Employment Counsel

Adyen; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 135,000 - 275,000; Full time

Job summary

Adyen seeks an Employment Counsel based in New York or San Francisco to own US employment disputes, manage external counsel relationships, and advise HR on high-risk employment issues. You will build frameworks, templates, and trainings to enable HR to handle routine matters and to scale globally with the broader Legal team.

You will work collaboratively with Amsterdam counsel and HR partners around the world, offering practical guidance in a fast-paced environment and ensuring alignment with

Qualifications

• 7+ years of employment law experience, in house or at a law firm.
• Strong US employment litigation experience through agencies and the courts.
• Ability to direct external counsel and manage a panel.
• Global collaboration with HR and legal colleagues across regions.

Responsibilities

• Own US employment disputes and litigation, align with global strategy through to resolution.
• Instruct and manage external counsel, ensure scope, budget, and quality.
• Advise on risk, balancing legal exposure with business outcomes.
• Partner with HR on escalated employee matters and training programs.
• Develop frameworks, playbooks, and policies in collaboration with Amsterdam and regional teams.
• Advise across wage/hour, discrimination, leave, and pay transparency.

Skills

Employment law

Litigation management

In-house mindset

English fluency

Education

US attorney license

Job description

Adyen provides payments, data, and financial products in a single solution for customers like Meta, Uber, H&M, and Microsoft - making us the financial technology platform of choice. At Adyen, everything we do is engineered for ambition.

For our teams, we create an environment with opportunities for our people to succeed, backed by the culture and support to ensure they are enabled to truly own their careers. We are motivated individuals who tackle unique technical challenges at scale and solve them as a team. Together, we deliver innovative and ethical solutions that help businesses achieve their ambitions faster.

Employment Counsel

We are looking for a driven and enthusiastic Employment Counsel based in New York or San Francisco to join our global Legal team at Adyen. As Employment Counsel, you will own employment litigation and disputes across the US, manage our external counsel relationships, and advise the business and our HR colleagues on the employment questions that carry the most risk: the escalations that do not have a clean answer.

You will also build. This is our only dedicated employment legal role in the US. While your primary coverage will be in the US, a global mindset is essential to success in the role. Alongside your caseload, you will own the frameworks, templates, playbooks, and trainings that enable our HR colleagues to move quickly on routine matters and bring us in on what matters most. You will partner with our Employment Counsel in Amsterdam, our global Corporate Legal team, and HR Business Partners around the world. This is a role for a counsel who is practical, comfortable making a call where the law is unsettled, and who would rather build something reusable than answer the same question every day.

What you will do:

• Own US employment disputes and litigation: aligning our position with global strategy, posture, and management through to resolution.
• Instruct and manage external counsel, holding firms to scope, budget and quality, and building a panel we can rely on across jurisdictions.
• Advise on risk, balancing legal exposure against a practical business outcome.
• Partner with our HR colleagues on escalated employee matters, bringing legal judgment and privilege where it is needed and enabling them to run with the rest.
• Partner with Employment Counsel in Amsterdam. Build the frameworks, playbooks, and legal review of the policies that matter most.
• Advise across the full generalist range, including wage and hour, discrimination and accommodation, classification, leave, and pay transparency.
• Take a global view. Build frameworks that travel beyond the US, and shape our global employment legal strategy together with colleagues in EMEA, APAC and LATAM.
• Train and upskill HR colleagues, people leads and managers, so that good practice is built in rather than reviewed after the fact.

Who you are:

• Have around 7+ years of employment law experience or more, in house or at a law firm, including strong US employment litigation experience running matters through agencies and the courts and directing external counsel.
• Employment generalist who is comfortable with the grey. Where the law is unsettled you give a clear recommendation, explain the risk you are accepting, and own the call.
• Have an in-house mindset. You tie your advice to a business objective and you know the difference between a real risk and a theoretical one.
• Can work autonomously and run things like your own business. You are comfortable being the only employment lawyer in region and building from there.
• Take a global approach and do not assume any one jurisdiction is the default. You collaborate easily with legal and HR colleagues across the US, LATAM, EMEA and APAC.
• Exercise discretion and sound judgment on sensitive and confidential matters, and you can structure and prioritize your work in a high volume, fast-paced environment.
• Admitted to practice in the United States and in good standing.
• Available to work from our New York or San Francisco office and travel to other offices periodically.
• Fluent in English, both written and spoken. Any additional language is a plus.

Curious to learn more about the legal team? Read more here.

Compensation

The base salary range for this role is $135,000- $275,000. To learn more about our compensation philosophy, please click here .

Location & Work Model

This role is based out of our New York or San Francisco office. We are an office-first company and value in-person collaboration; we do not offer remote-only roles.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Adyen

We actively seek different perspectives to sharpen our ideas. Our unique culture is a product of our diverse backgrounds and experiences. No matter who you are or where you’re from, you’re welcome to be your true self at Adyen.

What’s next?

Ensuring a smooth and enjoyable candidate experience is critical for us. We aim to get back to you regarding your application within 5 business days. Our interview process tends to take about 4 weeks to complete, but may fluctuate depending on the role. Learn more about our hiring process here . Don’t be afraid to let us know if you need more flexibility.

Adyen is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based on race, color, ethnicity, ancestry, national origin, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, disability, veteran status, genetic information, marital status or any legally protected status.

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

This role is based out of our New York office. We are an office-first company and value in-person collaboration; we do not offer remote-only roles.