Fast Facts

Coursera is seeking a Product Counsel to provide legal guidance on global product development, consumer protection, privacy, and AI regulations, collaborating closely with cross-functional teams.

Responsibilities: Key responsibilities include ensuring compliance with global product regulations, advising on marketing and product strategies, and managing privacy and AI compliance.

Skills: Required skills include expertise in global consumer protection laws, privacy regulations, and legal risk assessment, along with strong interpersonal and communication skills.

Qualifications: Preferred qualifications include in-house experience in a tech company serving global users, particularly in consumer, enterprise, or education sectors, and a proven ability to build strong stakeholder relationships.

Location: This position is remote within the USA, and candidates must have a compatible timezone overlap with their teams.

Compensation: $132000 - $172000 / Annually

Coursera was launched in 2012 by Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller with a mission to provide universal access to world-class learning. It is now one of the largest online learning platforms in the world, with 183 million registered learners as of June 30, 2025. Coursera partners with over 350 leading university and industry partners to offer a broad catalog of content and credentials, including courses, Specializations, Professional Certificates, and degrees. Coursera’s platform innovations enable instructors to deliver scalable, personalized, and verified learning experiences to their learners. Institutions worldwide rely on Coursera to upskill and reskill their employees, citizens, and students in high-demand fields such as GenAI, data science, technology, and business. Coursera is a Delaware public benefit corporation and a B Corp.

We’re a global platform aiming to transform lives through learning by offering transformative courses, certificates, and degrees that empower learners worldwide to advance their careers through skill mastery. We’re looking for inventors, innovators, and lifelong learners eager to shape the future of education. If you’re ready to build the global programs and tools that fuel the power of online learning, join Team Coursera.

At Coursera, we are committed to building a globally diverse team and are thrilled to extend employment opportunities to individuals in any country where we have a legal entity. We require candidates to possess eligible working rights and have a compatible timezone overlap with their team to facilitate seamless collaboration. 

Coursera has a commitment to enabling flexibility and workspace choices for employees. Our interviews and onboarding are entirely virtual, providing a smooth and efficient experience for our candidates. As an employee, we enable you to select your main way of working, whether it's from home, one of our offices or hubs, or a co-working space near you.

Job Overview:

Legal and Compliance is responsible for managing all legal and regulatory matters, including contracts, corporate governance, general compliance, academic compliance, employment law matters, intellectual property, product counseling, government relations, and claims. The team includes dedicated teams that support every aspect of Coursera's platform, including university, enterprise, and industry partnerships.

Coursera is looking for a talented tech lawyer with global experience to serve as our Product Counsel. Working across the entire company, you will provide strategic legal guidance on product development, marketing initiatives, consumer protection, intellectual property and SaaS matters globally. A key responsibility will be collaborating with cross-functional stakeholders (including Product, Marketing, and Engineering teams) across multiple geographies to ensure compliance with consumer protection, product safety, privacy, and marketing regulations, particularly in the US. The role involves conducting legal risk assessments, reviewing marketing materials, advising on product features, and navigating complex regulatory requirements across jurisdictions. Knowledge of privacy and AI regulations will be essential as these areas increasingly intersect with product development.

We're looking for a team member who is passionate about business growth and education, and energized by the challenges of growing a mission-driven business globally. The role requires excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to build strong relationships with global stakeholders across different cultures and time zones.

Responsibilities:

• Global Product Regulatory and Consumer Protection: Act as the primary point of contact on global product regulations, consumer protection laws, and subscription matters, with a primary focus on US (including FTC regulations and state laws) and EU regulations. Ensure adherence to these frameworks across all product and service offerings while providing pragmatic counsel to support business objectives. Work collaboratively with cross functional teams to devise strategic initiatives that not only ensure compliance but also enhance product safety, foster user trust, and align with business goals. 
• Privacy Compliance. Expertise in privacy and data protection compliance, focusing on US state and federal laws and the GDPR, particularly as they intersect with product development and marketing initiatives. Work closely with privacy counsel to provide business-aligned risk mitigation strategies, ensuring compliance with relevant privacy regulations. 
• AI Regulations: Expert on the emerging landscape of AI regulations, including the EU AI Act and similar global frameworks under development. Guide the organization in adopting ethical AI practices that comply with these evolving standards. Monitor advancements in AI-specific compliance requirements, ensuring responsible implementation of AI technologies. Collaborate with product, engineering, security and cross functional legal teams, to embed AI regulatory adherence across all AI/ML-enabled features, safeguarding data privacy and promoting ethical use of artificial intelligence.
• Strategic Product Counseling and Cross-Functional Collaboration Collaborate closely with Product, Engineering, Marketing, and other business teams across various geographies and time zones to provide strategic legal guidance throughout the product development lifecycle. Review product roadmaps, feature implementations, and user experiences to ensure compliance with applicable regulations while supporting business objectives. Develop and implement practical, risk-based solutions that balance legal requirements with business needs. Build strong relationships with stakeholders, serving as a trusted business partner by offering practical guidance that fosters business growth and ensures regulatory compliance.
• Marketing/Promotions Compliance: Partner with marketing and product teams in reviewing promotional activities across all channels. Ensure compliance with global marketing and advertising laws, including promotion terms, and dark patterns.
• Program Development and Risk Management: Help develop, implement, and scale our global product compliance program. Create standardized policies, tools, processes, and training materials. Build and improve playbooks for product launches and marketing initiatives. Conduct product risk assessments and implement appropriate mitigation strategies. Track and analyze regulatory developments in consumer protection, privacy and data protection, AI laws and regulations in key markets and potential impacts on products and services.

Basic Qualifications:

• A Juris Doctor (JD) degree and admission to a state bar with good standing
• 5+ years of relevant experience at a law firm or in-house legal department or both
• Experience with global consumer protection laws and, specifically, experience with FTC regulations and US state consumer protection laws
• Experience developing and implementing compliance programs and playbooks
• Experience with US state and federal privacy regulations as they intersect with product development
• Experience with building rapport with stakeholders at all levels of seniority across the business and the ability to analyze and explain complex concepts quickly and accurately

Preferred Qualifications:

• Prior in-house experience at a technology company with a product serving users globally across at least two of the following verticals across multiple international jurisdictions: consumer, enterprise, and education.
• Experience working in a fast-paced, global technology company
• Demonstrated ability to balance legal risks with business objectives
• Track record of building strong relationships with stakeholders across different cultures and time zones
• In CST or EST time zone

If this opportunity interests you, you might like these courses on Coursera:

• Promote the Ethical Use of Data-Driven Technologies
• Artificial Intelligence Privacy and Convenience

Compensation

US Zone 1

This role is not available in Zone 1

US Zone 2

$137,000 to $172,000 USD

US Zone 3

$132,000 to $165,000 USD

The range(s) listed above is the expected annual base salary for this role, subject to change.

Salary is just one component of Coursera’s total rewards package. All regular employees are also eligible for a bonus program and equity in the form of RSU’s.

A number of factors are taken into account when determining pay, which includes: job level, location, training/education, business need, skill set and internal equity. 

Current Zone Locations:

• Zone 1- San Francisco Metro, New York City Metro or Seattle Metro
• Zone 2 - CA (outside of SF Bay Area), CO, CT, DC, GA, IL, MA, MD, NY/NJ (other than NYC), OR, RI, TX, VA, WA (other than Seattle)
• Zone 3 - all other US locations

#LI-CY

Coursera is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer and considers all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status, national origin, protected veteran status, disability, or any other legally protected class.

If you are an individual with a disability and require a reasonable accommodation to complete any part of the application process, please contact us at [email protected].

For California Candidates, please review our CCPA Applicant Notice here.

For our Global Candidates, please review our GDPR Recruitment Notice here.