In offices around the globe, people on the Facebook company’s legal team tackle some of the most important issues facing the technology industry today—including compliance, data protection, intellectual property rights, privacy, policy, and more. In many cases, the team is setting legal precedent as they work through entirely new challenges in different parts of the world to help bring the world closer together.

With backgrounds in government agencies, finance, compliance, private practice, and more, the individuals on our team bring a wide range of expertise to the company. However different their experiences may be, at the Facebook company, they all have the opportunity to create unprecedented impact.

Jennifer Newstead, Vice President and General Counsel, explains: “We’re working hand-in-hand with the teams who are leading the future of technology, and it’s very exciting. To work on the issues we touch, with the support of strong leadership, is a phenomenal opportunity for any legal professional. We’re a large team that’s growing with the company. But there’s a high level of personal responsibility. Everyone is encouraged to speak up and bring something to the table, no matter their role or experience.”

We spoke with multiple members of the team to hear more about the opportunity to build a legal career at Facebook, the challenges they face, and why they love working on the legal team. From Menlo Park to London, Dublin, and Singapore, here are their stories.

“I joined the Facebook company because I was interested in emerging content regulation around misinformation, speech, and election integrity. I was especially excited about working on content regulation as it is a less established legal practice area.

Joining Facebook has been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work in a complex industry with emerging rules and regulations. I’ve been able to work on ensuring compliance as regulators develop new rules for the internet and uphold the safety of our community across Facebook's apps and services. This is not only cutting edge work and a significant undertaking, but will continue to be incredibly meaningful and impactful for years to come.

Facebook’s culture is mission-driven, which attracts people working together to contribute to the global digital evolution. Cross-functionally, this mindset is a unifying motivator and helps get things done. From a content regulation perspective, this means amplifying the opportunities that the internet offers, while identifying and tackling bad actors and abuse. One aspect I really enjoy is that everybody’s voice is heard and respected.

Diversity is in Facebook’s DNA and Facebook is a rich melting pot of cultures and nationalities. Our products are a reflection of the multi-faceted societies we represent. ” —Jennifer C., Associate General Counsel for Greater China and Integrity Legal, APAC

“When Steve Jobs asked John Sculley to work with him at Apple, he said ‘Do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life, or do you want to come with me and change the world?’ It’s that question that inspired me to rethink my career. After spending years in financial compliance and business ethics, I made the leap to the Facebook company. For the past three years, I’ve been working on the legal team at Facebook London. As a compliance manager, my job is to build the right policies and procedures to help our people act lawfully, honestly, ethically, and in the best interests of the Facebook company.

The legal team works with all teams across Facebook—we’re here to support every part of the business. I spend the majority of my time talking to non-lawyers. Our most important function is to understand all of the dynamics in the countries where we operate, and to identify issues that may prevent our people from doing the right thing. I spend a lot of time thinking about risk mitigation and how I can help promote a culture of ethics and compliance with the law.

About half of the legal team at the Facebook company is made up of non-lawyers, and we each have a unique skill set. When we’re hiring, we don’t look for people with a specific background. We look at the problems we need to solve, how we can solve them, and which skills will help get us to the best possible outcome. The recruiting team often says we look to hire builders, and it’s true. Everyone I’ve met here wants to leave the world better than they found it. The result of our hiring approach is a diverse group of some of the smartest people in the world.” —Micky K., Compliance Manager, EMEA

“We often hear Sheryl Sandberg ask, ‘What would you do if you weren’t afraid?’ I asked myself this same question when I joined the Facebook company as the Head of Data Protection for Facebook Ireland. It was a huge change coming from a large international law firm. There was a lot I didn’t know about tech policy in the US, but when I interviewed, I was inspired by the team’s passion and vision for data protection. I left my interview thinking, ‘I need to get this job.’

I was the first person to join the Data Protection team in Facebook’s Dublin office. Five and a half years later, we now have a team of lawyers who make decisions on how data is collected and processed for people in Europe who use Facebook in accordance with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Because GDPR is so new, there’s very little precedent. It’s an exciting challenge to shape compliance and have the flexibility to iterate on it based on feedback from regulators, competition authorities and consumer authorities. One of the great things about Facebook is that the work here is always changing. There’s always something new–new technologies, services, and needs. Every decision the company makes impacts our work, so there’s a constant opportunity to evolve, grow, and broaden our perspective. If you have any interest in data protection, there isn’t a better place to work than Facebook.” —Yvonne C., Head of Data Protection and Associate General Counsel, Facebook

“I was born and raised in Miami, the only child of immigrant parents from Cuba, and I never thought I’d leave. But when the Facebook company called, the opportunity was too exciting to pass up. I’m now a director and Associate General Counsel on the Network Infrastructure team, which is focused on building and maintaining the infrastructure that connects Facebook data centers around the world. This infrastructure is critical to Facebook’s operations and mission to connect the world. It’s incredibly rewarding to empower people to build community.

Before joining the Facebook company over seven years ago, I spent more than a decade working in-house at telecommunications companies. Remarkably, Facebook still feels like a startup. We have an open work environment instead of stuffy conference rooms, and we work fast. The risk tolerance is also much higher.

As a mom to two kids, the trust and flexibility I’m given to do my job and make it home to be with them is invaluable. As a leader, I instill that same trust in my team. I wasn’t a parent before I started working at Facebook, but now that I am, I’m even more grateful that I'm here.” —Johanna R., Director and Associate General Counsel, Network Infrastructure

“Throughout my legal career, I’ve always sought out roles that provide an opportunity for impact. After six years of working on patents at a big tech company, a lot of the interesting issues had been resolved. I heard about a legal role on the Facebook company’s Intellectual Property (IP) team, and recognized the opportunity to join a mission-driven company with impact felt around the world.

The IP team is focused on a number of priorities, such as content takedown, music licensing, domain names, trademarks, patents, IP licensing, and more. What’s unique about IP at Facebook is that no one has dealt with these issues at this scale. When we make decisions, they impact the billions of people who use our products. As tech like AR/VR and AI continues to develop, it challenges how we’ve done things in the past and empowers us to approach them more creatively.

At the Facebook company, there’s a big emphasis on feedback, transparency, inclusion and diversity. We place a high importance on making sure people with different backgrounds are engaged and contributing. If we’re all the same, we will only hear certain ideas. The IP landscape here is dynamic and ever-changing. Ensuring everyone has a voice will help us come up with the best quality of solutions possible.”—Allen L., VP, Intellectual Property, the Facebook company

“When I moved from Germany to Dublin 14 years ago, I had the opportunity to work at two large tech companies. That was when I discovered my passion for working with law enforcement. So when the Facebook company reached out about a manager position on the Law Enforcement Response Team for EMEA and APAC, naturally I was thrilled.

My team handles all incoming data requests from law enforcement across every criminal investigation in the EMEA and APAC regions. It’s our job to ensure we're protecting the privacy of the people who use our products while working closely with government officials. It’s a massive responsibility, and we’re constantly challenged with legislations across different markets. It’s an ever-changing environment, and resilience is critical.

What I love most about Facebook’s Dublin office is the diversity. We have employees from over 100 countries and almost the same number of languages. People relocate from all over the world to work in Dublin, and the company invests a lot of resources to ensure team members can connect with others and find their own community. I joined the Germans@Facebook employee community, and I met so many people from back home. It instantly felt familiar. At the Facebook company, the people and the amount of support you receive is what makes it so special.” —Anke R., Manager, Law Enforcement Response Team, EMEA and APAC

“When I got an unexpected message from a Facebook recruiter five years ago, I wasn’t actively looking to leave my job. But out of curiosity, I attended a recruiting event on the main campus in Menlo Park and, the more I learned, the more interested I became. The job wasn’t unfamiliar, since I would still be focusing on trade compliance, but the opportunity to apply my skills and expertise in a new and different setting was huge.

In many companies, legal teams are just an escalation point for businesses. But at the Facebook company, rather than waiting for something to go wrong and getting legal involved, our business teams often engage us when strategizing and starting new initiatives. People who do well on our team are energized by getting to know people, building strong relationships, and learning the ins and outs of the business. Our work is powered by relentless collaboration.

The people here are very serious about their work and effecting meaningful impact. Within compliance, there’s a real opportunity for non-lawyers to join and grow on our team. Since Facebook focuses on scaling compliance programs, we need all sorts of engineers and compliance professionals to help us build and scale our efforts. Building compliance programs at Facebook is fairly unique given our products and reach, resulting in amazing career opportunities for our team members.

To build a Legal team that’s representative of the communities we serve means we must have a strong focus on diversity. Diversity and inclusion is something the Legal team is very passionate about. There are incredibly talented and diverse lawyers out there—the challenge is making sure we’re getting these candidates in the door, and then keeping them.

One of the things that inspires me is the support we have from the leadership team to pursue projects that are important to us personally. An example, we created a Racial Justice Task Force to help channel our talent, energy, sadness and anger into something positive for the community following the racial justice protests from the summer of 2020. As a Legal Team, there’s a lot we can contribute, and I’m proud of the difference we’ve been able to make.” —Karla H., Director & Associate General Counsel, Global Trade Compliance

“The global regulatory landscape is dynamic, but unlike the U.S. and Europe, APAC is still developing acceptable regulatory norms. In these regions, we’re copying what's happening in other countries and one of the main challenges is engaging with the diverse range of different governments and stakeholders. We don’t have the first amendment in APAC, and principles of security are paramount.

Working at the Facebook company, which holds freedom of expression as one of its core values, puts us in contention with governments that require censorship and data access. My team acts as the first responder to many crises that the regulation world faces. We also manage issues involving regulatory compliance, content, misinformation, defamation, and false news.

In addition to prioritizing the Facebook company’s safety and principles, we need to have a strong sense of realism and understand how we’ll be perceived by governments. Some circumstances call for coordinating with security teams and external advisors, like consultancies and law firms.

A lot of the judgments we make involve many aspects of risk. While this can be taxing, it's a big part of the job. This is not a nine-to-five role. In fact, a lot of what I do depends on the circumstances that arise, which gives me a lot of flexibility. As long as our work gets done, it doesn’t matter where we do it. This is extremely helpful for me as a father.

Our work can be stressful, but I believe that there are two types of stress: bad and good. A lot of the stress I feel is because I’m intellectually stimulated so I don’t want to step away. It’s good stress motivated by my passion, like a captivating book I can't put down.” —Damian Y., VP, Head of Legal APAC

“I’ve been practicing law for over 25 years. Most recently I was focused on international law with the U.S. State Department, and I worked for years in private practice. I’ve always been drawn to mission-driven companies with strong leadership—and that’s exactly what I’ve found at the Facebook company. Our team is incredibly important to the success of the company, requiring us to rise to new challenges every day. The issues are so varied and complicated, and the work is as fast-paced as anything I've ever done. I’ve never been part of a company that emphasizes such a collaborative, open and inclusive spirit. These are values that Facebook has deliberately woven into its culture and they provide a clear path for individual growth.” —Jennifer Newstead, Vice President and General Counsel