Associate Director –Privacy Technologies

Role Overview

The Associate Director will embed privacy principles into the design, development and deployment of Grant Thornton technologies and initiatives. Activities include identifying and mitigating privacy risks in built or bought technologies, directing the implementation of privacy controls into all technologies, as well as identifying, recommending and directing the development and implementation of technical safeguards, policy changes and relevant training.

This Privacy Team role sits in Global Risk and Compliance group in the Legal vertical and is led by the Chief Risk and Compliance Officer. The Associate Director reports to the Sr. Director of Privacy and partners closely with global business units, technology and data governance teams to identify and mitigate privacy and data risks generally and specifically associated with regulatory compliance, certifications held by the business (e.g. ISO) client obligations, and strategic initiatives (including AI, data migration, and advanced analytics). This role will also audit the implementation and performance of risk mitigation technologies for effectiveness.

Key Responsibilities

Privacy Technology Strategy & Global Enablement

Define and execute standardised, global framework for required technology controls (configurations, governance) designed to mitigate privacy risks in built or bought technologies or contemplated by novel data use cases, including AI uses.
Create or modify required policy-based controls and assist in providing training content for the Privacy team.
Identifying privacy risks in GT technologies and articulating and directing configuration of data platforms and tools to mitigate identified risks, support compliance with applicable privacy laws and other obligations.
Optimizsation of One Trust, Microsoft Priva and other tools.
Audit implementation and performance of privacy risk mitigation technologies for effectiveness.
Direct appropriate teams to enable controls that embed privacy-by-design controls (data minimisation, purpose controls, access limitations, audit and logging capabilities) into enterprise platforms (e.g., data lakes, data warehouses, analytics environments, AI/GenAI tools) and projects.
Identify and minimise privacy risks involved when using artificial intelligence, machine learning and deep learning. Direct implementation of controls for safe deployment of AI.
Develop reporting dashboards and metrics for leadership.
Identify and implement efficiency improvements across workflows and systems.

Qualifications

Experience

Bachelor’s degree in computer science, data science or equivalent experience required. Master’s degree preferred.
8–12+ years in privacy, data governance, data science or technology roles within a professional services or regulated environment.
Azure Foundry (and similar), RAG model, agent workflows.
ML/GENAI models and LLM.
Privacy enhancing technologies implementation (anonymisation, differential privacy, IAM).

Technical & Functional Expertise

Strong understanding of:
- Data ecosystems (data lakes, warehouses, analytics platforms)
- Data discovery, classification, and lineage tools
- Privacy engineering and control implementation
- Information security frameworks
Familiarity with responsible AI controls and emerging technologies.

Regulatory & Risk Knowledge

Deep understanding of the technical and policy controls needed to meet the requirements of federal, state and global privacy laws (e.g., HIPAA, CCPA/CPRA, GDPR).
Experience with ISO 27001, 27701, 42001 implementation and audit.
Awareness of emerging AI governance and regulatory expectations.

Leadership & Professional Skills

Ability to translate legal/regulatory requirements into practical, scalable technical solutions.
Strong stakeholder management across a matrixed, global organisation.
Experience influencing leadership and driving cross-functional initiatives.
Strong communication skills.

Preferred Qualifications

Certifications: CIPP/E, CIPM, CIPT or equivalent
Experience within a global professional services network (e.g., Big Four or similar)
Familiarity with enterprise tools and platforms commonly used in GT environments (e.g., data exchange platforms, analytics environments, compliance tools)

#LI-KS1

We are Grant Thornton

Grant Thornton Ireland is rapidly approaching 3,000 people, in 9 offices across Ireland, Isle of Man, Gibraltar and Bermuda. With a presence in over 149 countries around the world and a global network of 73,000 people, we bring our clients the local knowledge, national expertise and global presence to help them succeed – wherever they’re located.

At GT, we work as trusted advisors, bringing local knowledge and national expertise, with a global presence, to help businesses succeed – wherever they are located. We make business more personal by investing in building relationships and empowering our clients to make the right decisions for their organisation now and for the future. Whether that is working with the public sector to build thriving communities, with regulators and financial institutions to build trust, or with a diverse range of businesses to help them achieve their goals, Grant Thornton Ireland work hard to support clients to act on the issues that matter.

At GT Ireland we don’t just predict your future, we build it.

A Career at GT

Looking for a more fulfilling role in professional services? One where fresh thinking, collaboration and diversity are valued? At Grant Thornton we do things differently.

What does this mean for you?

A career in a more inclusive working environment, a more collaborative work culture, a more supported, flexible working role, more possibilities to grow and more opportunities to help shape the future for your clients. We respect and value your experience. And we want you to bring your authentic self to work and be at your best. It is how it should be.

Grow with us

At Grant Thornton, we care about our people and work hard to make you feel valued. If you are looking to deepen and develop your skills, knowledge, and experience throughout your career, then that is what you will get, and more.

Our Benefits

Please follow this link for information on our generous benefits package.

Equity, diversity and inclusion
At Grant Thornton, we provide equitable opportunities for all our colleagues. We are a responsible, sustainable business where equity, diversity and inclusion (ED&I) is at the forefront of our workplace culture agenda, and today, we continue to build and develop on our existing ED&I structure and strategy to meet our workplace culture needs. People are at the heart of our business and teams built with varied individuals present diverse viewpoints, which need to be heard and valued.

We are all at our best when we are able to be ourselves and we view integrity and authenticity as integral values to bring to our day-to-day work-life at the firm. We are excited to see the personality and perspectives you will bring to our team because we know we will all benefit from them. Diversity of thought, background and experience enables better decision-making, improves the quality of our delivery, and helps us to meet the needs of our clients. Our firm is built on people and their ideas, so we want to hear all the new perspectives and fresh thinking you have to offer. You form the bedrock of our firm’s best-practice principles and we will champion you as leaders from day one.

Reward and benefits
Our reward and benefits are designed to create an environment where our people can flourish. We are committed to building a culture where our people have access to the necessary benefits to help promote a healthy lifestyle and thrive.

Recognition
We want to create a culture of recognition and celebrating success, by saying thank you to people who surpass our expectations and recognising the right values and behaviours. Our Shout Out recognition scheme is our way of highlighting and promoting achievements. Whether you simply want to say thank you, celebrate a special occasion or give an award for doing something exceptional, you can do all of this and more through the scheme.

Associate Director - Privacy Technologies

Benefits

Job Description