Senior Employment Counsel, Americas

About the Role

You'll be the senior employment counsel for Airwallex in the Americas, and a hands-on partner to our People & Talent team on the issues that carry the most risk: terminations, workplace investigations, employee relations, and the policies that govern how 3,000+ people across 20+ markets work. You'll own US employment law directly and coordinate advice across other jurisdictions with our external counsel panel. Because Airwallex operates through licensed entities in most of its markets, you'll also work on questions that a generalist employment lawyer rarely sees: contractor and EOR classification across borders, remote work and mobility exposure, and conduct and remuneration matters in regulated entities. This role suits someone who wants to build the playbooks and templates a scaling employment function runs on, not just answer tickets. This role is based in San Francisco, New York, or Seattle.

Responsibilities

• Advise the People & Talent team and business leaders on the full employee lifecycle, including hiring, contracts and variations, performance management, accommodations, leaves, wage and hour compliance, and terminations.
• Lead workplace investigations and sensitive employee matters end-to-end, working with the cross-functional People and Legal working group.
• Draft, refresh, and own employment-related policies and templates.
• Manage employment disputes, agency charges, and litigation, instructing and controlling external counsel and associated legal spend.
• Coordinate multi-jurisdiction employment advice across APAC, EMEA and the Americas, including contractor and employer-of-record arrangements, cross-border remote work and mobility risk.
• Advise on compensation, benefits, and equity matters in a private company context.

Minimum Qualifications

• J.D. degree (or foreign equivalent) and active membership in at least one US state bar (California, Washington, or New York preferred)
• 7+ years of employment law experience at a leading law firm and/or in-house legal department, with demonstrated employment counseling experience beyond litigation alone
• Experience advising on and coordinating employment law advice across multiple jurisdictions
• Experience leading workplace investigations and managing employment disputes, agency charges, or tribunal matters
• The ability to translate complex legal and risk issues into clear, succinct, and actionable guidance for non-legal audiences
• High motivation and the ability to operate independently and pivot quickly within a fast-paced, rapidly changing environment

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience at a fintech, payments company, or other highly regulated business
• Experience with contractor classification, employer-of-record populations, or cross-border remote work and permanent establishment risk
• A learner's mentality: you are consistently looking to take on new and diverse challenges and expand your knowledge and practice beyond your current areas of expertise
• Comfort operating across time zones with a globally distributed team, including colleagues based in APAC and EMEA

Pay

$160K - $270K