What You'll DoMake an impact where privacy, technology, and governance intersect.
We're looking for a Senior Governance Specialist – Privacy to help strengthen and mature our enterprise privacy program. In this highly visible role, you'll serve as a key first line of defense, partnering across technology, business, compliance, legal, and privacy teams to ensure privacy requirements are effectively integrated into processes, systems, and decision-making.
This is an opportunity to influence how privacy governance is executed across the organization—building new processes, driving accountability, and helping teams navigate an evolving regulatory landscape. If you have a strong privacy background, are comfortable working with technology stakeholders, and enjoy solving complex organizational challenges, we'd love to hear from you.
What You'll Do
- Serve as a trusted privacy governance advisor, helping business and technology teams identify, assess, and mitigate privacy risks.
- Partner closely with the Enterprise Privacy Office, Compliance, Legal, Risk, and business stakeholders to ensure privacy requirements are understood and effectively implemented.
- Provide thoughtful challenge and guidance on privacy-related initiatives, controls, and compliance obligations.
- Evaluate operational processes and technology solutions to identify privacy risks, compliance gaps, and improvement opportunities.
- Design, implement, and mature governance processes, controls, metrics, and reporting that strengthen privacy oversight.
- Help define roles, responsibilities, and accountability across stakeholders involved in privacy activities.
- Monitor emerging privacy regulations and translate requirements into practical business and technology solutions.
- Lead or support audits, examinations, assessments, and remediation activities related to privacy governance.
- Influence and drive change across the organization, building strong relationships and alignment among diverse stakeholder groups.
Who You Are
- 8+ years of experience in privacy, governance, risk, or compliance,
- Strong understanding of privacy principles, regulations, and industry best practices, with the ability to apply them in a technology environment.
- Experience partnering with business, technology, legal, compliance, and risk stakeholders to address complex governance challenges.
- Demonstrated ability to build and improve processes, implement controls, and drive organizational change.
- Skilled at navigating ambiguity, influencing without authority, and balancing compliance requirements with business objectives.
- Strong analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making capabilities.
- Excellent written, verbal, and presentation skills, with the ability to communicate effectively at all levels of the organization.
Preferred Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree.
- Experience supporting privacy governance programs within financial services or other highly regulated industries.
- Knowledge of U.S. privacy laws and regulations and global privacy experience
- Familiarity with technology governance, data management, cloud platforms, or information security concepts.
- Privacy certifications (CIPP, CIPM, CIPT, or similar)
Why this role?You'll have the opportunity to shape and mature a growing privacy governance program, influence enterprise-wide decisions, and help ensure privacy protections are embedded into how we operate and innovate. This role offers significant visibility, meaningful stakeholder engagement, and the chance to create lasting impact across the organization.
Salary Range InformationSalary ranges below reflect targeted base salaries. Non-sales positions have the opportunity to participate in a bonus program. Sales positions are eligible for sales incentives, and in some instances a bonus plan, whereby total compensation may far exceed base salary depending on individual performance. Actual compensation for all roles will be based upon geographic location, work experience, education, licensure requirements and/or skill level and will be finalized at the time of offer.
Salary Range$110200 - $130000 / year
Time Off ProgramFlexible Time Off (FTO) is provided to salaried (exempt) employees and provides the opportunity to take time away from the office with pay for vacation, personal or short-term illness. Employees don’t accrue a bank of time off under FTO and there is no set number of days provided.
Pension EligibleYes
Additional Information
Location
This role will be located at Principal World Headquarters in Des Moines IA and will benefit from a hybrid work arrangement with 3 days a week in the office in a typical work week.
Work Authorization/Sponsorship
At this time, we're not considering applicants that need any type of immigration sponsorship (additional work authorization or permanent work authorization) now or in the future to work in the United States. This includes, but IS NOT LIMITED TO: F1-OPT, F1-CPT, H-1B, TN, L-1, J-1, etc. For additional information around work authorization needs please use the following links.
Nonimmigrant Workers and Green Card for Employment-Based Immigrants
Investment Code of Ethics
For Principal Asset Management positions, you’ll need to follow an Investment Code of Ethics related to personal and business conduct as well as personal trading activities for you and members of your household. These same requirements may also apply to other positions across the organization.
Experience Principal
At Principal, we value connecting on both a personal and professional level. Together, we’re imagining a more purpose-led future for financial services – and that starts with you. Our success depends on the unique experiences, backgrounds, and talents of our employees. And we support our employees the same way we support our customers: with comprehensive, competitive benefit offerings crafted to protect their physical, financial, and social well-being. Check out our careers site to learn more about our purpose, values and benefits.
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