Senior Employment Counsel

Overview

A rapidly scaling healthcare organization is seeking a Senior Employment Lawyer to build and lead the employment law function from the ground up. This role offers the opportunity to design scalable legal frameworks and provide strategic counsel across a large, multi-state workforce that includes hourly home health caregivers and corporate employees.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary employment law advisor to People team, executives, and leadership on employee relations, performance management, discipline, terminations, leaves of absence, accommodations, and sensitive personnel matters.
• Provide practical, real-time guidance on complex employment issues balancing legal risk with operational needs.
• Advise executive leadership on workforce strategy, organizational change, and risk mitigation.
• Design and implement scalable frameworks for managing employee relations, investigations, discipline, and separations.
• Develop policies, handbooks, playbooks, templates, and decision trees for HR and managers.
• Establish a proactive, multi-state compliance strategy for a distributed and growing workforce.
• Lead wage-and-hour and multi-state compliance efforts, including classification, overtime, scheduling, and related issues for non-exempt and home-based employees.
• Monitor evolving federal, state, and local employment laws and translate them into actionable guidance.
• Conduct and oversee workplace investigations and sensitive matters.
• Manage employment litigation strategy and coordinate with outside counsel.
• Handle administrative agency charges, demand letters, and pre-litigation disputes.
• Design and deliver training programs for managers and People team.
• Partner with leadership to embed a legally compliant, people-centered workplace culture.
• Support reorganizations, acquisitions, and new business initiatives.

Requirements

• Minimum 5 years of employment law experience.
• Combination of law firm and in-house experience strongly preferred; exceptional law firm candidates without in-house experience will be considered.
• Proven experience advising business leaders or sophisticated clients on complex employment matters.
• Experience supporting hourly, distributed, or field-based workforces is highly valued.
• Multi-state employment law experience required.
• Deep knowledge of federal employment laws and multi-state compliance.
• Strong wage-and-hour expertise, particularly for non-exempt and home-based employees.
• Experience managing employment litigation, agency charges, and workplace investigations.
• Familiarity with HR operations, workforce policy, and employment-related transactional work.

Preferred Qualifications

• Healthcare or other regulated industry experience is a strong plus.
• Demonstrated ability to build systems and infrastructure from scratch.
• Business-oriented and pragmatic approach to legal issues.
• Adaptable to ambiguity, limited resources, and rapid organizational growth.
• Strong project management and prioritization skills.
• High emotional intelligence with strong interpersonal judgment and discretion.
• Low ego with a high sense of ownership and willingness to engage at all levels.

Compensation & Benefits

• Salary range: $180,000 - $250,000 annually.
• Annual company performance bonus eligibility for full-time employees.
• Comprehensive health coverage with 90% premium coverage for employees and 70% for dependents; multiple PPO plan options including medical, vision, dental, life, and short-term disability.
• Generous paid time off plus 10 paid company holidays.
• Team activities and annual company retreat for full-time employees.
• Financial benefits including HSA contributions, optional FSA and commuter benefits, and full coverage of 401(k) account fees (no employer match currently).
• Paid parental leave.

Location

This role supports a nationwide workforce and involves multi-state employment law compliance. Specific location details are not provided.

Employment is contingent upon successful completion of a background check, satisfactory references, and any required documentation.