Facebook is in the hot seat over its use of consumer data - so it's looking for a high powered legal expert to make sure that it doesn't make any more big mistakes
- Facebook posted a job for a 'marketing counsel' to advise on the company's marketing practices.
- The job posting specifically mentions privacy, data protection and consumer protection laws as examples of the type of work that the counsel will advise on.
- The planned hire comes as Facebook continues to assure both marketers and lawmakers that its data is safe in the wake of Cambridge Analytica and the upcoming midterm elections.
- Chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg, along with other tech executives, will testify in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee this week about such issues.
- Facebook recently hired HP CMO Antonio Lucio to help repair the social network's public image.
Facebook execs have spent the last six months trying to make marketers and lawmakers more comfortable with how it collects and uses consumer data in light of a mounting lists of controversies, screwups and regulations.
Now Facebook wants to bring in a high powered legal expert to help to make sure it doesn't have any more screwups - at least with its advertising.
According to a job posting both on LinkedIn and on Facebook's website, the company is looking for a marketing counsel to join its legal team who will be responsible for advising on both Facebook's consumer-facing advertising and its own advertising business.
The marketing counsel "requires working with and providing guidance to stakeholders on legal, privacy, data protection and other applicable compliance requirements," according to the job listing.
The marketing counsel will work across Facebook's consumer, brand advertising and business teams to provide advice on "broad" legal areas like privacy, data protection, consumer protection laws and intellectual property, per the listing.
The job requires at least three years experience with marketing law experience and is based out of the company's headquarters in Menlo Park, California.
Facebook is under pressure about data from multiple parties
At the same time that Facebook is seeking a legal expert, the company is facing a string of scandals - including the fallout of data misuse by Cambridge Analytica and Russian operatives to concerns over the spread of misinformation on the platform.
Later this week, chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg will testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee alongside Twitter's CEO Jack Dorsey about Russia's interference in the 2016 election. New regulation such as the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation have also put Facebook's data in the spotlight.
After Gary Briggs announced that he was leaving Facebook and his role as chief marketing officer, Facebook recently poached HP's chief marketing officer Antonio Lucio to fill the position and smooth over the company's public image.