Lead Legal Counsel, Employment (EMEA)

GitLab is seeking a Lead Legal Counsel, Employment (EMEA) to serve as a senior legal advisor on matters spanning the full employment relationship.

As Lead Legal Counsel, Employment, you’ll provide practical, business-focused guidance that helps GitLab manage legal risk and meet business needs across a globally distributed, all-remote organization.

Responsibilities:

• Provide senior, practical employment-law advice to team members and stakeholders across GitLab, balancing legal risk, business objectives, and GitLab’s values.
• Advise on matters across the employment lifecycle, including recruiting and onboarding, compensation, performance management, leave management, employee relations, works council processes, organizational changes, separation, and post-employment issues.
• Counsel People Business Partners, Team Member Relations partners, and business leaders on complex and sensitive team-member relations concerns.
• Advise on, draft, maintain, and review employment agreements, separation agreements, policies, templates, and related documentation across multiple jurisdictions.
• Review, draft, and negotiate employment-related agreements, including separation agreements and other documents supporting employee lifecycle decisions.
• Advise on employment compliance requirements across EMEA, identify when advice from local counsel is needed, and incorporate that advice into strategies that match the business.
• Monitor and analyze changes in employment, privacy, and related laws; identify legal risks; and translate developments into practical recommendations and implementable guidance.
• Advise on the employment-law and privacy implications of team-member data, including familiarity with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and other local privacy requirements.
• Support employment litigation, appeals tribunals, agency investigations, employment disputes, and other contentious matters, including strategy, fact development, and coordination with internal stakeholders.
• Manage and oversee outside counsel matters, including selecting or coordinating local counsel, defining scope, and maintaining effective relationships and advice across jurisdictions.
• Provide employment advice in regions outside EMEA as needed.
• Lead the development and continuous improvement of scalable employment-law processes, systems, playbooks, templates, and supporting documentation for the Legal and People teams.
• Build clear, consistent approaches that enable stakeholders to handle recurring employment matters efficiently while escalating complex or high-risk issues appropriately.
• Serve as a subject-matter resource for legal colleagues and cross-functional partners, sharing expertise and helping improve team-wide employment-law practices.
• Mentor and support junior legal colleagues and other partners by contributing to training, practical guidance, and knowledge-sharing programs.
• Use GitLab to collaborate transparently and work effectively in an asynchronous, globally distributed environment.

Requirements:

• Substantial experience advising a multinational company with works councils in various regions on employment matters across the employment relationship.
• A Juris Doctor (JD), Bachelor of Laws (LLB), or local equivalent, with admission to an applicable governing body in an EMEA jurisdiction.
• Deep knowledge of employment compliance requirements across EMEA, with the judgment to identify when advice from local counsel is needed.
• Experience counseling People Business Partners, Team Member Relations partners, and business leaders on sensitive and complex team-member relations matters, investigations, litigation, compensation, and works council strategy.
• Experience drafting, reviewing, and negotiating employment agreements, separation agreements, policies, templates, and related documentation across multiple jurisdictions.
• Experience drafting employment policies that apply across multiple EMEA jurisdictions.
• Familiarity with GDPR and other local privacy requirements related to team-member data.
• Experience managing employment disputes, litigation, appeals tribunals, agency investigations, works council relationships, and outside-counsel matters.
• Experience building or significantly improving legal processes, systems, playbooks, templates, and documentation that produce consistent outcomes at scale.
• Strong issue-spotting, risk-assessment, and judgment skills, with the ability to provide clear recommendations and practical solutions.
• The ability to manage a high volume of complex legal matters independently and bring them to resolution with limited supervision.
• Clear communication and relationship-building skills, including the ability to serve as a trusted advisor to senior stakeholders across Legal, People, and the business.
• A practical and creative approach to problem-solving, sound business judgment, attention to detail, and the ability to work across functions, time zones, and cultures.
• Comfort working in a remote, globally distributed, asynchronous environment; willingness to learn and use GitLab in your day-to-day work.

Benefits:

• Benefits to support your health, finances, and well-being
• Flexible Paid Time Off
• Team Member Resource Groups
• Equity Compensation & Employee Stock Purchase Plan
• Growth and Development Fund
• Parental leave
• Home office support