Job Description
The Role
Nerd Apply is building the data layer for education. Trust is foundational to that mission.
As the Data Privacy Lead, you will own privacy, security, and compliance at Nerd Apply. You’ll be the primary face of our security posture to customers, partners, and internal teams, ensuring that student data is protected with rigor, transparency, and care.
This role is responsible for developing and leading a cost-effective but robust privacy and security program, maintaining compliance, earning key certifications, and helping Nerd Apply set a high bar for data stewardship across education.
Mission
Ensure that Nerd Apply maintains the highest standards of data privacy and security, earning the trust of counselors, schools, and institutions while enabling the company to scale responsibly.
Salary + Benefits
- $90k - $110k + Equity
- Healthcare
Location
- NYC Office at Bryant Park (12 In-Person Employees)
What You’ll Do
Own privacy and security strategy
- Develop and maintain Nerd Apply’s privacy and security roadmap
- Lead compliance efforts and certification processes (SOC 2, CCPA, and others as appropriate)
- Ensure security practices scale alongside product and company growth
Be the primary point of contact for trust and risk
- Serve as the go-to resource for customer questions related to privacy, security, and infrastructure
- Support sales conversations with school and district security stakeholders
- Represent Nerd Apply in relevant security conversations, groups, and conferences
Partner across teams and vendors
- Coordinate with outsourced legal counsel and security firms, setting clear objectives and deliverables
- Keep Leadership, Sales, Marketing, and PR aligned on current security practices and messaging
- Collaborate closely with product and engineering to assess risk and guide implementation
Support customers directly when needed
- Understand the full data flow across all systems customers interact with
- Advise on data migration, integration, and best practices
- Step in to assist with manual data entry or remediation when necessary to unblock customers
Build durable documentation
- Create and maintain internal and customer-facing security and compliance documentation
- Ensure materials are clear, current, and usable across teams
Who You Are
- Prior experience as an IT Director or senior IT leader at a high school or similar educational institution
- Deep familiarity with student data privacy, security requirements, and institutional risk concerns
- Comfortable explaining complex technical and legal topics to non-technical audiences
- Credible, steady, and trusted in environments involving sensitive data
How You Work
- You’re organized and reliable, with clear systems for managing priorities and risk
- You learn quickly and stay current on privacy, security, and compliance best practices
- You look for practical ways to reduce risk and improve processes over time
- You bring a calm, credible presence to sensitive conversations
What Success Looks Like
- Customers express confidence in Nerd Apply’s privacy and security practices
- Compliance and certification efforts are proactive and well-managed
- Internal teams communicate security posture clearly and consistently
- External legal and security partners operate efficiently with minimal friction
- Nerd Apply is recognized as a thoughtful, trustworthy steward of student data
About Nerd Apply
Nerd Apply is building the data layer for education.
Counselors guide some of the most important decisions students and families make, yet they’ve historically lacked access to clear, reliable outcomes data. Nerd Apply partners with counselors to responsibly aggregate real admissions results and turn them into usable insight.
This shared data helps counselors advise with greater confidence, helps schools and districts understand what’s actually working, and creates a foundation for better decisions across the education system.
We’re building Nerd Apply with a high bar for trust, respect for professional judgment, and the ambition to create infrastructure education can rely on for decades.