Promoted to two new roles (legal counsel and DPO) and received 3k EUR raise. What to do? Negotiate? Resign?
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Background
I've been employed as a junior legal counsel since 2023 and hold a bachelor's and master's degree in law, plus two certifications (CIPP/E and CIPM) in data protection and governance.
Location: EU member state
Im sorry for any strange sentences and spelling mistakes, English is not my first language.
The Situation
I've been the only junior counsel in our small legal department (alongside one peer and our Chief Legal Officer) for most of my tenure. During this time, we've handled significant milestones. A full company restructuring from 1 to 14 entities, multiple market entries and exits, and several brand launches. This required negotiating and duplicating supplier agreements across all new entities, a substantial workload increase.
Our industry is heavily regulated, and our legal department has absorbed compliance responsibilities beyond our scope. Mostly because the skills are not there in the compliance department.
I applied to become the Data Protection Officer (something that our regulator requires us to have. Basically, there are various work functions that needs to be approved by the regulator. I had to, among other things, provide my birth certificate to the regulator) in June 2025 and obtained my CIPP/E and CIPM certifications last autumn autumn. While not formally titled as DPO, I performed the role and drove substantial progress on GDPR and data protection compliance ever since December 2023. I was finally registered as DPO with the regulator and national data protection authority in May this year, the process took 11 months for the regulator to approve me. This is apparently a standard time frame for them to approve new roles.
I was recently informed of a raise and received an offer this week, 3,000 EUR more than my current salary. This is significantly less than I anticipated (I expected around 10,000 EUR). Additionally, my title changed to "Legal Counsel", there's no official DPO designation despite holding both the role and the necessary certifications.
This feels undervalued, especially considering colleagues without law degrees or university education (MLRO, compliance staff) earn the same salary as I will post-raise. We had a big restructuring last April where about 50 people had to leave on that day. This crested some chaos within the business and we have not really filled those seats yet.
Considering my job, I know the financials of our business and I have gone through the financial statement. I also know that we had a big dividend payout back in June this years because I created the necessary documents for it.
The issue:
In a few months, I'll reach my four-year anniversary, which entitles me to one month's salary as a bonus. My notice period extends to two months after that milestone, which could deter prospective employers
I'm also eligible for an OKR bonus (roughly one month's salary) in August
Other factors:
My manager recently left and won't return until September, all communication will be via slack or email. He will soon be going to a different time zone so our working hours will never click.
I received a 5,000 EUR raise last year
Salary benchmarks suggest the current offer is mid-range for "Legal Counsel" alone, but doesn't account for my DPO responsibilities. It also doesn't account that I literally know everything about the business. I can basically answer any question anyone might have without me needing to look anything up.
My manager mentioned he advocated for our department's raises, so I'm hesitant to appear ungrateful
Three Options I'm Considering
Accept the offer, collect both bonuses (August and four-year), then leave
Resign without a job lined up to avoid the two-month notice period
Negotiate directly with my manager (or escalate to the CEO/owner) for a more appropriate raise
I'm concerned about appearing opportunistic if I highlight pay disparities with colleagues.
Anyone got any ideas?