Legal Jobs

GAQ427R247

Primary location(s) preferred, but candidates based in SF, Mountain View, NYC, Boston, Chicago, or Denver will also be considered.

What we look for:

The Senior Counsel, Employment will provide sophisticated, practical legal advice to the Databricks People Team and business leaders, with a particular focus on HR AI adoption, compensation and benefits, pay equity, global mobility, employee privacy, and M&A (diligence, employee-related deal terms, and workforce integration). This person will be based in the U.S. and advise directly on U.S. matters, but will also lead and project-manage complex global projects. Regular cross-functional partners will include recruiting, privacy and product legal, security, tax, people operations, comp and benefits, and corporate development.

The successful candidate will be a pragmatic and resourceful advisor and an enthusiastic AI user, with strong project-management discipline and the ability to move quickly while maintaining a high standard of legal and operational precision. In addition to the focus areas above, this person will collaborate to resolve U.S. disputes.

This is a full-time position reporting to Databricks' Senior Director and Associate General Counsel of Global Employment Legal and working closely with a team of employment lawyers and legal professionals across multiple regions.

Responsibilities

• Advise on cash compensation programs, bonus and incentive plans, clawback policies, equal-pay requirements, pay equity reviews, compensation governance, and related internal and external disclosures. Lead or support pay equity projects, including scoping, data and process review, coordination with stakeholders, review of analyses, and development of remediation or communication plans.
• Provide legal advice on employee benefits, including retirement plans, welfare and wrap plans, severance plans, leave-related benefits, and country-specific benefits and protections, partnering with benefits counsel and regional employment legal team members as appropriate.
• Draft, review, and update employment-related plans, policies, agreements, templates, and employee communications with exceptional precision and attention to detail.
• Advise recruiting and talent acquisition teams on candidate-facing issues, offer letters, employment agreements, compensation terms, background checks, hiring practices, and negotiations, often on time-sensitive matters.
• Advise on global mobility and immigration matters, including employee transfers, international assignments, work authorization, permanent residence processes, employer-of-record and professional-employer-organization arrangements, cross-border moves, and related onboarding or exit issues.
• Support the employment-related aspects of mergers, acquisitions, and strategic investments, including employment and benefits diligence, workforce mapping, employee-related deal terms, retention and vesting arrangements, transition and separation arrangements, and post-closing workforce integration.
• Advise on employee privacy and data-use issues, including employee and candidate data, access and disclosure requests, workforce technology, monitoring, data transfers, and the employment implications of business and HR systems.
• Review and advise on HR AI tools and workflows, including vendor diligence, recruiting, use-case design, employment-law and privacy risks, bias and discrimination considerations, governance controls, documentation, and responsible implementation.
• Lead global employment-related projects, including international expansions, from scoping through implementation, including developing workplans, identifying stakeholders and dependencies, coordinating regional counsel and outside advisors, managing timelines and budgets, documenting decisions, and driving issues to resolution.
• Monitor legal developments affecting compensation, benefits, pay equity, recruiting, mobility, privacy, AI, and other relevant employment areas, and translate those developments into practical guidance, process changes, and training for internal clients.
• Identify and implement process improvements that help the Legal and People Teams scale, including playbooks, decision frameworks, repeatable workflows, knowledge-management practices, and automated or AI-enabled solutions.
• Serve as a hands-on problem solver for sensitive, high-priority, and cross-functional issues, exercising sound judgment about when to escalate matters to legal leadership or engage specialized counsel.
• Respond to U.S. demand letters, administrative charges, and other disputes, including investigating claims, communicating with opposing counsel, negotiating resolutions, and drafting separation and settlement agreements.

Qualifications & Experience Required

• JD from a top-tier law school; member of a state bar in good standing.
• 10+ years of relevant employment-law experience, with substantial experience advising sophisticated organizations; in-house experience, including firm secondee experience, strongly preferred.
• Experience with compensation, benefits, pay equity, executive compensation, recruiting, global mobility, and immigration.
• Experience supporting mergers, acquisitions, and strategic investments, including employment and benefits diligence, employee-related deal terms, and workforce integration.
• Experience leading multi-jurisdictional or global projects and coordinating stakeholders across regions, functions, and levels of seniority.
• Experience advising on employee privacy, workforce data, HR technology, and AI tools is strongly preferred.
• Exceptional drafting skills, including the ability to produce precise, clear, audience-appropriate agreements, policies, memoranda, guidance, and executive communications.
• Strong project-management skills, including the ability to define scope, create structure from ambiguity, manage dependencies, maintain momentum, and deliver high-quality work on deadline.
• Ability to quickly and independently assess unfamiliar or time-sensitive situations, identify the material risks, and develop practical options to resolve them.
• Ability to build strong relationships quickly and work effectively with executive stakeholders.
• Demonstrated ability to operate effectively in a fast-moving, high-growth technology company and to make progress with incomplete information.
• Genuine enthusiasm for AI and emerging technology.
• Client-service orientation, a bias for action, and the highest level of integrity and business ethics.

Title:  Contracts Attorney  

Location: Morristown, NJ / Dallas, TX / Austin, TX (Hybrid) 

Reporting to: General Counsel  

About Hippo: 

Hippo was built on a promise: make homeownership effortless. Nearly a decade later, that mission still drives us. We use technology and data to help our customers stay ahead of problems and protect what matters most.   

Today, that same tech-native approach powers our work beyond homeowners. Hippo operates as a diversified carrier platform, partnering with MGAs to deliver tailored program solutions that help them grow and deliver better customer experiences. Behind that work is a team that values ownership, curiosity, collaboration, and continuous improvement.  

If you're energized by building what's next, we'd love to meet you.  

About You:  

You are an insurance professional with experience drafting, reviewing, and negotiating program agreements and reinsurance agreements. You understand the impact of market conditions on insurance activities, procedures and wordings. You are able to clearly and succinctly articulate issues to the various departments, evaluate the risks associated with the (re)insurance activities and to develop commercial risk mitigation options, while ensuring all operations are compliant with applicable regulatory requirements.   

What You'll Do:   

• Strategically, efficiently, and timely draft, review, and negotiate reinsurance, program administration, and claims agreements considering risk mitigation wording and trends in contract interpretation
• Create and implement processes to capture and respond to wording issues, including an escalation process
• Promptly make decisions and/or roll out decisions, after any required approvals, reflecting all available information and appropriate risk assessments
• Understand relevant business drivers, the ability to identify and raise critical issues/points when needed, and take ownership of your actions and responses 
• Work autonomously, while considering feedback from underwriting peers, reinsurers, and management  
• Exemplify collegiality, efficiency, proactivity and curiosity
• Have strong written and oral communication skills and an ability to work in a fast-paced environment  

Must Haves: 

• J.D. from an accredited law school or international equivalent
• Licensed to practice and a member in good standing/the ability to immediately reactivate membership in at least one US state 
• At least 4+ years in drafting reinsurance agreements, program administration agreements, and/or related agreements 

Benefits and Perks:

Hippo treats its team members with the same level of dedication and care as we do our customers, which is why we’re fortunate to provide all of our Hippos with: 

• Healthy Hippos Benefits - Multiple medical plans to choose from and 100% employer covered dental & vision plans for our team members and their families. We also offer a 401(k)-retirement plan, short & long-term disability, employer-paid life insurance, Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) for health and dependent care, and an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) 
• Equity - This position is eligible for equity compensation  
• Training and Career Growth - Training and internal career growth opportunities 
• Flexible Time Off - You know when and how you should recharge 
• Little Hippos Program - We offer 12 weeks of parental leave for primary and secondary caregivers 
• Hippo Habitat - Snacks and drinks available and catered lunches for onsite employees
  

The Morristown, NJ base pay range for this role is $167,500 - $245,000. Exact compensation may vary based on several job-related factors that are unique to each candidate, including but not limited to: skill set, experience, education/training, location, business needs and market demands.

Hippo is an equal opportunity employer, and we are committed to building a team culture that celebrates diversity and inclusion. Hippo’s applicants are considered solely based on their qualifications, without regard to an applicant’s disability or need for accommodation. Any Hippo applicant who requires reasonable accommodations during the application process should contact the Hippo’s People Team to make the need for an accommodation known.