Senior Counsel - Employment law (Remote in CA or NY)

Job Description

Job Description

We are looking for a Senior Counsel - Employment with 5-8 years of experience to advise startups and high-growth companies on employment law, executive compensation, and equity plans at an AI-native law firm that's reimagining how legal services are delivered. You'll be joining a fast-growing team where you can practice the law you love—without billable hours—while helping build scalable legal infrastructure and contributing to product development.

What will you be doing?

• Independently handling employment law matters including compliance, employment agreements, restrictive covenants, and workplace investigations

• Advising on executive compensation and equity plan design (stock options, RSUs, grant agreements) for startup and growth-stage clients

• Building out templates, playbooks, and precedent libraries to scale employment law expertise across the firm

• Contributing feedback to the product team to help develop AI-powered legal tools that automate routine employment law workflows

• Counseling founders and early-stage teams on contractor classification, multi-state compliance, and HR policy development

Key Requirements

• 5-8 years of focused employment law experience, ideally with top-tier firm work or leading in-house role

• Deep expertise in executive compensation and equity plan design/administration

• Strong client-facing demeanor—warm, confident communicator who can translate complex legal issues into practical guidance

• Genuine interest in technology and AI tools; willingness to engage with product development and process improvement

• Scrappy, builder mindset—comfortable wearing multiple hats in a startup environment and contributing beyond core legal work

Responsibilities

• Employment Law: Federal and state employment compliance; hiring and onboarding; employment agreements; employee confidentiality and intellectual property agreements; restrictive covenants; workplace investigations; and HR counseling.
• Executive Compensation & Equity Plans: Design and adoption of equity incentive plans; ISO and NSO grant agreements and option exercise documents; board and stockholder consents authorizing equity grants; executive and founder employment agreements; and severance agreements and negotiations.
• Startup Employment Counseling: Founder and early-team agreements; independent contractor versus employee classification analysis and contractor agreements; FLSA and state wage and hour compliance; multi-state and remote workforce compliance and state-specific obligations; employee handbook and HR policy development; and immigration support.