Senior Legal Counsel, Labour Relations

Responsibilities

• Strategic and operational advice on individual and collective labour law matters, including collective bargaining, social security and payroll tax law
• Primary labour law contact for defined business units and independent management of these areas
• Negotiation, drafting and harmonization of works agreements (company and group level)
• Labour law support and advice for IT projects and system implementations
• Advice on restructurings, operational changes and transfers of undertakings pursuant to §613a of the German Civil Code, as well as transformation processes, including agreements of interest and social plans
• Preparation and support of negotiations with works councils, trade unions and representatives for severely disabled employees (SBV)
• Management of labour court proceedings, including drafting pleadings, attending hearings, conducting settlement negotiations and managing external law firms
• Development and enhancement of standards, templates and guidelines
• Analysis of legislative changes and case law, with derivation of practical recommendations
• Additional responsibilities depending on experience and seniority: advising management on complex, strategic labour law issues; taking a leading role in transformation and co‑determination projects; and further developing and harmonizing labour law standards across multiple units

Requirements

• Completed law degree (fully qualified lawyer) or a comparable degree with relevant labour law experience, ideally in a corporate in‑house legal department or law firm
• Proven experience working with co‑determination bodies and strong knowledge of collective labour law, as well as handling complex stakeholder structures
• Practical experience in IT, digitisation or transformation projects involving co‑determination, and strong IT affinity for labour law issues
• Experience providing independent labour law advice to companies or clients with practical, implementation‑oriented solutions
• Excellent German and business‑fluent English skills, with a confident presence in demanding discussions
• Strong communication, collaboration and conflict‑resolution skills
• Strong negotiation skills and persuasiveness, including in legally sensitive labour law situations
• Confident use of MS 365 and digital work environments