Legal counsel, employment

Bending Spoons; Italia; On-site; EUR 66,000 - 108,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible hours

Remote work

Learning budget

Health insurance

Relocation package

Parental support

Annual retreat

Equity discount

Job summary

Bending Spoons in Milan, Italy, is seeking a skilled lawyer to guide employment and labor matters, support acquisitions, and help build scalable legal tools that leverage AI to support a fast-growing business.

You will navigate multi-jurisdictional issues, handle disputes with outside counsel, and stay ahead of evolving regulations. The role offers exceptional growth, comprehensive benefits, relocation support, and potential equity opportunities in a high-ambition environment.

Qualifications

• Ability to solve complex problems from first principles with sharp structured thinking.
• High initiative, effort, and tenacity; strong sense of responsibility.
• Collaborative mindset; support the best idea and help the team succeed.

Responsibilities

• Guide employment and labor matters across policies, hiring, contracts, compensation, benefits, relocations, and separations.
• Support acquisitions, transitions, and integrations across jurisdictions.
• Manage disputes with outside counsel and the People team.
• Build scalable legal tools and AI-powered workflows to support high-growth business.
• Stay ahead of regulation and identify opportunities to unlock value.

Skills

Reasoning ability

Drive

Team spirit

Proficiency in English

Some experience

Education

Law degree

Job description

At Bending Spoons, we’re striving to build one of the all-time great companies. A company that serves a huge number of customers. A company where team members grow to their full potential. A company that functions at unparalleled levels of effectiveness and efficiency. A company that creates value for shareowners at an extraordinary rate. And a company that does so while adhering to high ethical standards.

In pursuit of this objective, we acquire and improve digital businesses, not to sell on, but to own and operate for the long term. The transformations we make are often deep—designed to speed up innovation, benefit customers, and strengthen business performance. Here, hierarchy is minimal and teams are small and talent-dense. We operate established products with the ambition, agility, and urgency of a startup. Across the company, we integrate AI deeply into how we work so that human judgment and machine intelligence reinforce each other.

For a talented, driven, and collaborative individual, working at Bending Spoons is an opportunity to learn, make an impact, and progress their career at an exceptionally high rate. That’s our promise to such a candidate.

A few examples of your responsibilities

• Guide employment and labor matters. Give practical and business-minded advice on a variety of employment and labor matters, including policies, hiring, contracts, compensation, benefits, relocations, and separations, in alignment with our values and company culture.
• Support acquisitions, transitions, and integrations. Help plan and navigate acquisitions and reorganizations across jurisdictions.
• Manage disputes. Handle claims and litigation across jurisdictions, working closely with outside counsel and our People team.
• Build scalable legal tools and processes. Create and maintain efficient processes, policies, forms, playbooks, and other tools, integrating AI-powered workflows to support the company's high-growth business.
• Stay ahead of regulation. Monitor legal and regulatory developments and proactively identify opportunities to unlock value and address evolving business needs.

What we look for

• Reasoning ability. Given the necessary knowledge, you can solve complex problems. You think from first principles, and structure your ideas sharply. You resist the influence of biases. You identify and take care of the details that matter.
• Drive. You’re extremely ambitious in everything you do—and your initiative, effort, and tenacity match the intensity of your ambition. You feel deeply responsible for your work. You hold yourself to a high—and rising—bar.
• Team spirit. You give generously and without the expectation of receiving in return. You support the best idea, not your idea. You're always happy to get your hands dirty to help your team. You’re reliable, honest, and transparent.
• Proficiency in English. You read, write, and speak proficiently in English.
• Some experience. After obtaining a law degree, you practiced at a law firm or as in-house counsel for a period of time, in which you encountered some of the main challenges you’ll face in the role.

What we offer

• Incredibly talented, entrepreneurial teams. You’ll work in small, result-oriented, autonomous teams alongside some of the brightest people in your field.
• An exceptional opportunity for growth. We go to great lengths to hire individuals of outstanding potential—then, our priority is to put them in the ideal position to thrive. Spooners in their 20s lead products worth hundreds of millions of dollars. And if you’ve got what it takes, you’ll soon be playing an essential role in major projects, too.
• All. These. Benefits. Flexible hours, remote working, unlimited backing for learning and training, top-of-the-market health insurance, a rich relocation package, generous parental support, and a yearly retreat to a stunning location. We help each Spooner set up the conditions to do their best work.
• Competitive pay and access to company equity at a discount. Typical annual salary offers range from £85,797 to £151,436 in London and from €66,065 to €107,837 elsewhere in Europe. The lower end of these ranges applies to candidates with little or no relevant experience, while exceptionally experienced candidates may receive offers of up to £398,287 in London or €303,108 elsewhere in Europe. Candidates offered a permanent contract may choose to receive part of their compensation in discounted company equity.

Commitment & contract

Permanent or fixed-term. Full-time.

Location

Milan (Italy), London (UK), Madrid (Spain), Warsaw (Poland).

The selection process

In our screening process, we prioritize verifiable signals of excellence, regardless of seniority. There are no preferential paths beyond what your application demonstrates, and we evaluate every candidate through the same process.

Some people hold back because they feel they lack experience or have an “imperfect” CV. If you like the role and believe you could excel over time, don’t self-reject.

We set the bar high and won’t extend an offer until we’re confident we’ve found the right candidate. This is why a job may remain open for months or be reposted several times.

We consider all applicants for employment and provide reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities—please let us know through this form.

Before you apply

If you’ve applied before but didn't receive an offer, we recommend waiting at least one year before applying again.

Bending Spoons is a demanding environment. We’re extremely ambitious and we hold ourselves—and one another—to a high standard. While this tends to lead to extraordinary learning, achievement, and career growth, it also requires significant commitment.

To help you ramp up quickly and set yourself up for success, we expect you to spend most days in our Milan office during your first few months with us, regardless of your long-term work location. It’s the best way to rapidly absorb our company culture and build trust with your new teammates. We’ll support you with generous travel and accommodation assistance. After that, you’re welcome to work from one of our offices, or remotely from approved countries—depending on what we agree at the offer stage.

If the role speaks to you and you’re excited to give your best, we’d love to hear from you.