Senior Employment Counsel

Who You Are

You have a labor law background and expertise and you thrive in applying that knowledge in practice, connecting and engaging with customers and stakeholders to build our legal strategy in markets and ensure ongoing compliance in a complex regulated environment. Your presence fosters reassurance from others and people know they can depend on you. You are a collaborative, team player with superior communication and negotiation skills. You are great at explaining complex legal topics in clear and concise ways to drive decision making at the organization.

As part of the Legal team, Senior Employment Counsel - Americas will guide and implement the legal strategy for our EOR product in support of various functions in the organization, including Product Operations, Expansion, Customer Success, and Sales, among others. You will provide practical, business-oriented legal advice to internal stakeholders, ensuring our EOR solutions operate seamlessly and in full compliance with local labor laws. This is a unique opportunity to shape our legal strategy in a rapidly evolving market and make a significant impact on our global growth. You will manage and mentor members of our Legal team, fostering their professional growth and ensuring the team's overall effectiveness.

Your Success Profile

What You Will Work On

• Analyze and define legal risks, determine employment requirements, and advise on how to compliantly hire and manage employees as an employer-of-record across different jurisdictions in the Americas.
• Partner with Finance, Operations, and Expansion teams to establish our contractual architecture, risk frameworks, as well as the policies, processes, and workflows required to ensure compliance in existing and new jurisdictions in the Americas.
• Partner with Product to advise on new solutions in the Americas.

• Ensure adherence to the jurisdictional legal requirements in your region across Justworks products, policies, knowledge bases, and standard operating procedures.
• Structure, clarify, and escalate complex compliance challenges for the risk-based acceptance of cross-functional leadership groups.
• Draft, review, and negotiate commercial contracts and assist with corporate matters and transactions in the jurisdictions in your region.
• Work closely with and manage outside counsel relating to various matters.
• Support Sales teams with the resolution of complex employment or contractual requests from potential or existing customers for your region.
• Support Customer Success and Operations teams with the resolution of complex employment requests from existing customers or employees for your region.
• Prepare and enhance Justworks employment documents, policies, knowledge bases, and standard operating procedures.
• Manage and instruct external counsel in various jurisdictions within the Americas as needed, ensuring cost-effective and high-quality legal support.
• Prepare and conduct training, as necessary.
• Educate stakeholders on legal matters, policies, and changes in relevant laws and regulations that impact our business.  
• Assist in resolving employment-related disputes and litigation.
• Support the development and implementation of new EOR service offerings in the Americas region from a legal perspective.
• Work with other Justworks teams, including Product, Engineering, Customer Success, People, Payments & Tax, Risk & Insurance, Marketing, and Sales relating to various legal and compliance matters.
• Help drive compliance program awareness and handle other related responsibilities. Some travel might be required.
• Manage and mentor members of the Legal team, providing guidance and support for their professional development.
• Other duties as needed based on department and/or organizational needs.

How You Will Do Your Work

As a Senior Employment Counsel - Americas, how results are achieved is paramount for your success and ultimately result in our success as an organization. In this role, your foundational knowledge, skills, abilities and personal attributes are anchored in the following competencies:

• Clear communication - the ability to articulate thoughts and express ideas effectively using oral, written, visual and non-verbal communication skills, as well as listening skills to gain understanding.
• Ethical practice - the ability to integrate core values, integrity and accountability throughout all organizational and business practices.
• Detail-oriented - exercises extreme attention to detail; is thorough, accurate, organized, and productive and seeks to understand both the cause and effect of a situation.
• Risk assessment - applying a logical step-by-step process to protect, and consequently minimize risks to, the organization, interests and employees.
• Manages complexity - making sense of complex, high quantity, and sometimes contradictory information to effectively solve problems.

In addition, all Justworkers focus on aligning their behaviors to our core values known as COGIS. It stands for:

• Camaraderie - Day to day you can be seen working together toward a higher purpose. You like to have fun. You’re an active listener, treat people respectfully, and have a strong desire to know and help others.
• Openness - Your default is to be open. You're willing to share information, understand other perspectives, and consider new possibilities. You’re curious, ask open questions, and are receptive to thoughts and feedback from others.
• Grit - You demonstrate grit by having the courage to commit and persevere. You’re committed, earnest, and dive in to get the job done well with a positive attitude.
• Integrity - Simply put, do what you say and say what you'll do. You’re honest and forthright, have a strong moral compass, and strive to match your words with your actions while leading by example. 
• Simplicity - Be like Einstein: “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler.” 

Qualifications

• Juris Doctor (JD) or equivalent law degree and admitted to practice in at least one relevant jurisdiction.
• Minimum of 5 years of substantive legal experience in employment matters with a corporate legal department and/or law firm.
• Prior experience supporting EOR operations or a strong understanding of the EOR business model is a plus.
• Experience in counseling clients on employment matters across the employee lifecycle: recruitment, onboarding, recurring employment compliance and termination.
• Must possess superior knowledge and application of contract and business law with strong legal analysis skills.
• Sound judgment in managing risk and exposure.
• Proven ability to provide practical, business-oriented legal advice and solutions..
• communication (written and verbal) and interpersonal skills, with the ability to effectively communicate complex legal concepts to non-legal stakeholders.
• Demonstrated time management, organizational, and analytical skills.
• Ability to multitask and meet deadlines.
• Collaborative team player with a positive attitude.
• Fluent in English; proficiency in Spanish or Portuguese is a plus.
• Demonstrated experience in managing and mentoring legal professionals.
• Strong leadership skills with the ability to motivate and develop a team.
  
  

Occasional travel is required.

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