Senior Employment Counsel - EMEA

ABOUT AIRWALLEX Airwallex is the only unified payments and financial platform for global businesses. Powered by our unique combination of proprietary infrastructure and software, we empower over 200,000 businesses worldwide – including Brex, Rippling, Navan, Qantas, SHEIN and many more – with fully integrated solutions to manage everything from business accounts, payments, spend management and treasury, to embedded finance at a global scale. Proudly founded in Melbourne, we have a team of over 2,200 of the brightest and most innovative people in tech across 26 offices around the globe. Valued at US$8 billion and backed by world-leading investors including T. Rowe Price, Visa, Mastercard, Robinhood Ventures, Sequoia, Salesforce Ventures, DST Global, and Lone Pine Capital, Airwallex is leading the charge in building the global payments and financial platform of the future. If you’re ready to do the most ambitious work of your career, join us. ATTRIBUTES WE VALUE We hire successful builders with founder-like energy who want real impact, accelerated learning, and true ownership. You bring strong role-related expertise and sharp thinking, and you’re motivated by our mission and operating principles https://www.airwallex.com/us/operating-principles. You move fast with good judgment, dig deep with curiosity, and make decisions from first principles, balancing speed and rigor. You're humble and collaborative; turn zero‑to‑one ideas into real products, and you “get stuff done” end-to-end. You use AI to work smarter and solve problems faster. Here, you’ll tackle complex, high‑visibility problems with exceptional teammates and grow your career as we build the future of global banking. If that sounds like you, let’s build what’s next. ABOUT THE ROLE We're seeking a sharp, pragmatic, and globally minded Senior Employment Counsel with deep UK employment law expertise to join our growing legal team. Based in our London office and reporting to our Associate Director, Employment Legal in San Francisco, this role will serve as the primary employment law advisor for our UK and EMEA operations while also supporting employment matters across our global footprint. We're looking for a responsive, clear communicator who can distill complex legal issues quickly and partner effectively with stakeholders across time zones. Both in-house and law firm experience are valued, ideally with a track record of working across multiple jurisdictions in complex, fast-scaling environments. WHAT YOU'LL DO - Serve as the go-to employment counsel for our UK and EMEA teams, advising on the full range of employment issues including hiring, performance management, terminations, compensation, investigations, and employee relations. - Partner with the People team and business leaders to support compliant, scalable employee lifecycle practices across the region. - Conduct and oversee internal workplace investigations. - Collaborate on and lead employment-related litigation and pre-litigation matters. - Develop and scale employment processes through policies, training, templates, and tooling tailored to UK and EMEA requirements. - Monitor legal and regulatory developments across EMEA jurisdictions and assess their business impact. - Support cross-border employment issues, including remote work, international expansion, and mobility. - Work closely with employment counsel colleagues in other regions to ensure consistency and share best practices across the global legal team. WHO YOU ARE - 5–11 years’ post-qualification experience focused primarily on UK employment law, with a mix of in-house and law firm experience strongly preferred. - Qualified solicitor in England and Wales; additional qualifications or experience in other EMEA jurisdictions a plus. - Deep subject-matter expertise in UK employment law (not a generalist), with exposure to employment laws across EMEA. - Proven ability to lead or advise on sensitive employee relations matters and investigations. - A clear, co