# Lead Legal Counsel, Employment

**Company:** [GitLab](https://hotfix.jobs/companies/gitlab)
**Location:** Remote
**Role:** Legal
**Experience:** 8+ years
**Skills:** Employment Law, Employment Compliance, Works Councils, GDPR, Privacy Law, Employment Agreements, Separation Agreements, Employment Litigation, Legal Risk Assessment, Outside Counsel Management, Legal Process Design, Legal Operations, Employee Relations, Policy Development
**Posted:** 2026-08-24

> Provides senior employment-law counsel across EMEA for a globally distributed organization, advising on the full employment lifecycle, works councils, disputes, privacy, and scalable legal processes. Requires an EMEA-qualified JD, LLB, or equivalent and substantial multinational employment-law experience.

## Job Description

## Responsibilities
- Provide senior, practical employment-law advice across the employment lifecycle, including recruiting, onboarding, compensation, performance management, leave, employee relations, organizational changes, separation, and post-employment matters.
- Advise People Business Partners, Team Member Relations partners, and business leaders on complex employee-relations concerns, investigations, litigation, compensation, and works council strategy.
- Draft, review, maintain, and negotiate employment agreements, separation agreements, policies, templates, and related documentation across multiple jurisdictions.
- Advise on employment compliance requirements across EMEA and determine when local counsel is needed.
- Monitor employment, privacy, and related legal developments and translate them into practical recommendations and guidance.
- Advise on GDPR and other privacy requirements relating to team-member data.
- Support employment litigation, appeals tribunals, agency investigations, disputes, and contentious matters.
- Manage outside counsel, including selecting and coordinating local counsel across jurisdictions.
- Develop and improve scalable employment-law processes, systems, playbooks, templates, and documentation.
- Serve as a subject-matter resource, mentor junior legal colleagues, and contribute to training and knowledge sharing.
- Collaborate transparently in a remote, globally distributed, asynchronous environment.

## Requirements
- Substantial experience advising multinational companies with works councils across multiple regions.
- JD, LLB, or local equivalent, with admission to an applicable governing body in an EMEA jurisdiction.
- Deep knowledge of employment compliance requirements across EMEA and judgment about when local counsel is required.
- Experience handling employment agreements, separation agreements, policies, disputes, litigation, appeals tribunals, agency investigations, works councils, and outside counsel.
- Familiarity with GDPR and local privacy requirements relating to employee data.
- Experience building or significantly improving legal processes, systems, playbooks, templates, and documentation at scale.
- Strong issue-spotting, risk-assessment, judgment, communication, and relationship-building skills.
- Ability to independently manage a high volume of complex legal matters with limited supervision.
- Practical problem-solving, business judgment, attention to detail, and ability to work across functions, time zones, and cultures.
- Comfort working remotely and asynchronously and willingness to use GitLab in day-to-day work.

## Benefits
- Flexible paid time off
- Team member resource groups
- Equity compensation and employee stock purchase plan
- Growth and development fund
- Parental leave
- Home office support

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