[Hiring] Labor Counsel @Surge AI

Role Description

As Labor Counsel at Surge, you’ll own labor and employment law for a fast-growing company with a large workforce of employees and independent contractors. You’ll work with our General Counsel and sit close to HR, advising on compliance, policies, and claims as the company and its people function scale. This is a new role for Surge.

This role is ideal for a practical, collaborative lawyer who spots issues early, works well with HR and operations teams, and is also comfortable arguing a position when they disagree.

What You’ll Do

• Advise on worker classification for employees and contractors, and help us design and review how we engage with our people.
• Advise on wage and hour, leave, termination, and other employment compliance questions across the jurisdictions in which we operate.
• Work with HR and the teams that manage our expert workforce to build and update policies, procedures, and compliance practices.
• Manage claims, demand letters, agency charges, and disputes, and work with outside counsel on litigation.
• Review and update employee communications and the forms we use for onboarding and offboarding.
• Work with HR on HR systems and data, so legal requirements are built into the tools our teams use.
• Investigate and advise on employee relations issues alongside HR.
• Help HR and managers understand the legal reasons behind the rules in plain language.

Qualifications

• 5-10 years of experience in labor and employment law, at a law firm or in-house.
• A broad background across both regulatory and compliance work and litigation.
• Real experience with worker classification.
• Experience on the plaintiff side is welcome, but not required.
• Experience with HRIS systems is preferred.
• A collaborative issue spotter. You flag problems early, look for a workable path with the business, and are comfortable pushing back when you disagree.
• Clear, practical communication with HR, managers, and non-lawyers.
• Comfortable building policies and processes where none exist yet.
• Interest in how AI companies work with large, distributed workforces.