About this role
Serving as the primary employment lawyer for Anthropic's APAC region, the Lead Employment Counsel partners closely with People teams and business leaders to design and run compliant employment programs. Day to day, this involves building legal infrastructure for jurisdictions like Japan, South Korea, Australia, Singapore, and India, advising on market entry and workforce structuring, and guiding employee relations matters.
Anthropic builds reliable, interpretable, and steerable AI systems with a team of researchers, engineers, policy experts, and business leaders. This role exists to establish the legal foundation for a growing workforce across the Asia-Pacific region, balancing deep employment law expertise with pragmatism and creativity. An ideal candidate combines subject-matter expertise across multiple APAC countries with the ability to write clearly for non-lawyers and collaborate across multiple time zones.
What you will do
- Serve as the primary employment lawyer for the APAC region, partnering with People teams and business leaders on programs, policies, and daily issues.
- Build and maintain legal infrastructure across new and existing APAC jurisdictions including Japan, South Korea, Australia, Singapore, and India.
- Advise on market entry and workforce structuring such as acquisitions, employer of record arrangements, contractor classification, and headcount thresholds.
- Partner with Compensation, Benefits, and Equity teams to ensure global programs remain compliant and scalable.
- Guide employee relations matters including workplace investigations in line with local law and practice.
- Develop and manage strategy on regional employment disputes from pre-litigation claims through tribunal and court proceedings.
- Track legislative and regulatory developments across the region, including data privacy and emerging rules on AI in employment, to provide practical guidance.
What you need
- Hold a law degree such as a JD, LLB, or equivalent, and meet local licensing requirements to work as in-house counsel where based.
- Possess deep subject-matter expertise on employment law across multiple APAC countries.
- Write clearly and concisely to provide actionable guidance to non-lawyers.
- Balance legal risk with business practicality while working collaboratively with cross-functional partners.
- Work effectively with colleagues and stakeholders across multiple time zones.
Nice to have
- At least 12+ years of relevant employment legal experience across law firms and in-house
- Demonstrated experience supporting companies through rapid growth
- Experience advising People and business teams in Japan, South Korea, India, Australia, and Singapore
- Working knowledge of employee data privacy requirements across the region
Benefits
- Competitive compensation and benefits
- Optional equity donation matching
- Generous vacation and parental leave
- Flexible working hours
Questions candidates ask
What is the remote or hybrid work policy for this role?
We expect all staff to be able to work from our Sydney office at least 3 days a week, though we encourage you to apply even if you might need some flexibility for an interim period of time. Currently, we expect all staff to be in one of our offices at least 25% of the time.
Will Anthropic sponsor a visa for this position?
We do sponsor visas and retain an immigration lawyer to help with this process. If we make you an offer, we will make every reasonable effort to get you a visa.
What qualifications and experience are required to apply?
You must hold a law degree and meet local licensing requirements to work as in-house counsel where based. We prefer candidates with at least 12+ years of relevant employment legal experience across law firms and in-house.