Interim Employment Counsel for HR Law & Playbooks

Nearfield Instruments; Rotterdam; Hybrid; EUR 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Nearfield Instruments is seeking an Interim Legal Counsel with a strong background in employment law to support HR and business leaders across the Netherlands and other countries where we operate. The role focuses on complex employment-related matters, process improvements, and scalable guidance for HR teams.

This assignment requires deep Dutch employment law expertise, hands-on advisory experience, and the ability to coordinate external counsel across jurisdictions.

Qualifications

• Master's degree in Dutch Law or equivalent qualification.
• Significant experience as in-house Employment Counsel.
• Deep expertise in Dutch employment law with international exposure.
• Experience drafting restrictive covenants (non-compete and non-solicitation).
• Experience supporting HR on complex employment matters.
• Experience building HR processes, governance frameworks, toolkits, and self-service models.
• Experience coordinating external counsel across multiple jurisdictions.
• Strong stakeholder management across HR, management, and executive teams.
• Fluent in English; Dutch is highly preferred.

Responsibilities

• Advise HR, management, and business leaders on employment law and people-related matters across the Netherlands and other countries where Nearfield Instruments operates.
• Review, draft, and negotiate employment-related documentation including contracts, amendments, non-compete, non-solicitation, and confidentiality agreements; IP and invention assignment provisions; HR policies and handbooks; dismissals across jurisdictions.
• Provide legal guidance on employee relations, performance management, organizational changes, and workforce initiatives.
• Assess legal risks and provide practical, commercially balanced recommendations.
• Develop and implement legal guidelines, templates, decision frameworks, and standard processes for HR-related matters.
• Create playbooks and training materials to help HR address common legal questions compliantly.
• Define escalation paths for higher-risk matters requiring specialist review.
• Support globally consistent employment practices while ensuring local legislation compliance.
• Coordinate and manage external legal counsel where country-specific expertise is required.

Skills

Employment law

In-house counsel

Stakeholder management

Drafting contracts

Cross-border advisory

Process improvement

English fluency

Education

Master's degree in Dutch Law

Job description

Nearfield Instruments is seeking an Interim Legal Counsel with a strong background in employment law to support HR and business leaders across the Netherlands and other countries where we operate. The role focuses on complex employment-related matters, process improvements, and scalable guidance for HR teams.

This assignment requires deep Dutch employment law expertise, hands-on advisory experience, and the ability to coordinate external counsel across jurisdictions.