Senior Counsel, Governance

Oyster®; Poland; On-site; PLN 180,000 - 300,000; Full time

Job summary

Oyster is seeking a Senior Counsel, Governance, to lead entity structuring and governance for global expansions. You will own hands-on entity formation, licensing, and related filings, partnering with the Global Expansion team to ensure compliant launches across jurisdictions.

In this 12-month, fixed-term role, you will build scalable governance processes, draft foundational corporate documents, and drive risk identification and mitigation while operating with a high degree of autonomy in a

Qualifications

• 7+ years' experience in corporate governance and entity formation.
• Hands-on execution of entity filings, registered agents, licensing, and related tasks.
• Experience coordinating with external counsel, corporate secretarial providers, regulators across jurisdictions.
• Ability to work autonomously on a fast-moving, high-stakes project.

Responsibilities

• Lead governance and structuring decisions for each new entity launch and licensing pathway.
• Drive the practical work of standing up new entities, filings, agents, director appointments, and licensing.
• Conduct jurisdiction-specific regulatory research to identify entity and governance requirements.
• Draft, review, and maintain formation documents, board minutes, and governance policies for new entities.
• Collaborate with Global Expansion teams to sequence launches and mitigate risk.
• Identify governance, licensing, and regulatory risks early and propose practical solutions.
• Document repeatable processes and handoffs for ongoing entity maintenance.

Skills

Governance

Entity formation

Autonomy

Cross-functional collaboration

Project management

Tools

Klea

Notion

Asana

DocuSign

HelloSign

Job description

Location:

While this position is posted in a specific location, all of Oyster’s positions are fully remote and you can work from home. Forever.

To create the best experience for our new hire, this role requires you to be based within +3 / -3 UTC.

Role Summary

Are you a governance-minded lawyer who thrives on ambiguity, ownership, and building something from scratch? As our Senior Counsel, Governance, you’ll join Oyster's Legal team as the dedicated governance and entity-formation counsel supporting Global Expansions. Working directly with our Global Expansion team, you will be making the structuring and licensing calls for legal entities, and then personally rolling up your sleeves to help get it formed, filed, and audit-ready. Beyond launch, you own the hands-on administrative work of standing up each entity, and you’ll help build scalable governance processes to ensure operational readiness and a smooth transition to our legal entity management team.

This is a 12-month, fixed-term engagement built for someone who wants outsized ownership over a fast-moving, high-visibility program, and who's comfortable being both the strategist and the person actually doing the work.

Key Responsibilities

• Entity Structuring & Formation: Lead governance and structuring decisions for each new direct entity launch, determining the right corporate form, ownership structure, and licensing pathway for each jurisdiction.
• Hands-On Launch Execution: Personally drive the practical work of standing up new entities, coordinating filings, registered agents/local service providers, director and officer appointments, bank account and licensing paperwork, and other set-up tasks needed to get each entity live and compliant, ahead of dedicated launch support coming online later in the project.
• Regulatory & Licensing Research: Conduct jurisdiction-specific legal and regulatory research to identify entity, licensing, and governance requirements ahead of each launch.
• Corporate Documentation & Governance Records: Draft, review, and maintain foundational corporate documentation (formation documents, board minutes, governance policies, powers of attorney) for each new entity, keeping a clean, audit-ready governance framework from day one.
• Cross-Functional Partnership: Partner closely with the Global Expansion launch team (Legal, Finance, Operations, People, Payroll, and Treasury) to sequence and de-risk entity launches against an aggressive project timeline.
• Risk Identification & Mitigation: Identify governance, licensing, and regulatory risk early in the launch process, and build practical, business-first solutions to keep launches on track.
• Process & Knowledge Handoff: Document repeatable processes and playbooks for entity formation and governance so this knowledge transfers cleanly to the team that takes over ongoing entity maintenance once this engagement ends.

Core Requirements

• Qualified lawyer with 7+ years' experience in corporate governance, entity formation, and multi-jurisdictional entity management, ideally including SaaS, tech, or EOR/HR-tech environments.
• Demonstrated experience personally establishing and maintaining corporate entities across multiple jurisdictions, not just advising on it, but doing the hands-on execution work (filings, registered agents, licensing applications, and similar).
• Demonstrated experience interacting directly with external counsel, corporate secretarial providers, regulators, and registered agents across multiple jurisdictions.
• Comfortable holding a power of attorney to represent company directors/officers where needed.
• Ability to operate with significant autonomy on a fast-moving, ambiguous, high-stakes project with minimal ramp-up time, and to be available for an 11-month, fixed-term engagement.
• Strong judgment translating legal and regulatory requirements into practical, sequenced execution plans for a non-legal, cross-functional audience.
• Experience thriving in fast-paced, high-growth, or startup environments.

Bonus Points

• Prior experience with an EOR/PEO or global HR platform.
• Experience building governance playbooks or processes designed to be handed off to others.
• Project Management experience setting up entities in multiple jurisdictions.
• Familiarity with corporate governance tools (e.g. Klea or similar), Notion, and Asana.
• Experience with e-signature platforms (DocuSign, HelloSign, local qualified e-sign providers) and wet signature flows.
• Experience managing jurisdiction‑specific signing formalities (e.g., notarization, legalization/apostille, witness requirements, etc.)
• Familiarity with D&O insurance coverage and director indemnification agreements.

You’ll also need

• A reliable home internet connection
• Fluency in both written and spoken English