Legal Counsel - Employment

Hub; Helsinki; Hybrid; EUR 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work model

Equity compensation

Global team

Job summary

Verda in Helsinki is seeking a Legal Counsel, Employment to lead employment, labour, and health and safety matters as we scale globally. You will advise on workforce structuring, contractor arrangements, GDPR data protection, and regulatory compliance across Finland, the EU, the UK, and beyond, collaborating with People, Operations, and external counsel.

This hands-on role requires practical guidance in a fast-paced scale-up, with opportunities to influence policies and expand into new

Qualifications

• LLM or equivalent degree from an accredited law programme.
• 5+ years of employment and labour law experience across multiple jurisdictions.
• Experience with occupational health and safety law and construction/industrial environments.

Responsibilities

• Act as the primary legal advisor on employment and labour law across multiple Verda jurisdictions.
• Advise on health and safety obligations for data centre sites and project phases.
• Draft and negotiate employment, contractor, and staffing agreements and secondments.
• Advise on workforce structuring for new sites and cross-border mobility.
• Support employee relations, terminations, restructurings, and investigations.
• Guide works councils, unions, and collective bargaining obligations.
• Develop employment and health and safety policies with the People team.
• Monitor regulatory developments in Finland, the EU, the UK, and other jurisdictions.
• Provide data protection and privacy guidance under GDPR and HR data processing.
• Coordinate external counsel and deliver training to managers on employment law.

Skills

English communication

Legal advisory

Cross-border / multi-jurisdictional

Regulatory compliance

Education

LLM or equivalent degree

Job description

At Verda, we're building a full-stack AI cloud, covering everything from data centers and hardware to our own cloud platform that the world's leading AI teams use to do serious AI work.

We strive to make a positive mark on the world through the infrastructure we build and give leading teams a service they can truly depend on. Headquartered in Helsinki, we operate globally with offices in London and San Francisco.

Join Verda while it’s still being built - not once it’s finished.

Why Verda

• Cash and equity compensation along with local benefits.

• 40+ nationalities, with 6 different ones on the management team.

• A real chance to make an impact and work alongside world class engineers, researchers, and partners across the global AI ecosystem.

Practicalities

• Location: Helsinki; remote within Europe or UK may be considered for the right candidate

• Working mode: Hybrid, 3 days a week from the office; regular travel to sites may be required

• Start date: As soon as possible

• Employment type: Full-time and permanent

About the role

We’re looking for a Legal Counsel, Employment to lead employment, labour, and health and safety legal matters at Verda as we scale. Verda operates data centre sites across multiple countries, and this role goes well beyond office-based employment law: you’ll advise on the workforce, contractor, and safety questions that arise from building and running industrial sites in a global, multi-jurisdictional context.

This is a hands-on role in a scale-up environment. You’ll work closely with People, Operations, Site Delivery, and Compliance teams to provide pragmatic legal guidance across the full employment lifecycle, and you’ll help shape our employment and health and safety frameworks as we expand into new jurisdictions, including those with demanding labour and safety regimes.

Your responsibilities

• Act as the primary legal advisor on employment and labour law matters across all Verda jurisdictions, including Finland, US, UK, Germany, and other operating countries

• Advise on health and safety legal obligations for data centre sites, including construction and commissioning phases, site operations, and incident and accident response

• Draft, review, and support negotiation of employment agreements, contractor and staffing arrangements, secondment agreements, and site-related workforce contracts

• Advise on workforce structuring for new sites, including hiring models, use of contractors and subcontractors, posted workers, and cross-border mobility

• Support employee relations matters, including performance management, disciplinary and grievance processes, terminations, and restructurings

• Advise on works councils, trade unions, collective bargaining, and employee consultation obligations in the relevant jurisdictions

• Support the People team in developing and maintaining employment and health and safety policies, handbooks, and procedures, and ensuring they meet local legal requirements

• Monitor and interpret employment, labour, and occupational health and safety regulatory developments across Finland, the EU, the UK, and other relevant jurisdictions

• Advise on employee data protection and privacy matters, including monitoring, background checks, and HR data processing under GDPR

• Manage employment-related disputes, investigations, and regulatory inquiries, including coordination with authorities and external counsel

• Deliver training to managers and site leadership on employment law, health and safety responsibilities, and compliant people practices in collaboration with the People Function and Operations

• Coordinate and manage external employment and health and safety counsel across jurisdictions, ensuring consistent and cost-effective advice

Your key competencies

• LLM or equivalent degree from an accredited law programme

• 5+ years of employment and labour law experience (law firm or in-house), including advising employers in industrial, construction, energy, or infrastructure environments

• Demonstrable experience with occupational health and safety law, including regulatory obligations for construction sites and industrial facilities, incident handling, and dealings with safety authorities

• Proven experience advising on employment matters across multiple jurisdictions, with hands-on exposure to complex regimes such as Germany (e.g., works councils, co-determination, collective agreements)

• Ability to provide pragmatic, business-oriented legal advice in a fast-paced environment

• Strong communication skills in English (written and verbal), with the ability to translate legal complexity into actionable guidance for managers and site teams

• High level of ownership, ethical judgement, and professionalism, with the confidence to handle sensitive people matters and investigations

• Comfortable working cross-functionally with People, Operations, Site Delivery, and commercial teams

• Ability to operate in a multi-jurisdictional context, including knowing when to escalate to external counsel

Nice to have

• Experience in a data centre, construction, energy, or heavy-industry company, or advising such clients

• Working knowledge of German, Finnish, or another language relevant to Verda’s operating countries

• Familiarity with EU and UK health and safety frameworks, including the EU Framework Directive, CDM Regulations, and national equivalents

• Experience with posted workers, cross-border secondments, and immigration or work-permit considerations

• Exposure to collective bargaining negotiations and works council agreements

• Experience supporting international expansion, including setting up employment frameworks in new countries

• Prior experience managing external counsel across jurisdictions