Principal, Employment Counsel

Accountabilities:

• Provide timely and practical legal advice to internal stakeholders on employment matters across recruiting, hiring, onboarding, performance management, employee relations, and workforce transitions.
• Advise People teams, managers, and business leaders on sensitive and complex employee relations matters while balancing legal risk, employee experience, business objectives, and operational considerations.
• Translate complex employment laws and regulatory requirements into clear, actionable guidance for non-legal stakeholders.
• Build strong relationships with internal partners and develop a deep understanding of workforce needs, business priorities, and operational practices.
• Draft, review, and negotiate employment-related documents, including offer letters, employment agreements, restrictive covenant agreements, confidentiality and intellectual property agreements, separation agreements, releases, incentive plans, and workforce transition materials.
• Review employment communications for legal risk, clarity, consistency, and alignment with established practices.
• Develop practical templates, playbooks, checklists, and self-service resources to support common employment matters and improve legal efficiency.
• Periodically review employment policies and practices to identify compliance gaps, standardization opportunities, and areas for process improvement.
• Provide employment law guidance across multiple jurisdictions, working with local counsel and regional stakeholders where appropriate.
• Monitor developments in global labor and employment laws and recommend updates to policies, agreements, practices, and processes.
• Develop and maintain tools to identify, prioritize, and manage employment-related legal and compliance risks, including employee training and compliance support.
• Advise on and conduct workplace investigations involving discrimination, harassment, retaliation, misconduct, conflicts of interest, policy violations, and other sensitive matters.
• Partner with People teams to establish appropriate investigation plans, privilege structures, interim measures, documentation approaches, findings, remediation, and follow-up.
• Provide balanced recommendations on corrective action, remediation, process improvements, and retaliation monitoring.
• Manage employment litigation, administrative charges, labor proceedings, pre-litigation disputes, demand letters, and settlement negotiations in the U.S. and internationally.
• Develop case strategy with internal stakeholders and external counsel, including factual analysis, exposure assessment, preservation and discovery strategy, and settlement evaluation.
• Engage and supervise external counsel as needed.
• Support broader enterprise compliance initiatives, including enterprise risk management, ESG, and other regulatory compliance programs.
• Strengthen compliance infrastructure through effective policies, controls, documentation, risk assessments, and governance processes while partnering with Legal Operations to improve scalability and reduce key-person dependency.

Requirements:

• 8+ years of professional experience as a corporate attorney, preferably in an in-house employment counsel role or at a reputable law firm.
• Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from an accredited law school and active membership in a state bar association.
• Strong knowledge and practical experience in U.S. employment law, with demonstrated ability to advise on global or multi-jurisdictional employment matters and coordinate with local counsel.
• Experience handling workplace investigations, employee relations matters, employment disputes, administrative proceedings, and employment litigation.
• Strong drafting and review experience involving employment agreements, separation documents, policies, handbooks, investigation materials, and other employment-related documentation.
• Experience supporting corporate compliance programs, including policy governance, risk assessments, compliance training, internal controls, investigations, and regulatory initiatives.
• Familiarity with enterprise risk management, ESG-related compliance considerations, audit and compliance governance, and the development of scalable compliance frameworks and controls.
• Ability to identify emerging legal and regulatory risks and develop practical, sustainable solutions that support business objectives while strengthening a culture of integrity and accountability.
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making skills, with the ability to balance legal risk management and commercial priorities.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to explain complex employment law concepts clearly to non-legal stakeholders.
• Strong collaboration skills and the ability to work effectively with People teams, business leaders, Legal colleagues, and other cross-functional stakeholders.
• Ability to work independently, prioritize competing matters, and manage multiple high-priority issues simultaneously.
• Proactive, agile, and solutions-oriented approach, with the initiative to identify opportunities and implement practical, scalable improvements.
• Strong emotional intelligence, sound judgment, humility, and professionalism when navigating sensitive and high-stakes matters.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, team-oriented environment while maintaining a pragmatic, positive, and high-performance mindset.

Benefits:

• Target base salary range of approximately $175,000–$190,000 per year.
• Medical insurance.
• Dental insurance.
• Vision insurance.
• Paid time off.
• Enterprise benefits designed to support employees’ health and well-being.
• Opportunity to advise a global organization on complex U.S. and international employment matters.
• Exposure to enterprise risk management, compliance, governance, and strategic business initiatives.
• Opportunity to develop scalable legal processes, policies, and compliance frameworks.
• Collaborative, cross-functional environment with People teams, business leaders, Legal colleagues, and regional stakeholders.
• Meaningful opportunity to influence employment practices and support responsible business growth.