Legal Counsel

Job Description:

Vertex is seeking an experienced Employment Counsel who is comfortable working in a fast-paced environment with a broad range of responsibilities. This is a excellent opportunity to join a dynamic and collaborative Legal, Risk, and Compliance Team. This position will have an exciting opportunity to partner with Vertex’s People and Culture (“P&C”) providing guidance on day-to-day management of employees, employee disputes, internal investigations and policy review and creation. Vertex’s Legal Team is geographically dispersed, and this position will be located in the UK.

ROLE RESPONSIBILITIES

• Provide strategic advice and counsel to the P&C on a broad range of employment issues, including recruitment, hiring, disciplinary actions and terminations, benefits, complex leaves of absence and accommodations issues, compensation, contingent workers, HR policies and practices, and performance management, among others;
• Provide pragmatic advice to the business on employment obligations across Europe and Asia and other jurisdictions in which Vertex has offices;
• Assist with the creation of policies, standards and business procedures designed to foster compliance with various employment laws and regulations;
• Draft and review various types of employment agreements, policies, work rules, etc.;
• Manage pre-litigation employment and intellectual property disputes and devise creative resolution strategies with the assistance of outside counsel, as needed;
• Advise and manage various intellectual property issues across the Vertex business.
• Assist in developing training on various compliance matters.
• Stay up to date, and advise as needed, on legal developments across Europe, Asia and other Vertex locations;
• Assist with other projects as business needs arise.

REQUIREMENTS

• Experience advising on employment law matters across multiple European and Asian jurisdictions and a desire to develop and expand expertise. Specialist knowledge and experience of Employment Law in UK, Ireland, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, and India.
• Experience advising on intellectual property issues including data privacy, compliance and regulatory crossover for international issues;
• Must have right to work in the UK;
• Ability to closely collaborate with the P&C to assist with day to day legal issues and Employee Relations advice;
• Experience with employee-related privacy/GDPR matters;
• Ability to work under general supervision and use independent judgment as appropriate.
• Highly responsive, flexible, collaborative and service-oriented attitude;
• Ability to independently determine and develop solutions to complex legal issues that are practical, clearly and timely communicated, and consistent with business objectives;
• Ability to draft country-specific employment policies and oversee implementation to ensure consistency where appropriate;
• Ability to influence and provide timely and effective legal and business advice, support and training at all organizational levels;

EDUCATION AND TRAINING:

• Appropriate educational degrees awarded to allow the individual to be a fully qualified attorney under the jurisdiction in which the Corporate Counsel is licensed to practice law.
• Current license to practice law which is held in good standing

• Three to six years of relevant legal experience in a law firm or relevant experience in a corporate legal department

• International experience desirable and for certain rolls, required.

Other Qualifications
The Winning Way behaviours that all Vertex employees need in order to meet the expectations of each other, our customers, and our partners.

• Communicate with Clarity - Be clear, concise and actionable. Be relentlessly constructive. Seek and provide meaningful feedback.

• Act with Urgency - Adopt an agile mentality - frequent iterations, improved speed, resilience. 80/20 rule – better is the enemy of done. Don’t spend hours when minutes are enough.

• Work with Purpose - Exhibit a “We Can” mindset. Results outweigh effort. Everyone understands how their role contributes. Set aside personal objectives for team results.

• Drive to Decision - Cut the swirl with defined deadlines and decision points. Be clear on individual accountability and decision authority. Guided by a commitment to and accountability for customer outcomes.

• Own the Outcome - Defined milestones, commitments and intended results. Assess your work in context, if you’re unsure, ask. Demonstrate unwavering support for decisions.

COMMENTS:

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by individuals in this position. Other functions may be assigned, and management retains the right to add or change the duties at any time.