SVP, General Counsel, Corporate Secretary

Role Overview

• Own Oyster’s global legal strategy and risk posture, translating company strategy into clear legal priorities and decisions
• Serve as principal legal advisor to the CEO, C-team, and Board; support governance, Board materials, and corporate secretary responsibilities
• Lead and scale a global legal organization (35+), including hiring, org design, performance management, and leadership development
• Partner cross-functionally with Product, Engineering, Revenue, Finance, Operations, and People to ship and scale products responsibly
• Oversee global employment and labor law advisory in the EOR context, including escalations, claims/disputes strategy, and outside counsel management
• Lead commercial legal strategy for enterprise deals and strategic partnerships (playbooks, negotiation frameworks, deal support models)
• Own Oyster’s ESG and BCorp thought leadership and compliance efforts
• Own AI, data protection/privacy, and trust-related legal guidance in partnership with Security/Compliance
• Build scalable legal infrastructure: templates, self-serve guidance, intake/triage, SLAs, knowledge management, metrics, and dashboards
• Responsible for continuous improvement of Legal team operations, including efficiency gains and integration of AI solutions
• Manage outside counsel and legal vendors: selection, scoping, budgets, invoice review, and performance
• Support corporate matters as needed (entities, subsidiaries, financing/M&A support, regulator interactions)
• Advocate for EOR industry though participation in industry groups and by directing Oyster’s government affairs and regulatory agenda
• Other duties as assigned

Requirements

• Juris Doctorate or other qualified lawyer admitted to practice in one or more jurisdictions
• At least 5 years experience working as a GC/Deputy GC/AGC or equivalent within a corporate legal department
• At least 10 years PQE practicing law
• Experience building and managing distributed teams
• Experience working in a remote work environment
• Ability to handle complex legal issues involving various countries laws (including employment-related questions and global workforce issues)
• Capable of explaining complex legal theory, terminology, and issues in easy-to-understand language for digestion by Oyster Team Members, Staff, and Customer Companies
• Excellent analytical, communication, and research skills
• A positive attitude and willingness to assist others no matter how small the task
• Ability to work in a fast-paced, high-output, team-oriented, practical environment
• Experience in one or more of the following areas would be beneficial:
• Advising EOR, PEO, HR tech, payroll, fintech, or regulated SaaS company
• Advising a scaling, multi-jurisdictional organization
• Advising a multinational organization on cross-border compliance issues
• Acting as corporate secretary
• Lobbying or other government affairs experience
• Experience with privacy programs, and security/compliance or other controls frameworks
• Experience with legal ops tooling (CLM, matter management/e-billing, knowledge systems) and AI-enabled workflows

Benefits

• Work from anywhere: Oyster has no borders or HQ. As long as work is timely, your team is supported, and you're authorized to work where you live, you can work from anywhere.
• Paid time off: Enjoy 40 days off per year (including holidays and vacation), or more if required by your country.
• Mental health support: Access Plumm, our mental well-being service.
• Wellbeing allowance: Each month, receive a wellbeing allowance in your ThanksBen wallet. Spend it on a wide range of options; see the benefits catalogue for ideas.
• Flexible parental leave: All new parents are eligible for at least three months’ paid leave, with job protection for up to 12 months or as required locally.
• WFH stipend: Receive a stipend for your laptop and home office equipment to get you set up quickly.