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Airwallex is an AI-native financial operating system serving over 675,000 businesses globally, including McLaren Racing, Qantas, SHEIN, and TikTok. The company operates as the regulated backbone for global payments across North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific, with 85+ licenses and 2,300+ employees across 27 offices.
As Employment Counsel for the Americas, you will be a hands-on legal partner to the People & Talent function, advising on high-risk employment matters and building scalable playbooks and policies. Your responsibilities include:
- Owning US employment law advice and coordinating guidance across multiple jurisdictions with external counsel, covering contractor and EOR classification, cross-border remote work, mobility exposure, and conduct/remuneration matters in regulated entities.
- Building employment playbooks, templates, policies, and manager guidance to ensure consistent and pragmatic handling of employee matters across the business.
- Leading workplace investigations, employment disputes, agency charges, and litigation, including instructing and managing external counsel and legal spend.
- Partnering with People & Talent, Total Rewards, Data & Privacy, Corporate Legal, regional People Partners, and business leaders on employee lifecycle, compensation, benefits, equity, entity, and contractor matters.
- Advising on hiring, contracts and variations, performance management, accommodations, leaves, wage and hour compliance, and terminations.
You will work from the San Francisco, New York, or Seattle office on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.
REQUIREMENTS:
Essentials:
- J.D. degree or foreign equivalent with active membership in at least one US state bar (California, Washington, or New York preferred).
- 5+ years of employment law experience at a leading law firm and/or in-house legal department, with demonstrated employment counselling experience beyond litigation alone.
- Experience advising on and coordinating employment law matters across multiple jurisdictions.
- Experience leading workplace investigations and managing employment disputes, agency charges, or tribunal matters.
- Experience advising on the employee lifecycle, including hiring, contracts and variations, performance management, accommodations, leaves, wage and hour compliance, and terminations.
- Ability to translate complex legal and risk issues into clear, succinct, and actionable guidance for non-legal audiences.
- Strong judgment and ability to give commercially practical advice under time pressure.
- Ability to operate independently and pivot quickly within a fast-moving, changing environment.
- Fluent English; additional languages a bonus given Airwallex's global footprint.
Preferred:
- Experience at a fintech, payments company, or other highly regulated business.
- Experience with contractor classification, employer-of-record populations, or cross-border remote work and permanent establishment risk.
- Experience with California Labor Code matters.
- Experience advising on immigration, restructuring, or RIF execution across multiple consultation regimes.
- Experience with works councils or statutory employee representation in support of EU entity coverage.
- Experience advising on compensation, benefits, and equity matters in a private-company context.
