Overview
This role involves leading the regional employment legal function across EMEA and JAPAC. Reporting to the VP, Deputy General Counsel (Global Employment), the Director will manage a high-performing team of regional employment lawyers, serve as a trusted advisor to People and business leadership, and help navigate complex employment matters across multiple jurisdictions. This is a strategic leadership position suited for someone who thrives in fast-moving, high-growth environments and enjoys building scalable, thoughtful legal frameworks.
Responsibilities
- Act as a trusted advisor to the People Team and senior business stakeholders on employment law matters including hiring, termination, employee relations, performance management, compensation, working time, leaves, and investigations.
- Manage employment litigation and pre-litigation matters, including oversight of outside counsel and legal strategy.
- Lead employment legal support for cross-border workforce restructurings, including redundancy processes and collective consultation.
- Advise on works council and employee representative body obligations across key EMEA jurisdictions such as Germany, France, and Spain.
- Develop and maintain policies, templates, and playbooks to enable scalable, consistent legal guidance.
- Deliver targeted training and enablement programs for People Team partners and business stakeholders.
- Partner on international expansion and footprint strategy across EMEA and JAPAC.
- Monitor legislative and regulatory developments across the region and lead implementation of compliance initiatives.
- Lead and develop a high-performing, inclusive team of employment lawyers grounded in trust, accountability, and curiosity.
- Leverage AI and scalable self-service tools to deliver faster, clearer, and more consistent legal support.
Requirements
- Qualified to practice law in Ireland or England & Wales.
- 10+ years of post-qualification experience in employment law, including in-house experience at a multinational company.
- Deep expertise across multiple EMEA jurisdictions, including two or more of: Ireland, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Netherlands, Spain, or Belgium.
- Proven experience managing cross-border restructurings, collective consultation processes, and works council or employee representative body obligations.
- Experience managing and developing lawyers or legal professionals.
- Strong communication and decision-making skills, including the ability to navigate ambiguity and explain complex legal concepts clearly.
- Ability to build trusted relationships across Legal, People, and executive leadership teams.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience supporting employment law matters in JAPAC jurisdictions such as Australia, Singapore, Japan, or India.
- Experience working within a SaaS, technology, or AI-forward environment.
- Experience building scalable legal operations, self-service guidance, or AI-enabled legal workflows.
Compensation & Benefits
Details on compensation and benefits are not specified in this description.
Location
- Location: Ireland or United Kingdom
- Remote work eligible
- Occasional travel may be required for team collaboration and business needs
Additional Information
Applicants who require accommodations due to disability or travel limitations are encouraged to inform the recruiter during the hiring process. The organization is committed to supporting candidates who may need alternative arrangements.
Applicants from Massachusetts should note that it is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment.
Applicants from Germany and India are subject to respective equal opportunity policies.
All hiring decisions are made by humans, though AI may be used to assist in screening or assessment. Personal data collected during recruitment will be used for recruiting, global organization planning, and related purposes, with identity verification processes in place to maintain a secure experience for candidates.