Sr Counsel, Product

EarnIn•Mountain View, CA

23h•Hybrid

About The Position

As Senior Counsel, Product (Employee Ecosystem ), you will play a critical role in enabling and scaling our growing suite of employee-centric products by providing strategic, practical legal guidance across product development, operations, and regulatory compliance. You will bring curiosity, creativity, and sound judgment to support the design and launch of payroll, job applicant, and applicant tracking-related products and features within a highly complex and evolving regulatory framework spanning employment law, payroll tax, payments, privacy, and financial services. You will partner closely with product, engineering, compliance, operations, and senior legal leaders to develop new payroll and job applicant-related offerings, enhance existing features, and manage regulatory risk while supporting business innovation. The legal issues you encounter will be nuanced, fast-moving, and operationally complex, requiring the ability to translate law into scalable product solutions. The ideal candidate has substantial experience advising payroll service providers, workforce platforms, or fintechs with payroll, wage, or earned wage access components, and is comfortable working at the intersection of employment law, payments, privacy, and financial regulation. You will be a pragmatic advisor who communicates clearly with non-lawyers, separates the theoretical from the operational, and approaches problem-solving with a “yes, and” mindset—helping the business move from 0 to 1 while putting customers first and mitigating regulatory risk. This role requires managing multiple workstreams simultaneously and strong organizational skills, prioritization, and independent judgment. This position is required to be in our Mountain View, CA headquarters at least two days per week. The US base salary range for this full-time position is $215,000 – $275,000 + equity + benefits. Salary ranges are determined by role, level, and location.

Requirements

4+ years of relevant legal experience, including significant experience supporting payroll servicing businesses, workforce platforms, or fintech products involving wages or payments
Juris Doctor degree and active U.S. law license in good standing
Deep knowledge of employment and wage-and-hour laws, including FLSA and state equivalents
Strong understanding of payroll tax, withholding, and reporting obligations
Ability to provide clear, practical, and actionable advice to non-lawyers in fast-paced settings
Strong judgment and comfort navigating ambiguity and evolving regulatory landscapes
Demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities with minimal supervision
Collaborative, solutions-oriented mindset with the confidence to operate independently
Demonstrated proficiency with AI tools and technologies (including generative AI), or a strong willingness and ability to quickly learn and incorporate AI into legal workflows and product counseling.

Nice To Haves

Experience advising product and operations teams on SAS-aligned controls to support regulatory exams, customer due diligence, and enterprise sales
Experience with regulatory examinations, audits, or enforcement matters strongly preferred
Experience advising on payments regulations and rules, including NACHA and Debit Card network experience
Familiarity with bank partnership models, funds flow, and operational risk in payroll, fintech or other high velocity sales environments
Experience in a high-growth or startup environment
Interest or experience in government relations or policy advocacy
Experience with bankruptcy or insolvency issues related to payroll or employer clients
Experience with commercial contracting (sales-side)
Experience with immigration law

Responsibilities

Serve as a senior member of the Legal team and the lead product lawyer for payroll and job applicant-related products and features
Advise cross-functional partners on legal and regulatory issues related to payroll servicing, from early product design through launch and ongoing operations, including: Wage and hour compliance (federal, state, and local), Payroll processing, pay frequency, and final pay requirements, Employee classification and related risk, Payroll tax withholding, reporting, and funds flow, Deductions, garnishments, and employer obligations
Provide legal guidance on payments and money movement in the payroll context, including ACH, prefunding, settlement timing, and relationships with banks and payment processors
Develop, share, and operationalize best practices for working with payroll vendors, payment processors, sponsor banks, and other financial partners
Partner with product teams across the company to proactively identify regulatory risk, “look around corners,” and develop compliant, scalable solutions aligned with the product roadmap
Support state and federal regulatory examinations, audits, and inquiries, including explaining payroll product design and operational controls to regulators and independent auditors
Assist with litigation and pre-litigation matters, including inhouse employment matters, regulatory enforcement actions, and vendor or client disputes
Contribute to the development and delivery of training for business teams on payroll-related laws, regulations, and best practices
Collaborate with compliance, risk, and operations teams to enhance internal controls and governance frameworks
Perform other duties as assigned