Assistant General Counsel, Employment (Senior Director)
About The Position
Equinox isn't just a fitness company — it's shaping the future of wellness, longevity, hospitality, and media. As Assistant General Counsel, Employment, you'll be the legal backbone protecting and empowering the people who make that happen — a workforce as varied as our brands spanning health club personnel, corporate teams, and media talent across the country, and in the UK and Canada. We are seeking a business-minded, experienced, employment attorney to serve as a primary legal advisor on all workforce matters across a global portfolio that includes Equinox Health Clubs, SoulCycle, Equinox Hotels, and Equinox Media. You’ll help build and modernize how Equinox manages employment risk across a fast-growing, multi-brand portfolio. No two days look the same. Reporting to the VP Legal Operations & Compliance, you will primarily focus on ensuring that the company stays compliant with current and emerging state and federal employment laws. You will also be a trusted and strategic partner to the Chief Legal Officer on high-stakes mediation, arbitration, and litigation, and to People & Culture, Risk Management, Asset Protection and senior leadership on various employment-related matters. This is a high-visibility, high-impact leadership role for someone who thrives in a fast-moving, people-first environment.
Requirements
- JD from an accredited law school; admitted to New York or at least one U.S. state bar.
- 10+ years of employment law experience, ideally including 3–5 years at an employment law firm and 2–3 years in-house at a large, multi-state employer.
- Deep knowledge of federal, state, and local employment law: wage & hour, discrimination, leave, accommodations, and workforce restructuring.
- Proven track record managing employment claims and EEOC/agency matters.
- Strong business instincts — you balance legal risk with operational reality and give actionable answers, not just issue-spotting.
- Exceptional written and verbal communication skills; you make complex legal concepts accessible to non-lawyers and can influence at every level.
- Strong interpersonal skills, with experience advising senior executives and P&C leadership.
- Highly organized and detail-oriented, comfortable managing a busy, varied docket with competing priorities.
- Comfort using AI-assisted legal research and drafting tools (e.g., Claude or similar) as part of a modern legal practice.
Responsibilities
- Track and ensure compliance with evolving federal, state, and local employment law; translate developments into compliant policies, manuals, agreements, and SOPs.
- Identify and advise on legal risk across the employee lifecycle — hiring, performance, discipline, and terminations, and produce and report on employment risk metrics.
- Spot systemic risk trends and recommend proactive legal or policy changes on wage & hour, benefits, and leave-of-absence issues; partner with People & Culture to implement them.
- Partner with Employee Relations on allegations of harassment, hostile work environment, discrimination, and retaliation, as well as disability accommodations and leaves of absence.
- Draft agency (e.g., EEOC) position statements and respond to pre-mediation, pre-arbitration, and pre-litigation demand letters.
- Manage employment-related claims asserted under the company's ADR Program — and help shape how that program evolves.
- Lead an annual audit to ensure job descriptions, offer letters, employment agreements, restrictive covenant agreements, executive arrangements, and separation agreements stay legally current across all brands.
- Partner with People & Culture on building and delivering training for people managers (terminations, performance management, harassment prevention).
- Help leverage AI-assisted analysis, legal research, and drafting tools as part of a broader push toward more efficient legal operations.
Benefits
- Competitive salary
- Benefits
- Industry leading commission opportunities for club employees
- Complimentary Club membership
- Perks and incentives with our products and services including Personal Training, Pilates, Spa and Shop
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
Education Level
Ph.D. or professional degree
