Sr. Counsel - Labor & Employment

About the Role

This is a fully remote role for an EU- or UK-qualified attorney working out of the EU or the UK. You will join Payward’s world-class in-house legal department, reporting to the Global Head of Labor & Employment.

The Opportunity

• Subject Matter Expertise: Augment the Labor & Employment (L&E) legal team and act as the subject matter expert for the EU and UK, providing local-law advice in European time zones and, as needed, supporting L&E matters in MENA and APAC in coordination with local counsel.
• First-Line Ownership: Take first-line ownership of recurring EU and UK employment matters, including worker classification issues, employee separations and employee relations, executive compensation agreements, and wage-and-hour matters.
• Practice Development: Work with executive leadership, existing employment counsel, and the Payward Experience (PX) team to develop the L&E practice for a rapidly growing global workforce.
• Works Councils & Consultations: Advise on and manage works council, collective consultation, pay transparency, and employee representative matters. Prepare the company for new consultation obligations as its European footprint grows, including in connection with restructurings and acquisitions.
• M&A Support: Support M&A due diligence and post-closing workforce integration for European acquisitions, including policy harmonization and related consultation requirements.
• Policy Localization: Work closely with the PX team and business leaders to craft on-point policies and procedures, including localizing global policies for EU and UK requirements and developing and delivering related training.
• Data Privacy: Advise on employee and candidate data privacy issues, including GDPR and UK GDPR compliance and cross-border transfers of HR and recruiting data.
• Investigations: Support the PX team and existing counsel with workplace investigations, particularly in the EU and UK, potentially involving whistleblower allegations, discrimination allegations, and personnel performance issues.
• Footprint Expansion: Provide expert strategic input to the business and recruiting teams on expanding Payward’s global footprint, including EOR, direct employment, and entity decisions in Europe, global mobility issues, and contingent workforce.
• Risk Mitigation: Advise the company on risk mitigation for trade secret matters and restrictive covenants in the EU and UK.
• Outside Counsel Management: Manage and direct local outside counsel on formal local-law opinions and pre-litigation matters in the EU and UK, while handling routine, repeatable advice in-house.
• Industry Monitoring: Monitor and advise on global L&E trends, including those within the crypto industry, to help the company’s competitive adaptability, talent acquisition, and retention.

What You Bring

• Experience: 8+ years of legal experience advising in the EU, UK, and other jurisdictions on employment, labor, and executive compensation issues. This must include both in-house and law firm experience working with companies in both high-growth scaling and mature, large-enterprise environments.
• International Background: Broad international labor and employment background.
• Works Councils: Experience advising on works councils, collective consultation, and employee representative bodies in the EU and/or UK.
• Data Privacy: Experience advising on employee and candidate data privacy issues under the GDPR and UK GDPR.
• AI Proficiency: Hands-on proficiency using generative AI tools (such as Claude or ChatGPT) in day-to-day legal work, with sound judgment on verifying outputs against local law and protecting confidentiality, privilege, and personal data.
• Mindset: A proactive, entrepreneurial mindset, plus an opportunity-making attitude, using the law to increase the company’s optionality.

Nice to Haves

• Interest in the crypto industry and what our company is offering to the world.
• Experience in fintech, crypto, or other regulated financial services industries.
• Experience with MENA and/or APAC employment markets.
• Experience with due diligence and advising on labor and employment issues in connection with acquisitions, including transfer-of-undertakings rules and post-closing workforce integration.