Data Protection Officer; DPO

Company Description

Smart Recruiters is the Recruiting AI Company that transforms hiring for the world’s leading enterprises. Built for global scale, Smart Recruiters, an SAP company, delivers an AI-powered hiring platform that automates and optimizes the entire talent acquisition process, ensuring faster and smarter hiring decisions. More than 4,000 companies, including Amazon, Visa, and McDonald's, rely on Smart Recruiters to build winning teams.

In 2025, Smart Recruiters joined SAP, the global leader in enterprise applications. Together, Smart Recruiters and SAP are accelerating the reinvention of hiring by combining cutting‑edge AI innovation with the scale, reach, and resources of SAP’s ecosystem.

At Smart Recruiters, we are a values‑driven, globally focused tech company with a bold vision for the future of work. We commit and dig deep, embracing challenges with grit, curiosity, and a drive for excellence. We foster a collaborative and inclusive work environment, where trust and determination bring us together. Because together, we will win.

Recognized by Fosway Industry Analysts as a strategic leader in recruitment technology for three consecutive years, and awarded by Comparably as a top company for Women, Perks and Benefits, Work‑Life Balance, Happiness, Compensation, Diversity, and Culture – we take pride in creating a place where everyone can thrive. Our remote‑friendly culture, competitive salaries, and strong internal mobility ensure that high performers have meaningful growth opportunities in an environment built on respect and empowerment.

As we continue to scale globally and support some of the world’s most recognised brands, we are looking to recruit a Data Protection Officer who will help shape how we operate with trust and transparency. This role plays a key part in ensuring our products, processes, and teams uphold the highest standards of data privacy and regulatory compliance.

This opportunity allows you to work with our largest enterprise customers, candidates, data privacy institutions, and internal teams. You will be responsible for the following activities:

• Privacy by Design: providing daily support to the Product Team on topics such as data retention, international data transfers, telecommunications (SMS/Emailing), privacy in AI systems, legal basis, data retention, UX reviews (dark patterns), TOMs. Provide clear product recommendations.
• Provide privacy training and ensure that adequate awareness is provided.
• Be a point of contact for interactions with data protection authorities.
• Set up proper ticketing and escalation processes to manage all privacy requests and respond to escalation/crisis.
• Manage & supervise Data Subject Rights Requests (DSRs) on a daily basis.
• Conduct DPIAs, review with the Product & Engineering Team, and privacy impact assessments (PIAs).
• Update and maintain the Register of Processing Activities (RoPA) in an M&A environment.
• Co‑Manage with the CISO the data breach process.
• Supervise Cookie Management on both the website and cloud applications.
• Draft privacy & cookie notices and support the redaction & implementation of internal company policies.
• Own the data protection part of the vendor acquisition process. Be one of the decision‑makers in 3rd‑party risk management.
• Involved in maintaining the company’s certifications, such as ISO & SOC.
• Be an amazing Smartian that exemplifies our values and everybody loves working with us daily.

• Proven in‑depth knowledge of the GDPR, European data protection laws, and soft law such as Data Protection Authorities guidelines and EU Directives (such as the ePrivacy Directive).
• Good understanding of data privacy legislation in other required countries outside of the EU (US States, NYC AEDT 144, Canada, China, Australia, etc.).
• Understanding of the actual AI state of technology and being able to apply privacy laws to AI products.
• Experience in working with Product, Engineering, and Sales Teams in a regulated environment.
• CIPP/CIPM/CIPT or similar certificates are appreciated.
• Ability to translate legal requirements into guidance for product development.
• Excellent communication & summarization of complex privacy topics to executive management.
• Fluent in English and German.

Smart Recruiters is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity and affirmative action employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. Your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.