Facebook is growing up, beefing up Washington staff amid more scrutiny

Facebook is beefing up its staff in Washington, a move that comes amid growing scrutiny over the social networking giant's handling of privacy online. The company this week posted two job listings on its Web site related to public policy. It is looking for a manager of public policy to deal with regulators and lawmakers at state and federal levels. That lobbying position would also lead outreach to pro-consumer organizations. Facebook also wants to hire a public policy associate who would attend congressional hearings and meet with nonprofit groups and tech lobbying associations. Those jobs would bring Facebook's staff in Washington to five. It recently hired journalist Andrew Noyes for public policy communications and Tim Sparapani from the ACLU, who is now director of public policy. Adam Conner began the office and deals with lobbying and policy issues including privacy.