Principal, Employment Counsel

Job description

At Skillsoft, we believe skills fuel growth. Our mission is to empower every organization and every learner to turn constant change into continuous growth. As part of the team, your skills will help organizations understand what skills they have, what they need next, and how to apply them in ways that drive real performance and progress. Employment Counsel Skillsoft is seeking an experienced Principal Employment Counsel to join our team! In this fast-paced exciting role, the Employment Counsel will work closely with the People Team and business leaders to provide timely, solutions-focused advice on a broad range of employment and employee relations matters, contributing to the overall success and growth of the company. The successful candidate will serve as a trusted legal partner who can identify risk, exercise sound judgment, and develop practical solutions that support Skillsoft’s business objectives and values. This role offers the opportunity to advise a global organization on complex and evolving employment issues, manage international disputes and investigations, develop scalable employment practices, and collaborate across functions and regions. This role requires a proactive and business-oriented mindset, strong analytical skills, and excellent communication and interpersonal expertise. RESPONSIBILITIES Employment Advice and Counsel: Provide accurate and timely legal advice and counsel to internal clients on a wide range of employment corporate matters, including recruiting, hiring, onboarding and performance management. Advise on sensitive and complex employee relations matters, balancing legal risk, employee experience, business objectives, and operational realities. Translate complex legal requirements into clear, actionable guidance for People Team professionals, managers, and business leaders. Build strong relationships with internal stakeholders and develop a deep understanding of Skillsoft’s workforce, business priorities, and operating model. Contract Review and Negotiation: Draft, review, and update employment-related documents, including, offer letters and employment agreements; restrictive covenant, confidentiality, and intellectual property agreements, separation agreements and releases; commission, bonus, and incentive plan documents; Performance management and disciplinary documentation; Investigation plans, interview outlines, findings, and remediation documents; employee policies, handbooks, notices, acknowledgments, and consent forms; workforce transition materials. Review employment communications for legal risk, clarity, consistency, and alignment with company practices. Develop practical templates, playbooks, checklists, and self-service resources for common employment matters. Support periodic reviews of employment policies and practices to identify compliance gaps and opportunities for simplification or standardization. Global Employment Compliance Provide employment law counseling across the jurisdictions in which Skillsoft operates, coordinating with local counsel and regional stakeholders as appropriate. Monitor developments in global labor and employment laws and advise on changes needed to Skillsoft policies, practices, agreements, and processes. Develop and maintain tools that help Skillsoft identify, prioritize, and manage employment-related legal and compliance risk, including support regarding employee training and compliance. Investigations and Employee Relations Advise on and conduct workplace investigations involving allegations of discrimination, harassment, retaliation, misconduct, conflicts of interest, policy violations, and other sensitive employee matters. Work with the People Team to define an appropriate investigation plan, privilege structure, interim measures, documentation approach, findings, remediation, and follow-up. Provide clear and balanced recommendations regarding corrective action, remediation, process improvements, and retaliation monitoring. Dispute Management Manage employment litigation, administrative charges, labor proceedings, pre-litigation di