Product Counsel, EMEA

About Whatnot

Whatnot stands as the leading live shopping platform across North America and Europe, enabling users to buy, sell, and explore products spanning trading cards, fashion, electronics, and live plants. Our sellers cultivate thriving businesses in diverse categories, while we pioneer live commerce at scale in Western markets without existing templates. Our team operates remotely with hubs in the US, UK, Ireland, Poland, Germany, and Australia, characterized by rapid movement, user-focus, and impact-driven work.

Role Overview

We are expanding our European presence and entering new international markets, seeking a seasoned legal expert at the nexus of product law, privacy, and global regulations. This influential role will be embedded within an evolving product environment to support Whatnot’s international product roadmap and ensure legal compliance from inception through launch.

Key Responsibilities

• Deliver daily product legal counsel for Whatnot’s international products covering the UK, EU, and expanding markets, guiding product and engineering teams through all development phases.
• Lead comprehensive global reviews of new products, features, and related matters to guarantee adherence to digital, consumer protection, and platform regulations before deployment.
• Advise on regulatory frameworks including the Digital Services Act, UK Online Safety Act, GDPR/UK GDPR, e-commerce laws, consumer protection standards, platform liabilities, and emergent AI-related legal mandates.
• Collaborate with regional and specialist legal teams to unify and globalize legal guidance, facilitating a consistent global legal approach.
• Contribute to crafting and maintaining international terms of service, community guidelines, and seller policies.
• Create scalable legal playbooks, review protocols, and accessible self-service tools to enable the product team to proceed confidently and efficiently.

• Act as product privacy counsel overseeing privacy-by-design principles and data protection compliance throughout product lifecycle stages.
• Conduct reviews for GDPR, UK GDPR, and ePrivacy compliance, including legal basis assessments, transparency, rights of data subjects, and data protection impact assessments (DPIAs).
• Stay vigilant of regulatory changes in data protection across the EU, UK, and other significant growth territories, informing stakeholders of their practical impacts.
• Partner with privacy counsel to maintain a coordinated international privacy compliance strategy within product initiatives.
• Draft, update, and regulate internal and external privacy policies and notices relevant to Whatnot’s international product and seller ecosystem.

• Monitor global regulatory developments such as the EU AI Act, Digital Markets Act, and new frameworks in key expansion regions, advising on implications for product plans.
• Be the main legal advisor for market entry strategies internationally, coordinating with local counsel and preserving a unified legal stance.
• Engage proactively with regulators and aid in regulatory responses regarding new products and international expansions, working alongside policy and government relations teams.
• Collaborate with trust and safety, employment, and privacy legal teams to maintain harmonized international compliance efforts.
• Assist in setting legal team objectives and operational improvements, including process optimization, tooling, and documentation.

Work Location

We provide the option to work remotely or from global offices. However, candidates must reside within commuting proximity to our Dublin or London hubs for collaboration and planning purposes.

Candidate Profile

Successful candidates are self-starters comfortable with ambiguity, emphasizing action and a keen curiosity about our product, driven more by results than recognition, and maintaining close connections to user needs.

Qualifications and Experience

• Licensed to practice law in the US, UK, or EU jurisdictions with direct experience advising on product and technology legal topics, ideally with in-house background. Must be based in Dublin or London.
• Extensive in-house product counsel experience at fast-growing technology firms, startups, or marketplaces, directly participating during product development stages.
• Strong expertise with UK and EU digital laws, including the Digital Services Act, GDPR/UK GDPR, e-commerce rules, consumer protections, platform liabilities, and EU AI Act.
• Proven leadership in managing global product legal reviews, effectively coordinating diverse legal and business teams to ensure cross-jurisdictional compliance.
• Ability to translate complex regulations into practical guidance and clear recommendations for non-legal colleagues.
• Robust privacy and data protection knowledge, with hands-on GDPR, UK GDPR, ePrivacy, and DPIA experience for consumer product features.
• Good business insight with a pragmatic mindset, balancing risk with business objectives to make confident decisions.
• Thrives working autonomously within lean teams in dynamic, ambiguous settings; agile and willing to tackle tasks of all sizes.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience scaling startups internationally, with particular focus on European markets.
• Background in marketplace, fintech, live commerce, or consumer platform legal fields.
• Experience liaising with EU or UK regulatory bodies and data protection authorities in product-related contexts.
• Prior roles in international, matrixed organizations demonstrating adept stakeholder management.
• Familiarity with AI product legal challenges, EU AI Act compliance, and governance for generative AI technologies.
• Knowledge of payment regulations or financial promotion laws related to consumer product features.

Compensation and Benefits

We offer a competitive base salary, benefits package, and equity opportunities for candidates based in the UK or Ireland. The salary range depends on level, previous experience, skills, and competencies, ranging approximately from €173,000 to €235,000 annually. This range covers base pay only and excludes additional benefits and equity.

• Generous paid time off and holiday allowance.
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance options.
• Remote work support and home office setup allowance.
• Monthly stipends for phone, internet, and wellness activities.
• Childcare financial assistance and family planning benefits such as adoption or fertility support.
• International retirement and pension schemes.
• A monthly budget to use Whatnot’s platform both as buyer and seller to enhance product insight.
• Comprehensive parental leave: up to 16 weeks paid leave plus a month for gradual return, aligned with country-specific regulations.

Diversity and Inclusion

Whatnot is dedicated to Equal Employment Opportunity, embracing diversity across all dimensions including race, religion, gender, age, veteran and disability status, sexual orientation, and more. We believe a diverse workforce drives superior outcomes and enriches our culture.