New

Senior Staff Data Security Privacy Engineer

United States

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.

Join us in our mission to create a world where anyone, anywhere can transform their life through access to education. We're seeking talented individuals who share our passion and drive to revolutionize the way the world learns.

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:

Sr. Staff Engineer, Data Security and Privacy is responsible for protecting sensitive information from unauthorized access or breaches and ensuring an organization's compliance with data protection laws and regulations. They develop and implement privacy programs, conduct risk assessments, and provide guidance on data security and privacy matters to various departments, ensuring a strong privacy-aware organizational culture.

Responsibilities:

  • Develop and Implement Privacy Programs: This includes creating and maintaining policies, procedures, and protocols related to data security and privacy. 


  • Data Classification and Handling: Develop and implement data classification policies, procedures, and guidelines for proper handling, storage, and disposal of different information categories.
  • Data Identification and Mapping: Create and maintain comprehensive data inventories identifying where sensitive information resides throughout the organization, ensuring appropriate controls and protections are applied.
  • Conduct Risk Assessments: Identify, evaluate, and mitigate data security and privacy risks, including potential vulnerabilities and threats.
  • Incident Response: Lead and coordinate incident response efforts related to data breaches or security incidents, including reporting, communication, and investigation. Ensure Compliance: Stay informed about and ensure compliance with relevant data protection laws and regulations (e.g., GDPR, CCPA, etc.). 
  • Privacy Training: Develop and deliver training programs to educate employees on data security and privacy best practices and responsibilities.
  • Collaboration and Communication: Work with various departments, including Legal/Privacy, Engineering, IT, and Sales/Marketing, to integrate privacy into organizational processes. Vendor Management: Oversee and manage vendor data security and privacy practices to ensure they align with organizational policies and legal requirements.
  • Contractual Reviews: Review contracts with Enterprise Customers and Partners to assure compliance with data security and privacy requirements.
  • Privacy Process Automation: Consult with relevant stakeholders to design and implement automated workflows for privacy and data security operations (e.g., data subject access requests, right to be forgotten requests) to ensure timely and consistent processing.
  • Data Loss Prevention: Implement and manage DLP controls across various endpoints and systems to prevent unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information.
  • Auditing and Monitoring: Conduct regular audits and monitoring to assess compliance and identify areas for improvement.
  • Advise and Consult: Provide guidance and advice to management and other stakeholders on data security and privacy matters.
  • Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs): Review and advise on DPIAs to assess the potential impact of data processing activities on privacy rights

Basic Qualifications:

  • 10+ years’ of working experience in an Information Security, Privacy and Compliance role and a strong understanding of privacy laws and regulations (e.g., GDPR, CCPA).
  • Experience with incident response planning and execution. Industry standard security certification(s) a Plus: CISSP, CISA, CISM, etc.
  • Knowledge of data breach notification procedures and knowledge of relevant industry standards and best practices.
  • Experience with data classification frameworks and governance programs and experience with data mapping methodologies and data discovery tools and exposure to configuring and managing DLP solutions and familiarity with workflow automation tools and ticketing systems (e.g., Jira, ServiceNow).


Preferred Qualifications:

  • Ability to analyze and interpret data and identify potential vulnerabilities.
  • Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
  • Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
  • Experience with privacy risk assessments and data protection impact assessments (DPIAs)

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

[FOR US ROLES ONLY]

Compensation

US Zone 1: $209,600 to $295,000 USD

US Zone 2: $1218,000 to $251,000 USD

US Zone 3: $167,000 to  $236,000 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

 

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 accommodations@coursera.org.
 
For California Candidates, please review our CCPA Applicant Notice here.
For our Global Candidates, please review our GDPR Recruitment Notice here.
 

Create a Job Alert

Interested in building your career at Coursera? Get future opportunities sent straight to your email.

Apply for this job

*

indicates a required field

Resume/CV*

Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf

Cover Letter

Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf

Select...
Select...
Select...
COURSERA IS A U.S. GOVERNMENT CONTRACTOR AND WE ARE REQUIRED TO INQUIRE ABOUT CONFLICTS BEFORE WE CAN RECRUIT CURRENT OR FORMER GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES. IF THIS APPLIES TO YOU, WE REQUEST A LETTER FROM YOUR SUPERVISOR THAT THEY HAVE BEEN INFORMED ABOUT YOUR CONTACT WITH COURSERA (OR AS A FORMER EMPLOYEE, A LETTER STATING AN ETHICS OPINION WHICH IDENTIFIES ANY LIMITATIONS WHICH APPLY TO YOUR WORK IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR). THE LETTER SHOULD IDENTIFY ANY CONFLICTS OR POTENTIAL CONFLICTS, IF ANY EXIST.

Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey. Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file.

As set forth in Coursera’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

Select...
Select...
Race & Ethnicity Definitions

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection. As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measure the effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categories is as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.

Select...

Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability

Form CC-305
Page 1 of 1
OMB Control Number 1250-0005
Expires 04/30/2026

Why are you being asked to complete this form?

We are a federal contractor or subcontractor. The law requires us to provide equal employment opportunity to qualified people with disabilities. We have a goal of having at least 7% of our workers as people with disabilities. The law says we must measure our progress towards this goal. To do this, we must ask applicants and employees if they have a disability or have ever had one. People can become disabled, so we need to ask this question at least every five years.

Completing this form is voluntary, and we hope that you will choose to do so. Your answer is confidential. No one who makes hiring decisions will see it. Your decision to complete the form and your answer will not harm you in any way. If you want to learn more about the law or this form, visit the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) website at www.dol.gov/ofccp.

How do you know if you have a disability?

A disability is a condition that substantially limits one or more of your “major life activities.” If you have or have ever had such a condition, you are a person with a disability. Disabilities include, but are not limited to:

  • Alcohol or other substance use disorder (not currently using drugs illegally)
  • Autoimmune disorder, for example, lupus, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, HIV/AIDS
  • Blind or low vision
  • Cancer (past or present)
  • Cardiovascular or heart disease
  • Celiac disease
  • Cerebral palsy
  • Deaf or serious difficulty hearing
  • Diabetes
  • Disfigurement, for example, disfigurement caused by burns, wounds, accidents, or congenital disorders
  • Epilepsy or other seizure disorder
  • Gastrointestinal disorders, for example, Crohn's Disease, irritable bowel syndrome
  • Intellectual or developmental disability
  • Mental health conditions, for example, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD
  • Missing limbs or partially missing limbs
  • Mobility impairment, benefiting from the use of a wheelchair, scooter, walker, leg brace(s) and/or other supports
  • Nervous system condition, for example, migraine headaches, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis (MS)
  • Neurodivergence, for example, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder, dyslexia, dyspraxia, other learning disabilities
  • Partial or complete paralysis (any cause)
  • Pulmonary or respiratory conditions, for example, tuberculosis, asthma, emphysema
  • Short stature (dwarfism)
  • Traumatic brain injury
Select...

PUBLIC BURDEN STATEMENT: According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. This survey should take about 5 minutes to complete.