Employment and Benefits Counsel

Thumbtack • San Francisco, CA

9d • Remote

About The Position

Thumbtack helps millions of people confidently care for their homes. Thumbtack is the one app you need to take care of and improve your home — from personalized guidance to AI tools and a best-in-class hiring experience. Every day in every county of the U.S., people turn to Thumbtack to complete urgent repairs, seasonal maintenance and bigger improvements. We help homeowners know which projects to do, when to do them and who to hire from our growing community of 300,000 local service businesses. If making an impact inspires you, join us. Imagine what we’ll build together.

Our Legal team is a strategic partner at the heart of the business—focused on enabling growth, innovation, and operational excellence while also responsibly managing and mitigating risk. We work cross-functionally with all teams across the organization including Trust & Safety, Finance, Marketing, Sales, People, and Operations to build a trusted, compliant, and scalable marketplace. Whether it's shaping product design, negotiating key transactions, or supporting new initiatives and growth, our mission is to make it easier for the business to move forward—confidently and responsibly. We pride ourselves on being pragmatic, solution-oriented, and business-minded. Around here, Legal isn’t a roadblock—it’s the Road to Yes.

As Employment and Benefits Counsel, you will provide practical, day-to-day legal guidance to Thumbtack's People team and cross-functional partners on a wide range of employment matters. You will be a trusted advisor to HR business partners on employee relations, investigations, separations, leaves of absence, reasonable accommodations, and related compliance issues. You will also support benefits and immigration-related matters as needed, partnering closely with Legal and People stakeholders to deliver timely, business-oriented advice. Success in this role means exercising sound judgment, building strong relationships, and helping the business move quickly while responsibly managing employment risk.

Requirements

• 5–7 years of relevant legal experience, with a mix of law firm and in-house experience preferred
• J.D. from an accredited law school and active membership in at least one U.S. state bar
• Strong working knowledge of California employment law required/preferred
• Strong experience handling employee relations issues, investigations, separations, and employment counseling
• Proven ability to provide pragmatic, business-oriented legal advice in a fast-paced environment
• Solid understanding of leave of absence, reasonable accommodation, and related compliance frameworks
• Ability to work independently, manage ambiguity, and exercise sound judgment in balancing legal risk and business objectives

Nice To Haves

• Experience or exposure to employee benefits law preferred
• Immigration knowledge is a plus

Responsibilities

• Provide day-to-day employment law advice to HR business partners and People team stakeholders on employee relations, performance management, workplace concerns, and policy interpretation.
• Lead and support employee relations investigations, ensuring thorough, fair, and compliant outcomes
• Advise on separations, including terminations and reductions in force, balancing legal risk with business needs
• Counsel on leave of absence and reasonable accommodation matters, including managing the interactive process and ensuring compliance with applicable laws
• Deliver practical guidance on general employment law issues, policies, and risk mitigation strategies
• Support benefits-related legal matters and assist with immigration-related matters
• Contribute to employment law trainings, guidance materials, and process improvements that help HRBPs and managers handle recurring issues consistently.

Benefits

• Thumbtack embraces diversity. We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and do not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, color, age, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, marital status, military or veteran status, genetic information, disability status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, provincial, state, or local law.
• We also will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records, consistent with applicable law.
• Thumbtack is committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodation to individuals with disabilities. If you would like to request a reasonable accommodation for a medical condition or disability during any part of the application process, please contact: [email protected] .
• If you are a California resident, please review information regarding your rights under California privacy laws contained in Thumbtack’s Privacy policy available at https://www.thumbtack.com/privacy/ .
• We put as much craftsmanship into candidate safety as we do into the hiring experience itself. While scammers may try to impersonate our team, we’ll never ask you for money, banking info, or SSNs during hiring. Check out our blueprint on how to spot the fakes.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree