Sr. Lead Counsel, Labor & Employment

CurationsLA; California; On-site; USD 178,000 - 367,000; Full time

Job summary

Pinterest is seeking a Senior Lead Counsel with a strong background in advising on complex employment matters to join our Employment Law Team. You will partner with the People Team and business leaders across Pinterest to navigate recruiting, organizational change, employee relations, compensation, benefits, and contingent workforces, helping build scalable policies for a global workforce.

This role requires a JD with active bar admission (California or New York preferred), at least 10 years of

Qualifications

• JD and active bar admission, with a minimum of 10 years of experience handling complex employment matters in a law firm or in-house environment.
• California or New York bar admission preferred.
• In-house experience in a fast-paced organization is preferred.
• Deep knowledge of U.S. employment law and experience advising senior business and People leaders on high-impact, complex matters.
• Exceptional judgment and decision-making skills, including the ability to assess ambiguity and balance considerations.

Responsibilities

• Serve as a trusted senior advisor to executives, People Team leaders, and cross-functional stakeholders on complex employment matters.
• Independently assess risks and provide decisive recommendations aligned with Pinterest’s objectives.
• Lead development and implementation of employment-related agreements, policies, and operating practices.
• Develop and lead cross-functional employment-law initiatives, including compliance programs and training.
• Partner with senior stakeholders to identify risks and drive alignment across workstreams.
• Manage disputes, litigation, investigations, and regulatory matters with practical resolutions.
• Manage outside counsel relationships, budgets, and legal work to budget.
• Monitor developments in employment law and translate them into guidance and scalable practices.
• Act as an AI-forward partner, applying AI to improve research, risk spotting, and workflow while ensuring confidentiality and oversight.

Skills

J.D. & Bar

In-house exp

US employment law

Executive communication

AI awareness

Education

Juris Doctor (JD)

Job description

Millions of people around the world come to our platform to find creative ideas, dream about new possibilities and plan for memories that will last a lifetime. At Pinterest, we’re on a mission to bring everyone the inspiration to create a life they love, and that starts with the people behind the product.

Discover a career where you ignite innovation for millions, transform passion into growth opportunities, celebrate each other’s unique experiences and embrace the flexibility to do your best work. Creating a career you love? It’s Possible.

At Pinterest, AI isn't just a feature, it's a powerful partner that augments our creativity and amplifies our impact, and we’re looking for candidates who are excited to be a part of that. To get a complete picture of your experience and abilities, we’ll explore your foundational skills and how you collaborate with AI.

Through our interview process, what matters most is that you can always explain your approach, showing us not just what you know, but how you think. You can read more about our AI interview philosophy and how we use AI in our recruiting process here .

The Employment Law Team at Pinterest provides strategic, practical counsel to the People Team and business leaders on workforce decisions across the employee lifecycle. We are looking for an experienced Senior Lead Counsel with a strong background in advising on complex employment matters to join our team. The position will serve as a trusted legal partner to the People Team and business leaders across Pinterest, helping navigate matters ranging from recruiting and organizational change to employee relations, compensation, benefits, and contingent workforces. This role will play an important part in enabling business objectives, managing legal and reputational risk, supporting Pinterest's values and culture, and helping build scalable policies and processes for a global workforce.

What you'll do:

• Serve as a trusted senior advisor to executives, People Team leaders, and cross‑functional stakeholders on complex employment matters, such as workforce strategy, organizational change, global mobility, employee relations, accommodations, leaves, classification, and contingent workforces.
• Independently assess complex and ambiguous legal and business risks, synthesize competing considerations, and provide decisive, practical recommendations aligned with Pinterest’s objectives.
• Lead the development and implementation of employment‑related agreements, policies, guidelines, and other legal documents and operating practices.
• Develop and lead complex, cross‑functional employment‑law initiatives, including compliance programs, policy rollouts, process improvements, training, and other strategic People Team priorities.
• Partner with senior stakeholders to identify emerging risks, set priorities, secure resources, and drive alignment and accountability across interconnected workstreams.
• Manage significant employment disputes, litigation, agency investigations, and regulatory matters; develop practical resolution strategies that balance legal, business, employee‑experience, and reputational considerations.
• Manage outside counsel relationships, budgets, and legal work to budget, maintaining appropriate quality, efficiency, and strategic oversight.
• Monitor developments in employment law and translate them into clear, actionable guidance, policies, training, and scalable business practices.
• Act as an AI‑forward legal partner by identifying responsible opportunities to use AI to improve legal research, risk spotting, workflow efficiency, knowledge management, and service delivery, while applying sound judgment regarding confidentiality, accuracy, bias, transparency, and human oversight.

What we're looking for:

• JD and active bar admission, with a minimum of 10 years of experience handling complex employment matters in a law firm or in‑house environment; California or New York bar admission preferred.
• In‑house experience in a fast‑paced organization is preferred.
• Deep knowledge of U.S. employment law and experience advising senior business and People leaders on high‑impact, complex matters.
• Exceptional judgment and decision‑making skills, including the ability to assess ambiguity, balance competing considerations, and make timely recommendations.
• Excellent communication and executive‑influence skills, with the ability to explain complex legal issues clearly and build trusted partnerships.
• Proven ability to independently lead complex, cross‑functional initiatives and drive alignment and accountability across stakeholders.
• Strong experience negotiating and managing employment litigation, agency investigations, regulatory matters, and outside counsel relationships.
• AI‑forward mindset, including the ability to evaluate and responsibly apply AI tools to legal work and scaling efficiency.
• Impeccable integrity, discretion, resilience, and commitment to an inclusive environment.

Relocation Statement:

• This position is not eligible for relocation assistance. Visit our PinFlex page to learn more about our working model.

In‑Office Requirement Statement

• We recognize that the ideal environment for work is situational and may differ across departments. What this looks like day‑to‑day can vary based on the needs of each organization or role.
• This role will need to be in the office for in‑person collaboration approximately 1‑3 times per year and therefore can be situated anywhere in the country.

At Pinterest we believe the workplace should be equitable, inclusive, and inspiring for every employee. In an effort to provide greater transparency, we are sharing the base salary range for this position. The position is also eligible for equity. Final salary is based on a number of factors including location, travel, relevant prior experience, or particular skills and expertise.

Information regarding the culture at Pinterest and benefits available for this position can be found here .

US based applicants only$178,255—$366,996 USD

About Pinterest:

Millions of people around the world come to our platform to find creative ideas, dream about new possibilities and plan for memories that will last a lifetime. At Pinterest, we’re on a mission to bring everyone the inspiration to create a life they love, and that starts with the people behind the product.

Discover a career where you ignite innovation for millions, transform passion into growth opportunities, celebrate each other’s unique experiences and embrace the flexibility to do your best work. Creating a career you love? It’s Possible.

At Pinterest, AI isn't just a feature, it's a powerful partner that augments our creativity and amplifies our impact, and we’re looking for candidates who are excited to be a part of that. To get a complete picture of your experience and abilities, we’ll explore your foundational skills and how you collaborate with AI.

Through our interview process, what matters most is that you can always explain your approach, showing us not just what you know, but how you think. You can read more about our AI interview philosophy and how we use AI in our recruiting process here .

The Employment Law Team at Pinterest provides strategic, practical counsel to the People Team and business leaders on workforce decisions across the employee lifecycle. We are looking for an experienced Senior Lead Counsel with a strong background in advising on complex employment matters to join our team. The position will serve as a trusted legal partner to the People Team and business leaders across Pinterest, helping navigate matters ranging from recruiting and organizational change to employee relations, compensation, benefits, and contingent workforces. This role will play an important part in enabling business objectives, managing legal and reputational risk, supporting Pinterest's values and culture, and helping build scalable policies and processes for a global workforce.

What you'll do:

• Serve as a trusted senior advisor to executives, People Team leaders, and cross‑functional stakeholders on complex employment matters, such as workforce strategy, organizational change, global mobility, employee relations, accommodations, leaves, classification, and contingent workforces.
• Independently assess complex and ambiguous legal and business risks, synthesize competing considerations, and provide decisive, practical recommendations aligned with Pinterest’s objectives.
• Lead the development and implementation of employment‑related agreements, policies, guidelines, and other legal documents and operating practices.
• Develop and lead complex, cross‑functional employment‑law initiatives, including compliance programs, policy rollouts, process improvements, training, and other strategic People Team priorities.
• Partner with senior stakeholders to identify emerging risks, set priorities, secure resources, and drive alignment and accountability across interconnected workstreams.
• Manage significant employment disputes, litigation, agency investigations, and regulatory matters; develop practical resolution strategies that balance legal, business, employee‑experience, and reputational considerations.
• Manage outside counsel relationships, budgets, and legal work to budget, maintaining appropriate quality, efficiency, and strategic oversight.
• Monitor developments in employment law and translate them into clear, actionable guidance, policies, training, and scalable business practices.
• Act as an AI‑forward legal partner by identifying responsible opportunities to use AI to improve legal research, risk spotting, workflow efficiency, knowledge management, and service delivery, while applying sound judgment regarding confidentiality, accuracy, bias, transparency, and human oversight.

What we're looking for:

• JD and active bar admission, with a minimum of 10 years of experience handling complex employment matters in a law firm or in‑house environment; California or New York bar admission preferred.
• In‑house experience in a fast‑paced organization is preferred.
• Deep knowledge of U.S. employment law and experience advising senior business and People leaders on high‑impact, complex matters.
• Exceptional judgment and decision‑making skills, including the ability to assess ambiguity, balance competing considerations, and make timely recommendations.
• Excellent communication and executive‑influence skills, with the ability to explain complex legal issues clearly and build trusted partnerships.
• Proven ability to independently lead complex, cross‑functional initiatives and drive alignment and accountability across stakeholders.
• Strong experience negotiating and managing employment litigation, agency investigations, regulatory matters, and outside counsel relationships.
• AI‑forward mindset, including the ability to evaluate and responsibly apply AI tools to legal work and scaling efficiency.
• Impeccable integrity, discretion, resilience, and commitment to an inclusive environment.

Relocation Statement:

• This position is not eligible for relocation assistance. Visit our PinFlex page to learn more about our working model.

In‑Office Requirement Statement

• We recognize that the ideal environment for work is situational and may differ across departments. What this looks like day‑to‑day can vary based on the needs of each organization or role.
• This role will need to be in the office for in‑person collaboration approximately 1‑3 times per year and therefore can be situated anywhere in the country.

At Pinterest we believe the workplace should be equitable, inclusive, and inspiring for every employee. In an effort to provide greater transparency, we are sharing the base salary range for this position. The position is also eligible for equity. Final salary is based on a number of factors including location, travel, relevant prior experience, or particular skills and expertise.

Information regarding the culture at Pinterest and benefits available for this position can be found here .

US based applicants only$178,255—$366,996 USD

Our Commitment to Inclusion:

Pinterest is an equal opportunity employer and makes employment decisions on the basis of merit. We want to have the best qualified people in every job. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion or religious creed, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, status as a protected veteran, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information or characteristics (or those of a family member) or any other consideration made unlawful by applicable federal, state or local laws. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. If you require a medical or religious accommodation during the job application process, please complete this form for support. By submitting this application, I certify that all information submitted in my application and throughout the hiring process is true, accurate, and complete to the best of my knowledge. I understand that any false statement, omission, or misrepresentation may disqualify me from employment consideration or result in termination if discovered after hire.