Legal Counsel IT & Privacy

Job description

Who we are Helsing is a defence AI company. Our mission is to protect our democracies. We aim to achieve technological leadership, so that open societies can continue to make sovereign decisions and control their ethical standards. As democracies, we believe we have a special responsibility to be thoughtful about the development and deployment of powerful technologies like AI. We take this responsibility seriously. We are an ambitious and committed team of engineers, AI specialists and customer-facing programme managers. We are looking for mission-driven people to join our European teams – and apply their skills to solve the most complex and impactful problems. We embrace an open and transparent culture that welcomes healthy debates on the use of technology in defence, its benefits, and its ethical implications. The role You will own data protection and privacy across Helsing's group of companies, building our framework from the ground up. Working within the Legal team, you will be the go-to adviser on the GDPR, the AI Act and international privacy regimes, guiding product, engineering and commercial colleagues on how personal data is handled in AI model development, training and deployment. You will set the records, assessments and policies that keep us compliant in Germany, the UK, France and new markets as we grow. Privacy at Helsing is not a compliance afterthought. It shapes how our products are designed and how governments trust us with sensitive data. The day-to-day Build and maintain Helsing's data protection framework across all entities, covering records of processing activities, data protection impact assessments, privacy policies and breach response processes Advise product and engineering teams on privacy-by-design, training-data governance, international data transfers and the interplay between the GDPR and the AI Act, turning regulation into practical guidance teams can apply Draft, review and negotiate data processing agreements, joint controller agreements and privacy clauses in commercial and government contracts Partner with our Data Protection Officers and external DPOs across jurisdictions, handle data subject requests and act as our contact with supervisory authorities Deliver privacy training across the organisation and support M&A, procurement and new market entry with data protection due diligence You should apply if you Are a fully qualified lawyer (2. Staatsexamen or equivalent in another jurisdiction) Have advised technology or AI organisations on the GDPR in practice, including privacy-by-design, data governance and international transfer mechanisms Have drafted and negotiated data processing agreements and IT contracts, in a law firm or in-house Translate complex regulatory requirements into clear, pragmatic advice that non-legal colleagues can act on Communicate fluently in English, with the judgement to balance regulatory rigour and commercial pace in sensitive government and defence contexts Note: We operate in an industry where women, as well as other minority groups, are systematically under-represented. We encourage you to apply even if you don’t meet all the listed qualifications; ability and impact cannot be summarised in a few bullet points. Nice to Have Advise on emerging digital regulation such as the AI Act, NIS2 and DORA, or hold further legal qualifications such as an LL.M or Dr. iur Work comfortably in German as well as English