Handshake
Senior Director - Litigation & Employment Counsel
San Francisco, CA · Director · Contract
Sponsorship not specifiedDetected 15 hours ago
Performance ManagementEmployment LawLeadershipCommunication
About the role
- Serve as Handshake's in-house employment expert, advising the People team and managers on hiring, performance management, separations, leaves, accommodations, wage and hour, pay equity, and RIFs across a multi-state and growing international workforce
- JD and active bar membership in at least one U.S. state (California admission or registration eligibility)
- 12+ years combined law firm and in-house experience at a high-growth tech, gig platform, or marketplace company
Responsibilities
- As the first dedicated counsel for Litigation & Employment, you'll build and lead this function from the ground up, reporting to the General Counsel.
- Own the company's litigation strategy and docket end-to-end - commercial, IP, employment, and platform disputes - directing pleadings, discovery, depositions, motion practice, mediation, arbitration, and trial
- Manage agency investigations, single-plaintiff and class/representative claims (including PAGA), and severance negotiations, partnering with the People team on root-cause learnings
Nice to have
- Experience as the first or early litigation/employment hire at a high-growth company
- Familiarity with two-sided platform or marketplace businesses, including platform liability and trust & safety issues
Skills
- Strong grounding in worker classification law and compliance strategy for gig and contractor populations at scale
- Track record advising Product, Engineering, and Operations on platform and marketplace legal questions
- Exceptional judgment and communication skills, with genuine interest in the legal questions shaping the future of work
Compensation
- 💰 Financial Wellness: 401(k) match, competitive compensation, financial coaching
Benefits
- The below benefits are for full-time US employees.
- 🎯 Ownership: Equity in a fast-growing company
- 💰 Financial Wellness: 401(k) match, competitive compensation, financial coaching
- 🍼 Family Support: Paid parental leave, fertility benefits, parental coaching
- 💝 Wellbeing: Medical, dental, and vision, mental health support, $500 wellness stipend
- 📚 Growth: $2,000 learning stipend, ongoing development
- 🏝 Time Off: Flexible PTO, 15 holidays + 2 flex days
- Explore our mission, values, and comprehensive US benefits at joinhandshake.com/careers http://joinhandshake.com/careers.
- Partner hand-in-hand with world-class AI labs, Fortune 500 partners and the world's top educational institutions
- Build a massive, fast-growing business with billions in revenue
- 💻 Remote & Office: Internet, commuting, and free lunch/gym in our SF office
Company info
- Handshake was founded on a simple belief that everyone deserves a path to a great career, regardless of where they went to school or who they know.
- Today, we power 25 million job seekers, 1 million+ employers, and 1,600 educational institutions.
- In 2025, we started Handshake AI and built the fastest-growing AI data business in history.
- We work directly with frontier AI lab researchers to create evaluations, publish benchmarks, and push the boundary of data.
- We've grown from $0 to ~$1B run rate and pay ~$60M to over 30K individuals every month.
- Team outings & referral bonuses
- Handshake's Legal team is a strategic, collaborative partner across the company - spanning product development, AI governance, commercial partnerships, data privacy, and employment.
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This listing is sourced directly from Handshake's careers page and normalized into a canonical job model.