Lead Legal Counsel, Employment (EMEA)

An overview of this role

This position is remote and ideally based in the United Kingdom or Ireland.

As Lead Legal Counsel, Employment, you’ll serve as a senior legal advisor to GitLab on matters spanning the full employment relationship, from recruiting and onboarding through compensation, performance, leave management, separation, and, when necessary, litigation. You’ll provide practical, business-focused guidance that helps GitLab manage legal risk and meet business needs across a globally distributed, all-remote organization.

You’ll independently lead complex employment-law matters, serve as a trusted advisor to senior stakeholders, and help strengthen how GitLab manages employment risk across jurisdictions. You’ll also contribute to scalable legal processes, share subject-matter expertise, and mentor legal colleagues and cross-functional partners.

What you’ll do

• Provide senior, practical employment-law advice to team members and stakeholders across GitLab, balancing legal risk, business objectives, and GitLab’s values.
• Advise on matters across the employment lifecycle, including recruiting and onboarding, compensation, performance management, leave management, employee relations, works council processes, organizational changes, separation, and post-employment issues.
• Counsel People Business Partners, Team Member Relations partners, and business leaders on complex and sensitive team-member relations concerns.
• Advise on, draft, maintain, and review employment agreements, separation agreements, policies, templates, and related documentation across multiple jurisdictions.
• Review, draft, and negotiate employment-related agreements, including separation agreements and other documents supporting employee lifecycle decisions.
• Advise on employment compliance requirements across EMEA, identify when advice from local counsel is needed, and incorporate that advice into strategies that match the business.
• Monitor and analyze changes in employment, privacy, and related laws; identify legal risks; and translate developments into practical recommendations and implementable guidance.
• Advise on the employment-law and privacy implications of team-member data, including familiarity with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and other local privacy requirements.
• Support employment litigation, appeals tribunals, agency investigations, employment disputes, and other