About this role
✨ One platform, a whole world of opportunity
The best jobs are often restricted to a few wealthy cities, but talent exists everywhere. Oyster set out to change this by launching a global employment platform that enables companies to hire, pay, and support talent anywhere.
We’re proof that a strong, engaged culture doesn't require an office. Since January 2020, Oyster has:
🌏 Built a distributed team of 400+ across 60+ countries
👩💻 Featured in Forbes as #9 in FlexJobs Top 30 Companies for remote jobs
🌈 Formed a diverse leadership team and a workforce that’s 60% female
🏆 Earned top employee engagement scores
🦄 Raised $286 million; valued at $1.2 billion
💚 Achieved B Corp status in 2023
Our momentum shows the power of global employment, and we’re just getting started! If you want to help us drive change and work remotely, we’d love for you to apply!
Location: While this position is posted in a specific location, all of Oyster’s positions are fully remote. To create the best experience for our new hire, this role requires you to be based within the UTC +3/-5 time zone.
Oyster is looking for a business-minded, systems-oriented Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary to lead our global Legal and Compliance function. You’ll be the principal legal advisor to our executive team and Board, accountable for legal strategy across our product, customer, and corporate domains. Reporting to Oyster’s CEO, you’ll lead and develop a high-performing team of 35+ lawyers and legal professionals across multiple time zones, and you’ll push legal innovation and pragmatic business solutions that allow Oyster to move fast while staying compliant and trusted.
Strong commercial instincts: can balance growth, customer experience, and risk with pragmatic judgment
Operational expertise to help accelerate generation of revenue by optimizing the legal operating model, reducing friction in the sales and onboarding cycles.
Deep comfort advising on global employment and worker classification risk; understands the EOR model and its legal/compliance dynamics.
Excellent executive communication and stakeholder management, experience working directly with Board of Directors
Track record building playbooks/processes that let non-lawyers self-serve lower-risk decisions.
Remote-first leadership: effective async communicator, strong prioritization, calm under pressure.
Additional responsibilities may include corporate diligence support, contract negotiation, developing organizational policies and procedures. In this role, you may touch all facets of law.
Key Responsibilities
We are looking for someone with significant experience as a senior legal leader (GC/Deputy GC/AGC or equivalent) in a scaling, complex environment with demonstrated ability to lead large, distributed teams and build durable operating systems. The successful candidate will
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
Core 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
You'll also need
A reliable home internet connection
Fluent English language skills – both written and spoken
How we work together at OysterOur values guide the work we do, the decisions we make, and the culture that makes us special. We make it happen. We drive change. We build and give trust, and we are a united team.
Our mission is to create a more equal world, one global hire at a time. Everything we do ladders up to our mission, and that doesn’t just mean building software. We develop programs, participate in workshops, and create dedicated teams to ensure we successfully support companies and knowledge workers in this new world of work.
We embrace asynchronous communication and collaborative work and share our practices in the Oyster Public HQ to help other global teams learn from our experiences.
How YOU workWith diverse locations, cultures, and needs, we created How YOU Work; a program supporting your whole human experience at Oyster:
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.
✨ The best jobs should be available to everyone We embrace diverse perspectives and intentionally build our product and company with an inclusive, global mindset. We encourage you to apply, even if you don’t meet every criterion, and are committed to a trust-based, thriving environment.
Oyster is committed to ensuring equal opportunity of employment for qualified persons with disabilities and actively fosters an inclusive work environment. If you require reasonable accommodations throughout the recruiting process, please email [email protected] with the subject line: Interview Accommodations.
Our available positions are on our careers page. Our team will only contact you from an @oysterhr.com email, and we will never ask for money as part of an interview process or job offer. If you receive a suspicious email about Oyster jobs or are directed to a site other than www.oysterhr.com/careers, please report it via our Compliance and Ethics Helpline.