About Virtual Privacy
Virtual Privacy is a boutique privacy and AI governance advisory firm headquartered in San Francisco, with in-market operations in Ho Chi Minh City. The firm advises companies across the US-Vietnam-EU corridor on privacy, AI governance, and digital responsibility.
Led by practitioners who built and ran privacy programs inside global technology companies, Virtual Privacy occupies the space between law firms and large consultancies - combining regulatory precision with the operational fluency to implement it. The firm's premise is that compliance is an execution problem, not a knowledge problem.
The Opportunity
The Fellow does two things for the firm: produces publishable research and helps carry that research into the public conversation. On the research side, working directly with the Principal and the Associate Consultant, the Fellow contributes to white papers, research briefs, and analysis across the landscape of privacy and AI governance - not only the law, but the engineering practices that implement it, the industry standards and best practices that operationalize it, and the consumer literacy and trust that ultimately determine whether it works.
On the engagement side, the Fellow turns that work into a steady stream of insight — short analyses, commentary on new developments, and accessible explanations - published through the firm's channels under the editorial direction of the Principal, and helps sustain an ongoing conversation with the professionals, companies, and public the firm serves.
This is a part-time, fixed-term position intended for a final-year student, recent graduate, or early-career professional within approximately two years of graduation who intends to build a career in privacy, AI governance, or responsible technology. On the research side, the Fellow will not work across all of these areas at once; the actual focus is set by the Fellow's background and strengths, in agreement with the Principal. A candidate from law will concentrate on the regulatory and standards work; one from engineering or user research will concentrate where their training is strongest. Your work supports the consulting team's client work, the firm's publications, and its public presence.
Key Responsibilities
RESEARCH & IP
The Fellow contributes across some, not all, of the following, depending on background:
- Regulatory research. Track regulatory developments in Vietnam, the European Union, and the United States - including Vietnam's Personal Data Protection Law (Law No. 91/2025/QH15) and AI Law (Law No. 134/2025/QH15), the GDPR, and the EU AI Act - and identify where they diverge from or converge with one another.
- Engineering and technical practice. Research how privacy and AI governance are implemented in practice: privacy-enhancing technologies, data architecture, model documentation, and the engineering choices that make governance real rather than nominal.
- Industry standards and best practices. Survey the standards, frameworks, and operational patterns that mature organizations use - including ISO/IEC 42001 and the NIST AI Risk Management Framework - and how they translate legal requirements into repeatable practice.
- Consumer literacy and trust. Study how the public understands, experiences, and trusts data and AI systems - transparency, consent, and the gap between formal compliance and genuine user understanding.
- Publications and synthesis. Contribute drafting and analysis to white papers, research briefs, and the firm's publications library, and prepare Vietnamese- and English-language summaries of primary sources for internal use.
CONTENT & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
- Insight content. Translate the firm's research into short, accessible insight - commentary on new developments, explainers, and practical takeaways - for LinkedIn and the firm's other channels, in the firm's voice and under editorial direction.
- Cadence. Sustain a consistent publishing cadence so the firm's presence stays active between major publications.
- Audience engagement. Engage with the firm's audience: respond to substantive comments, track what resonates, and surface recurring questions worth a deeper piece.
- Pipeline and reference. Maintain the pipeline connecting research to content, and the firm's reference materials, so consultants and content both draw from current sources.
Qualifications
REQUIRED
- Final-year student, recent graduate, or early-career professional within approximately two years of graduation - in law, public policy, computer science or engineering, information systems, human-computer interaction, communications, or a related field.
- Full professional fluency in Vietnamese and English, including the ability to read primary sources in Vietnamese.
- Demonstrated capacity for careful written analysis and the ability to write clearly for a non-specialist audience - not only in an academic register. A writing sample is required.
- Substantive interest in privacy, AI governance, or responsible technology - from any angle: legal, technical, operational, or human.
PREFERRED
- Coursework, thesis work, or publication in data protection, technology law, AI policy, machine learning, or human-computer interaction.
- Familiarity with any of the following: GDPR or EU AI Act; technical governance frameworks such as ISO/IEC 42001 or the NIST AI RMF; privacy-enhancing technologies; or user research and trust measurement.
- Experience writing for a public or professional audience - a blog, newsletter, student publication, or an active presence on LinkedIn or a comparable channel.
- Experience working from primary sources - statutes, standards, technical documentation, or original research - rather than secondary commentary.
What Success Looks Like
By the end of the first term, the Fellow is a reliable research contributor and a steady public voice for the firm. Research is accurate, grounded in primary sources - whether statutory, technical, or empirical - and delivered on schedule; the Principal and the Associate Consultant can build on your work without re-verifying it. At least one firm publication carries your named contribution, and the firm's channels carry a consistent, credible stream of insight that draws the right audience into conversation.
What We Offer
- A monthly stipend.
- Named authorship or contributor credit on published work - a portfolio of substantive, citable analysis at the start of your career.
- A public byline and a visible role in the firm's thought leadership: real audience-building experience, and a body of work that shows how you think, not just a line on a CV.
- Direct mentorship from the Principal and day-to-day collaboration with the Associate Consultant.
- Exposure to live cross-border regulatory questions as they are being worked, not after they are settled.
- An initial six-month term, renewable by mutual agreement.
- Hybrid/remote work with flexibility around academic schedules.
How to Apply
Please submit a CV, a brief note on an area in privacy, AI governance, or responsible technology that genuinely interests you (from any angle, whether legal, technical, operational, or about user trust), and one writing sample (academic or professional, Vietnamese or English). If you have written for an audience - a blog, newsletter, student publication, or a public post you are proud of - include a link. You can also apply by sending the above information to [Confidential Information] with the subject line Virtual Privacy Fellow.
