Sr. Counsel, Employment

Databricks • Washington, DC

11d • $197,800 - $272,050

About The Position

The Senior Counsel, Employment will provide sophisticated, practical legal advice to Databricks’ People Team and business leaders. The role focuses on HR AI adoption, compensation and benefits, pay equity, global mobility, employee privacy, and employment matters related to mergers and acquisitions, including diligence, deal terms, and workforce integration. The position is based in the U.S., advises directly on U.S. matters, and leads and project-manages complex global projects. Regular cross-functional partners include recruiting, privacy and product legal, security, tax, people operations, compensation and benefits, and corporate development.

The successful candidate will be a pragmatic, resourceful advisor and enthusiastic AI user, with strong project-management discipline and the ability to move quickly while maintaining legal and operational precision. The role also collaborates on resolving U.S. disputes. It reports to Databricks’ Senior Director and Associate General Counsel of Global Employment Legal and works closely with employment lawyers and legal professionals across multiple regions.

Requirements

• JD from a top-tier law school.
• Member of a state bar in good standing.
• 10+ years of relevant employment-law experience, with substantial experience advising sophisticated organizations.
• Experience with compensation, benefits, pay equity, executive compensation, recruiting, global mobility, and immigration.
• Experience supporting mergers, acquisitions, and strategic investments, including employment and benefits diligence, employee-related deal terms, and workforce integration.
• Experience leading multi-jurisdictional or global projects and coordinating stakeholders across regions, functions, and levels of seniority.
• Exceptional drafting skills, including producing precise, clear, audience-appropriate agreements, policies, memoranda, guidance, and executive communications.
• Strong project-management skills, including defining scope, creating structure from ambiguity, managing dependencies, maintaining momentum, and delivering high-quality work on deadline.
• Ability to independently assess unfamiliar or time-sensitive situations, identify material risks, and develop practical options to resolve them.
• Ability to build strong relationships quickly and work effectively with executive stakeholders.
• Ability to operate effectively in a fast-moving, high-growth technology company and make progress with incomplete information.
• Genuine enthusiasm for AI and emerging technology.
• Client-service orientation, bias for action, and the highest level of integrity and business ethics.

Nice To Haves

• In-house experience, including firm secondee experience, is strongly preferred.
• Experience advising on employee privacy, workforce data, HR technology, and AI tools is strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

• Advise on cash compensation programs, bonus and incentive plans, clawback policies, equal-pay requirements, pay equity reviews, compensation governance, and related disclosures; lead or support pay equity projects from scoping and review through remediation or communications planning.
• Advise on employee benefits, including retirement, welfare and wrap plans, severance plans, leave-related benefits, and country-specific benefits and protections, partnering with benefits counsel and regional employment legal team members as appropriate.
• Draft, review, and update employment-related plans, policies, agreements, templates, and employee communications.
• Advise recruiting and talent acquisition teams on candidate-facing matters, offer letters, employment agreements, compensation terms, background checks, hiring practices, and negotiations.
• Advise on global mobility and immigration matters, including transfers, international assignments, work authorization, permanent residence processes, employer-of-record and professional-employer-organization arrangements, cross-border moves, and related onboarding or exit issues.
• Support employment-related aspects of mergers, acquisitions, and strategic investments, including diligence, workforce mapping, employee-related deal terms, retention and vesting arrangements, transition and separation arrangements, and post-closing workforce integration.
• Advise on employee privacy and data-use issues involving employee and candidate data, access and disclosure requests, workforce technology, monitoring, data transfers, and business and HR systems.
• Review and advise on HR AI tools and workflows, including vendor diligence, recruiting, use-case design, employment-law and privacy risks, bias and discrimination considerations, governance controls, documentation, and responsible implementation.
• Lead global employment-related projects, including international expansions, from scoping through implementation; develop workplans, identify stakeholders and dependencies, coordinate regional counsel and outside advisors, manage timelines and budgets, document decisions, and drive issues to resolution.
• Monitor legal developments in relevant employment areas and translate them into practical guidance, process changes, and training for internal clients.
• Identify and implement process improvements for the Legal and People Teams, including playbooks, decision frameworks, repeatable workflows, knowledge-management practices, and automated or AI-enabled solutions.
• Handle sensitive, high-priority, and cross-functional issues, using sound judgment about escalation to legal leadership or engagement of specialized counsel.
• Respond to U.S. demand letters, administrative charges, and other disputes, including investigating claims, communicating with opposing counsel, negotiating resolutions, and drafting separation and settlement agreements.

Benefits

• The total compensation package may include eligibility for an annual performance bonus and equity.
• Databricks offers comprehensive benefits and perks; specific benefits depend on region.

What This Job Offers

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