Vice President of Legal (Global Employment)

Join Xero as the Vice President of Legal (Global Employment). In this strategic leadership role, you will be the senior legal partner to the People Experience organization and a trusted advisor to Xero's executive leadership team. You will set the direction for global employment legal support, provide practical advice on employment and labor law, and lead complex employment disputes and investigations. This role can be based in San Mateo, Melbourne, or Sydney.

• Partnership with PX leadership and senior business leaders on workforce strategy, organisational design, restructures, reward, senior employee matters and cross-border initiatives.
• Setting and owning Xero's global employment legal strategy, risk framework, standards, escalation paths, playbooks and self-service resources.
• Leading complex employment disputes, claims, regulatory inquiries and sensitive investigations, and supporting the employment aspects of M&A, integrations and major business change.

• Experience in New Zealand, Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom is highly desirable
• Experience directing others’ work without direct reports, and influencing without formal authority
• A track record of advising senior PX/HR leaders and business executives as a strategic partner
• The ability to influence without formal authority, and to roll up your sleeves and do the work personally
• Deep expertise in global employment and labour law, including complex investigations, disputes, restructures and workforce strategy
• Experience managing external employment counsel and building scalable legal processes and resources
• Substantial international employment experience and proven experience supporting labour and employment in a global organisation, advising across multiple jurisdictions and operating effectively across regions and time zones
• Strong judgement, commercial awareness and the ability to explain complex issues in plain language
• Apply even if your experience isn't a perfect match!
• Experience in a mid-market technology company of a similar size to Xero, or another fast-moving global business
• Breadth beyond employment law, such as litigation, transactional work or corporate governance. You are a T-shaped generalist, able to step into work outside your core area
• An interest in using data, technology and AI to improve legal support