Join the World's Top Legal Talent Network

We are a diverse, fully distributed team from around the world, working toward a shared vision to raise the standard of trust online.

Join our Law & Policy Team as an Associate General Counsel to support DuckDuckGo's rapid growth.

As part of our team, you will work with individuals at all levels to ensure legal compliance across our operations. For example, you will oversee key transactions, develop internal policies, advise HR and assist in growing our Law & Policy Team.

We empower our team to be self-directed and self-motivated in their work. If you'd thrive in that environment, and our core values resonate with you -- build trust, question assumptions, and validate direction -- you'll fit right in!

What you will do:

• Propose and lead high-complexity projects, turning vague problems into tightly-scoped high-impact projects and executing them against a set of success criteria.
• Assist in growing a team of in-house attorneys dedicated to enabling DuckDuckGo's growth. You will be expected to be a leader on the team and participate with hiring and mentoring attorneys and emerging leaders.
• Serve as principal legal advisor on relevant business operations.
• Support contracting, from vendor selection (including GDPR compliance) through contract execution, drafting template agreements, managing existing contracts, and advising on best practices, standards, and model clauses in transactional law.
• Develop internal policies and procedures to ensure compliance with international, federal, state, and local laws and regulations.
• Assist in navigating HR and immigration issues, both domestic and international.
• Review marketing materials for compliance with advertising law.
• Timely respond to subpoenas and manage document production in litigation.
• Analyze legal issues through risk assessment, risk management, and pragmatic decision-making lenses, rather than simply identifying areas of a potential legal risk.
• Ability to work under pressure in a fast-paced, innovative, rapidly changing environment. getting up to speed on new areas of law quickly and effectively, and comfortably in a startup business environment.
• Assist with online privacy and tech policy issues when needed.
• Work closely and collaboratively with our General Counsel and the broader DuckDuckGo team.

What we are looking for:

• Residence in the US.
• Minimum of 10+ years of experience as an attorney, ideally with 2+ years as an in-house counsel at a fast growing technology company.
• 4+ years of experience in leadership roles (e.g. Head of Legal, Director, Associate General Counsel).
• Experience in counselling technical product teams.
• Background in general corporate, privacy/GDPR, marketing, advertising, licensing, financing, and employment issues.
• Pennsylvania Bar membership, or willingness and ability to waive in.
• Superior written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong project management skills, with the ability to carry ideas forward with confidence and discretion while working proactively, independently, and transparently.

Other things to know:

• While we leverage specific job titles for hiring purposes, we do not use them internally. Instead, we follow our own professional levels, with expectations for each level clearly defined across several dimensions.
• We are a small, remote team distributed across time zones, and we rely on a variety of communication tools throughout the day. You should feel comfortable with the intricacies of this type of work situation.
• Sometimes we meet up! Expect to travel at least two times a year: once for our all-hands meetup and again for a team retreat (each ~4-5 days).
• We believe in a focused approach to collaboration, where individual team members work on a single top priority at a time, each supporting larger, company-wide objectives. This philosophy serves to impact our vision to raise the standard of trust online.
• Our work philosophy centers on empowered project management. All team members have opportunities to run projects.
• Transparency supports individual and team success at DuckDuckGo. We encourage everyone to participate in areas of interest throughout the company. Anyone and everyone can (and should) ask questions and offer feedback about our products and internal projects.
• We strive to exemplify our values (build trust, question assumptions, and validate direction) in everything we do.
• While this is a full-time job and we offer a flexible work arrangement with no core hours, expect an average commitment of 40 hours per week.
• We support professional development of our team members through career advisory and a learning stipend, reinforcing our culture of growth and skill-building.

Other reasons to love working at DuckDuckGo:

• Flexible vacation and sick leave practices
• Flexible work schedule
• Company-wide hack days
• Company and team meetups
• Open participation in company strategy
• Family leave policy
• Co-working reimbursement
• Hardware and office setup benefits
• Wellness and learning benefits
• Charitable donation matching
• US health benefits
• US 401k
• "Use good judgment" approach to company policies

We work directly with each candidate throughout a unique hiring process that we've built to reflect our company culture.

DuckDuckGo provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.

If you think you might thrive in this environment, we would love to hear from you.

Please note that:

• A successful candidate will be subject to a background check.
• By applying for this role, you confirm that information submitted is accurate and that you understand falsification is cause for denial of employment or termination.