Senior Employment Counsel

What to Expect

Tesla is seeking a Senior Employment Counsel, where you will be advising our HR and other business units within Germany for all German Tesla entities on all labor and employment matters, including works council matters.
- You will be part of Tesla’s EMEA Legal team and will be supporting the EMEA Employment Team. The position is located at Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg in Grünheide.

What You’ll Do
- As a member of Tesla’s fun and fast-paced Employment Legal Department, the Senior Employment Counsel will serve as first point of contact for HR and all other stakeholders (e.g. leadership) concerning all labor and employment law topics, including works council matters;
- Manage and assess employment law risks and offer practical, creative solutions to all business partners;
- Provide day to day advice on a broad range of employment issues, including recruiting, hiring, compensation and benefits, pay practices, HR practices, performance management, terminations, employee investigations and labor relations;
- Negotiating/renegotiating, drafting, reviewing and improving all employment legal related agreements and company agreements;
- Creating and continuously improving frameworks for employment contracts and working closely with internal teams (e.g. Recruiting, HR, Payroll) to operationalize those agreements;
- Drafting responses to government agencies;
- Provide overall strategic and tactical direction of ongoing and threatened employment legal disputes and litigation matters;
- Help build and implement scalable, world-class employment policies and programs that balance legal risk with business impact;
- Advising business, including senior leadership, on key developments, strategy, settlements and other key decisions;
- Negotiating fee arrangements with outside counsel and managing cases to minimize litigation cost;
- Embed with the company's HR team to handle and support compliance, employee issues, internal investigations, audits, employment law claims and labor matters;
- Support the company’s commitment to a discrimination and harassment free workplace by assisting on employment compliance projects as needed and providing training to managers and employees;
- Monitor new relevant legislation and regulation and provide input into the process.

What You’ll Bring
- 1st and 2nd state examination in law with above-average results or comparable degree
- Minimum of 6 years of relevant experience at a law firm and/or in-house corporate environment in Germany
- You have sound knowledge of works constitution law and extensive experience in dealing with works councils
- You are a team player with the ability to proactively identify problems, drive projects, and execute pragmatic/creative legal and business solutions on a timely basis
- You work well both autonomously and collaboratively, and are effective at juggling and prioritizing competing tasks in a fast-paced, challenging environment
- You will possess an entrepreneurial mindset, and take active ownership of your areas of responsibility. We are looking for a self-motivated strong teammate with the ability to get out ahead of problems, drive projects, and execute pragmatic/creative legal and business solutions on a timely basis
- You are a quick and flexible learner: intellectually curious, open-minded, adaptable, comfortable with ambiguity and risk, and excited by dynamic change
- You are adept at and comfortable making complex cost/benefit assessments
- You inspire trust, forge relationships quickly, and earn the confidence and cooperation of your business partners. You have strong interpersonal skills, and can effectively navigate and leverage relationships at all levels of any organization
- You have high standards, impeccable integrity and ethics, unquestionable good judgment, well-honed analytical skills, superior oral and written communications skills, and a keen sense of humor
- Native level German fluency and fluent English