Employment Legal Counsel
Employment Legal Counsel
Alibaba Group
Paris, France
Position Sought
We are seeking a motivated attorney with experience managing labour and employment issues across Europe to join the growing Alibaba Group HR legal team. In this position, you will support the business growth of Alibaba Group and its affiliated businesses in the region, reporting to the lead employment lawyer in Europe. You will partner closely with the Europe HR team as well as HR, compliance and business teams in Mainland China to handle a broad range of European and global employment and related compliance issues (such as data privacy, trade secrets, anti-bribery etc.). This is a great opportunity for a junior to mid-level employment lawyer to utilize employment law expertise in a truly multi-national in-house environment.
Primary Responsibilities
- Provide day-to-day legal advice and counseling on various employment and HR compliance issues in France and other countries in the Europe region (such as Germany, Italy, UK, Spain, among others), including recruiting and hiring, employee management, termination, works council setup and management, compensation and benefits (including employee equity compensation), working hours, leaves, internal HR operation and process, etc.;
- Review, revise and update a variety of employment-related agreements and HR policies in the region, and provide guidance to HR and business teams on implementation;
- Collaborate with other members of the International HR Legal Team on regional and global HR-related data privacy projects;
- Collaborate with international litigation team on pre-litigation contentious matters relating to employees in the region;
- Collaborate with investment legal team on regional employment issues in M&A’s;
- Provide training to internal stakeholders on regional and global employment issues.
Job requirements
- Legally qualified to practise in France;
- At least 3 years of experience practising employment law at a large law firm in France and/or providing Europe regional HR legal support in an in-house legal department. Any experience managing regional employment issues would be a strong plus. Previous in-house experience preferred, but not mandatory;
- Prior litigation experience preferred, but not mandatory;
- Fluent in oral and written English in a legal setting;
- Experience with employee equity compensation work desirable but not mandatory;
- Strong ability to leverage and manage outside counsel for providing regional support;
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills; exceptional business judgment, with the ability to think strategically and provide practical advice to HR and business teams;
- Excellent written, oral and interpersonal skills and ability to interface with, and gain respect of, stakeholders at all levels;
- Ability to work independently and to multi-task in a fast-paced and dynamic work environment;
- Open to international travel, including to Hangzhou, Mainland China, Hong Kong, and other countries in Western Europe (when business environment and public health conditions permit).
