership with Vonage parent organization, including patents, trademarks, and trade secrets. Implement simplified internal policies and training to ensure compliance with open source licenses and best practices for internal IP generation and defense, and provide legal guidance on technology-driven transactions, strategic partnerships, and M&A due diligence.
• Report to the General Counsel, Vonage
• Be comfortable working with international counterparties and engage important stakeholders across the broader organization within diverse jurisdictions.
• Enhance and standardize positions and procedures for a global framework that enables effective E2E management of operations, including providing key product decisions and visibility across legal partners and business stakeholders.
• Manage external counsel engagement, budgets, and relationships for specialized legal matters.

Requirements

• Admitted to at least one state bar in the US (or UK-qualified solicitor or barrister in the UK) with 10+ years post-bar admission/qualification experience, including experience in in-house setting focusing on product counseling, technology law and privacy/data protection.
• Strong in-house legal experience in fast-paced technology, enterprise, SaaS, or cloud communications companies.
• Proven experience managing and leading team of attorneys and legal professionals, including direct and indirect teams across high-growth organizations, to provide outcome based and simplified solutions, including streamlined procedures and and third party positions.
• Skilled in successfully navigating cross-functional teams and coordinating in advance with stakeholders across highly matrixed organizations.
• Deep expertise in managing broad scope and complex product legal guidance, including data, privacy, artificial intelligence, communications, marketing, and intellectual property for technology enterprises, with experience building innovative and simplified solutions early in the product lifecycle.
• Exceptional attention to detail, verbal/written communication, and diplomacy to drive consensus.
• Proactive, self-motivated leader with proven leadership, multitasking and stakeholder management skills.
• High integrity with a commitment to ethical standards and effective leadership.
• Business-oriented mindset with strong acumen, problem-solving and project management skills. Demonstrated ability to translate complex legal issues into actionable, business-friendly advice.

Benefits

• Company Bonus or Commission Structure (depending on the role)
• Medical, Dental, and Vision Coverage Options
• 401(k) Savings Plan
• Company-Paid Basic Life and AD&D Insurance
• Short-Term Disability (STD)
• Long-Term Disability (LTD)
• Maternity/Parental Leave
• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)
• Health Savings Account (HSA)
• Employee Support Program (EAP)
• Voluntary Supplemental Insurance
• Lifestyle Benefits
• Volunteer Time Off (VTO)
• Tuition Reimbursement - available for select positions; full details will be shared during the interview process