Senior Director Litigation & Employment Counsel

Handshake is the career network for the AI economy. 20 million knowledge workers 1600 educational institutions 1 million employers (including 100% of the Fortune 50) and every foundational AI lab trust Handshake to power career discovery hiring and upskilling from freelance AI training gigs to first internships to full-time careers and beyond. This unique value is leading to unparalleled growth; in 2025 we tripled our ARR at scale.

Why join Handshake now:

• Shape how every career evolves in the AI economy at global scale with impact your friends family and peers can see and feel

• Work hand-in-hand with world-class AI labs Fortune 500 partners and the worlds top educational institutions

• Join a team with leadership from Scale AI Meta xAI Notion Coinbase and Palantir among others

• Build a massive fast-growing business with billions in revenue

Handshakes Legal team is a strategic and collaborative partner across the company helping to build and deploy trusted products and services that advance our mission. Were a lean but growing team that thrives on tackling complex issues at the intersection of frontier technology and the workforcesupporting every part of the business from product development and AI governance to commercial partnerships data privacy and employment. As the first dedicated counsel for Litigation and Employment youll join a tight-knit group that values practical judgment intellectual curiosity bias for action and a deep commitment to Handshakes goal of democratizing access to opportunity.

Your Impact

Reporting to the General Counsel youll define how Handshake manages dispute and employment risk and the intersection of frontier AI the labor market and an evolving regulatory environment. Youll build and lead Handshakes Litigation and Employment functionsetting the companys approach to disputes and employment risk shaping how Legal partners with Product Engineering and Operations and growing the team and infrastructure required to support Handshake at scale.

Responsibilities:

• Litigation: Own the companys litigation strategy and docket end-to-end across commercial IP employment and platform/product disputesdirecting pleadings discovery depositions motion practice mediation arbitration trial preparation and settlement.

• Product and platform partnership: Partner cross-functionally with Product Engineering and Operations on the employment- and litigation-adjacent legal questions that surface in the platform itselfcontractor and gig workflows on Handshake AI employer/recruiter features on the careers platform user disputes payout infrastructure content and trust & safety issues and platform termsproviding practical risk-calibrated guidance that helps teams ship.

• Employment counseling: Serve as Handshakes in-house employment expert advising the People team and managers on day-to-day matters including hiring performance management separations leaves of absence reasonable accommodations wage and hour pay equity internal investigations a reductions in force across a multi-state workforce plus a growing international footprint.

• Employment claims: Manage agency investigations single-plaintiff and class/representative claims (including PAGA) severance and separation negotiations and pre-litigation employee disputes; partner with the People team on root-cause learnings.

• Policies training and compliance programs: Partner with the People team to maintain and evolve the employee handbook offer letters restrictive covenants separation templates and required training programs (anti-harassment) anti-retaliation manager training); monitor multi-state compliance obligations and lead rollout of new requirements (e.g. AI-in-hiring rules) across handbook training and product.

• Cross-functional leadership: Serve as a senior thought partner to the leadership team on the disputes employment and platform-risk questions that shape company strategyinfluencing how Handshake calibrates risk expands into new products and markets and navigates high-stakes inflection points and building alignment with peer leaders in Product Engineering People Finance and Communications.

• JD and active membership in good standing in at least one U.S. state bar (California admission or eligibility to register as in-house counsel in California).

• 12 years of combined law firm and in-house experience at a high-growth technology gig platform or marketplace company.

• Hands-on litigation experience managing complex commercial employment and/or platform-related disputes from intake through resolution including first-chair trial arbitration and/or hearing experience.

• Deep in-house employment expertise across wage and hour leaves and accommodations investigations and agency practice (EEOC DFEH/CRD); strong expertise in worker classification laws and proven compliance strategies for gig and contractor populations at scale.

• Demonstrated ability to advise Product Engineering and Operations teams on legal questions arising from platform or marketplace products.

• Exceptional judgment and communication skills with a passion for Handshakes mission and the legal questions presented by the future of work.

• Prior 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 user disputes and trust & safety issues.

Handshake delivers benefits that help you feel supportedand thrive at work and in life.

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: $2000 learning stipend ongoing development

Remote & Office: Internet commuting and free lunch/gym in our SF office

Time Off: Flexible PTO 15 holidays 2 flex days

Connection: Team outings & referral bonuses

Explore our mission values and comprehensive US benefits at Experience:

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