Senior Legal Counsel & Employment Expert

Papaya Global; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Papaya Global in the United States seeks a Senior Legal Counsel & Employment Expert to join its growing Legal team. You will serve as the expert point of contact on labor and employment law matters across global operations, including drafting and negotiating employment agreements and handling recruitment and terminations.

US-qualified attorney with 4+ years in-house at a high-tech/fintech company is required, with strong litigation experience a plus.

Qualifications

• US-qualified attorney with 4+ years in-house experience in tech/fintech.
• Expertise in labor and employment laws (local and international).
• Litigation experience is a plus.
• Experience drafting and negotiating employment-related agreements.

Responsibilities

• Handle global employment issues and act as expert point of contact for labor and employment law matters, including litigation.
• Advise on recruitment, performance management, terminations, compensation, and restrictive covenants.
• Draft, revise, and advise on employee-related documents including employment agreements, contractor agreements, and separation agreements.
• Draft, review, and negotiate a variety of legal contracts with clients, partners, vendors, and third parties (services agreements, NDAs, DPAs, SaaS agreements). Provide legal guidance and explanations to clients on employment law topics.
• Work closely with global partners on employment legal issues and coordinate clients' legal and commercial needs with relevant aspects.
• Collaborate with Sales, Product, Marketing, Finance, and Customer Success on diverse legal issues.
• Provide general corporate law advice as needed and leverage AI-assisted workflows to improve efficiency while maintaining legal accuracy.

Skills

Labor and employment law

In-house experience

Contract negotiation

Cross-border employment

Tools

AI tools for legal workflows

Job description

Papaya Global is a rapidly growing, award-winning B2B tech unicorn with an ambitious mission to revolutionize the payroll & payments industry. With over $400M raised from multiple tier-one investors, our innovative technology provides a comprehensive solution for managing global workforces, encompassing everything from hiring and onboarding to managing and paying employees in over 160 countries.

We are seeking a Senior Legal Counsel & Employment Expert to join our growing Legal team. Our ideal candidate is an experienced commercial and employment lawyer who will serve as the company's and its clients' professional point of contact across commercial contracts and global employment law matters.

You will:

• Handle global employment issues and serve as the expert point of contact for labor and employment law matters, including litigation.
• Provide advice and day-to-day support on Employment and Labor issues including recruiting and hiring, performance management, terminations, compensation, and restrictive covenants.
• Draft, revise, and advise on employee related documents including employment agreements, contractor agreements, and separation agreements.
• Draft, review, and negotiate a variety of legal contracts with clients, partners, vendors, and third parties (services agreements, NDAs, DPAs, SaaS agreements). Provide legal guidance and explanations to the company's clients on employment law topics.
• Work closely with the company's global partners on employment legal issues.
• Coordinate clients' legal and commercial needs with the relevant legal aspects.
• Work with the company's departments (Sales, Product, Marketing, Finance, Customer Success Managers) on diverse legal issues.
• Provide other general corporate law advice as needed.
• Leverage AI-powered tools to support legal workflows, including contract analysis, legal drafting, employment law research, and synthesis of multi-jurisdiction legal requirements.
• Apply AI-assisted capabilities to improve consistency, efficiency, and quality in employment law guidance, legal knowledge management, and internal legal operations while maintaining legal accuracy and professional judgment.

Requirements:

• US-qualified attorney/lawyer with 4+ years' experience as in-house counsel in a High-Tech/Fintech company and as an attorney at a prominent law firm.
• Expertise in labor and employment laws (local and international).
• Experience in human resources or any other related field - an advantage.
• Experience in litigation - an advantage.
• Good organizational and time-management skills.
• Multi-tasker, self-motivated and persistent.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Comfortable dealing with a global customer base and interacting in a multicultural environment.
• Able to communicate legal issues and solutions clearly and concisely.
• Hands-on experience using AI tools as an integral part of legal workflows, including legal drafting, contract review, employment law research, legal summarization, and cross-jurisdiction legal analysis.
• Ability to leverage and implement AI-assisted workflows, including building AI-driven processes and automation for the legal team, to improve efficiency, consistency, and scalability of legal operations while maintaining high standards of legal accuracy, confidentiality, and professional judgment.