### **About Planning Center**
Planning Center exists to help churches build stronger, more connected communities.
Since 2006, over 80,000 churches have trusted our tools to care for their people—whether that’s communicating with their congregation, organizing important information, or coordinating the details that make ministry happen.
We’re an independent, profitable company with no outside investors. That means we get to focus on building products thoughtfully, caring for our team well, and making decisions for the long term.
Our team is fully remote, working together daily through tools like Slack, Asana, Linear, Notion, and Zoom. Three times a year, we gather in Carlsbad, CA to connect in person, strengthen relationships, and align on where we’re headed.
## **About the Work**
Planning Center is hiring for a Manager, Compliance and Legal Operations to own and grow both functions end to end. On the compliance side, the foundation is already in place — you'll maintain, mature, and expand existing programs rather than start from zero. On the legal operations side, you'll largely build the function from the ground up, standing up contract workflows, request tracking, and coordination with outside counsel.
This isn't a practicing attorney role, and a law degree isn't required. It's an operational role for someone who understands that compliance exists to serve the business, not the other way around. You'll keep the customer and employee experience front of mind, think in principles rather than checklists, and move at the pace of a growing company. You'll partner closely with Finance, HR, Security, and Engineering to turn regulatory requirements into processes that work for people.
## **Responsibilities**
**Compliance Program Management**
- Maintain and expand existing PCI, GDPR, and CCPA programs, keeping policies, documentation, audit readiness, and internal controls current as the business evolves
- Manage SOC 2 controls in partnership with Engineering and Security, and run the annual audit with external partners
- Oversee vendor compliance reviews and risk assessments
- Monitor regulatory changes, lead privacy impact assessments, and serve as the point person for edge cases and gray areas
- Be the go-to person the company turns to for compliance, privacy, and legal questions, while proactively equipping teams so they have fewer questions over time
**Legal Operations & Contract Management**
- Build the legal operations function from the ground up — contract intake, review workflows, repository organization, templates, playbooks, and risk-tiering processes
- Coordinate contract review with outside counsel for complex matters, leveraging existing relationships
- Oversee trademark filings, renewals, and IP strategy, including expansion and enforcement of existing IP
- Serve as the primary internal liaison to external law firms, routing matters appropriately, managing spend, and translating outside advice into actionable internal processes
## **What You Bring**
- 6+ years of experience in compliance, legal operations, risk management, or a related field
- Experience maintaining and expanding compliance programs (e.g., privacy, PCI, SOC 2) in a fast-moving SaaS or technology company environment
- Experience partnering closely with outside counsel and managing legal spend
- Business-first mindset and an understanding that compliance exists to enable the business, protect customers, and support employees, not eliminate all risk
- Principled and pragmatic approach to compliance — you see the intent behind regulations and apply them with judgment, building processes rather than checklists
- Comfort working at speed in a scaling environment — this role is probably not the right fit if your background is primarily in large, risk-averse organizations
- Sound judgment in knowing when to escalate to outside counsel versus handling matters internally
- Ability to make legal and compliance topics accessible to non-legal stakeholders
**Nice to Have**
- Contract drafting and negotiation experience (vendor, customer, employment)
- Experience using tools like Drata, Vanta, or OneTrust
- Strong technical understanding of web applications, SaaS architecture, and data flows
- Certifications such as CIPP, CIPM, or similar are a plus
## **Who We Look For**
The best fits for any role on the Planning Center team are people embodying our **Core Values:**
- **Engage with Humility -** We actively participate with openness and receptiveness. We are ready to listen, learn, and speak thoughtfully and kindly—regardless of skill level, expertise, or place on the org chart.
- **Invest in our team -** We give our time and energy to our team’s success—improving collaboration with effective communication, making space for diverse perspectives, sharing knowledge, and asking questions.
- **Do Our Best Work -** We aspire to do our best possible work—continually looking for ways to improve the quality of our individual output and contribute to our team's overall success and growth.
- **Focus on Customer Impact -** We advocate for our customer’s best interests in our decision-making—we can trace the goal of every project back to creating positive value for our customers.
- **Think Holistically, Work Iteratively -** We focus on taking practical steps towards our goals with an awareness of the broader context—thinking big, working small.
We believe the strongest teams are made up of people with diverse backgrounds and experiences, and we are committed to cultivating that diversity here at Planning Center. We're building an inclusive, supportive place for you to do your best work. Planning Center is an Equal Opportunity Employer and participates in the U.S. Federal E-Verify program.
## **The Hiring Process**
During the hiring process, you’ll have a chance to interact with several members of our team. We want this process to feel clear, respectful, and human— you’re getting to know us just as much as we’re getting to know you.
Applications will be accepted until **July 3rd, 2026 at 8:00am PT**. We review applications on a rolling basis and may close the posting early once we’ve built a strong pool of candidates, so we encourage you to apply early!
Below is an outline of the steps in our hiring process.
- **Step One**: Apply with a resume and complete the application questions so we can learn more about your background and experience
_Our application questions are a chance for us to get to know you, so feel free to answer them the way you might in a cover letter and in your own words._
- **Step T** **wo**: Initial phone screen with someone from our Talent Acquisition team to discuss your background and interest in joining Planning Center
- **Step Three**: Interview with two Planning Center team members focused on your background and cultural alignment
- **Step Four:** Interview with our VP of Finance & Operations to assess experience and team fit
- **Step Five:** A take home project to assess your approach to compliance and legal topics
- **Step Six:** Final interview with our VP of Finance & Operations and VP of Engineering.
- **Step Seven:** If all goes well, we'll extend an offer
## Compensation & Logistics
- This is a US-based role; candidates must reside in and be authorized to work in the United States ( _we are currently **unable** to offer employment to those with H-1B visas_)
- Candidates must be willing to travel three times each year to connect with the rest of the team
- The annual salary range for this position is $130,000 - $155,000
## **Benefits**
We love our team—it’s one of the core pillars that guides how we work every day. That’s why we invest deeply in your well-being, growth, and balance. Here are some highlights (you can explore all our benefits [here](https://www.planningcenter.com/careers)):
**Get paid:**
We offer competitive pay no matter where you live. We also contribute to your 401(k), provide a charitable giving match of up to $2,000 per year, offer a generous allowance for continued education, and include a coworking stipend.
**Be healthy:**
You’ll receive generous paid sick and vacation time, $200 per month for physical fitness and mental health, and 95% medical plus 100% dental premium coverage.
**Get out:**
Enjoy **paid Fridays off year-round**, because we believe doing your best work includes having the time and space to rest, recharge, and live fully. We also offer a month-long sabbatical every five years, a week off between Christmas and New Year’s, a week each year to serve with a globally focused non-profit, and two weeks of paid vacation (increasing to three over time).