Senior Legal Counsel

• Lead Airservices' privacy function and shape compliance across the organisation
• Broaden your expertise into regulatory, environmental, and aviation matters.

About Our Client
Airservices Australia is a Commonwealth-owned organisation responsible for managing 11% of the world's airspace and providing air navigation and aviation rescue fire-fighting services across the country. Each year, they manage more than four million aircraft movements carrying over 156 million passengers.

We are undergoing a once-in-a-century transformation to meet the needs of emerging airspace users, new aerodromes, and cutting-edge aviation technologies. At the heart of our mission is the safety of Australia's skies - balanced with environmental, regulatory, and social responsibilities.

Job Description
Airservices is seeking a highly capable and self-directed Senior Legal Counsel (Privacy & Regulatory) to lead our privacy function and contribute to broader regulatory matters. This is a senior, standalone role reporting directly to the Principal Legal Counsel and operating as the organisation's privacy subject matter expert.

You will not have direct reports, but you will be the go-to authority on privacy across the organisation - advising the CEO, Executive Team, and business units, and shaping our privacy culture and compliance posture.

This role offers a rare opportunity to own and uplift the privacy function while expanding into diverse regulatory areas, including aviation and environmental law.

Lead the privacy function end-to-end, including:

• Responding to privacy queries,
• Conducting Privacy Threshold Assessments (PTAs) and Privacy Impact Assessments (PIAs),
• Managing privacy incidents and breach responses,
• Review and enhance Airservices' privacy framework, policies, and procedures,
• Provide strategic and operational privacy advice to senior leadership and business units,
• Design and deliver training and awareness initiatives to build a culture of privacy compliance,
• Maintain strong relationships with regulators, including the OAIC,
• Oversee organisational privacy reporting and compliance obligations,
• Support broader regulatory and environmental legal matters (approximately 30% of the role once embedded),
• Manage the legal team's triage process (drop box) to allocate and prioritise incoming matters,

The Successful Applicant

• Approximately 10+ years' post-admission experience, with deep expertise in privacy law,
• Current Australian practising certificate,
• Proven experience leading a privacy function and managing complex incidents,
• Skilled in developing and implementing privacy policies, procedures, and training,
• Comfortable advising executive leadership and influencing outcomes,
• High levels of independence, resilience, and sound judgment,
• Strong stakeholder engagement and communication skills - pragmatic, commercial, and collaborative,
• Willingness to expand into new regulatory areas (aviation experience not required),
• Canberra location strongly preferred (other locations considered),
• Australian citizen or permanent resident (security clearance not required at appointment).

What's on Offer

• Senior appointment in a nationally significant organisation with a high public profile,
• Opportunity to lead and shape the privacy function while broadening your legal practice,
• Hybrid working arrangement (3 days in office / 2 days from home),
• Competitive total fixed remuneration of $230,000 including 12% superannuation,
• Recognition of prior Commonwealth service (long service and recreation leave),
• Be part of a forward-thinking organisation at the forefront of aviation transformation.

Contact:
Quote job ref: JN