Kraken
Sr. Counsel - Labor & Employment

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Building the Future of Open Finance
Payward - the parent company behind Kraken, NinjaTrader, Breakout, xStocks, Payward Services and CF Benchmarks - has spent the last 15 years building one of the most modern and globally accessible financial infrastructure platforms in the industry, built to advance an open, global financial system.
Before you apply, we encourage you to explore our culture page to understand what drives us and how we work.
The team
Founded in 2011, Kraken is one of the world's longest-standing crypto platforms, trusted by over 10 million individuals and institutions across the globe. It offers spot trading, margin, futures, staking, and OTC services, with products built for both individual investors and institutional clients.
This is a fully remote role, for an EU- or UK-qualified attorney working out of the EU or the UK, to join Payward’s world class in-house legal department, reporting to the Global Head of Labor & Employment.
The opportunity
- Augment the Labor & Employment (L&E) legal team and act as the subject matter expert for the EU and UK, providing local-law advice in European time zones and, as needed, supporting L&E matters in MENA and APAC in coordination with local counsel
- Take first-line ownership of recurring EU and UK employment matters, including worker classification issues, employee separations and employee relations, executive compensation agreements, and wage-and-hour matters
- Work with executive leadership, existing employment counsel, and the Payward Experience (PX) team to develop the L&E practice for a rapidly growing global/worldwide workforce
- Advise on and manage works council, collective consultation, pay transparency, and employee representative matters, and prepare the company for new consultation obligations as its European footprint grows, including in connection with restructurings and acquisitions
- Support M&A due diligence and post-closing workforce integration for European acquisitions, including policy harmonization and the related consultation requirements
- Work closely with the PX team and business leaders to craft on-point policies and procedures, including localizing global policies for EU and UK requirements and developing and delivering related training, for a successful global/worldwide workplace
- Advise on employee and candidate data privacy issues, including GDPR and UK GDPR compliance and cross-border transfers of HR and recruiting data
- Support the PX team and existing counsel with workplace investigations, particularly in the EU and UK, potentially involving whistleblower allegations, discrimination allegations, and personnel performance issues
- Provide expert strategic input to the business and recruiting teams on expanding Payward’s global footprint, including EOR, direct employment, and entity decisions in Europe, global mobility issues, and contingent workforce
- Advise the company with risk mitigation for trade secret matters and restrictive covenants in the EU and UK
- Manage and direct local outside counsel on formal local-law opinions and pre-litigation matters in the EU and UK and, as needed, MENA and APAC, while handling routine, repeatable advice in-house
- Monitor and advise on global L&E trends including those within the crypto industry to help the Company’s competitive adaptability, talent acquisition and retention, and workplace processes along with additional duties as required
Reasons to use Rodeo
I’m in my final year doing Economics and I don’t know whether to apply for grad schemes now or do a masters first. What do you think?
Honest answer — it depends on where you want to end up. A lot of top grad schemes (Big 4, civil service, banking) don’t need a masters. Let’s look at the ones you’d be competitive for now, and we can decide if a masters actually adds anything.
Also worth knowing: most autumn 2026 applications are open now. Timing matters more than you think.
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Grad scheme, placement, apprenticeship? Not sure what you want yet — that's fine. Your agent talks it through with you and turns "I have no idea" into a shortlist.
Graduate Consultant — 2026 Scheme
Why you're a good match
StrongYour economics background and your summer at a regional bank line up with what PwC looks for on the consulting scheme. Applications close in four weeks.
See breakdownIt searches the market for you
Every day your agent scans the market matching roles against what actually matters to you, not just keywords on a CV.
Why you're a good match
You’ve got the grades and the economics background, and your bank internship is exactly the experience this scheme looks for. Apply soon — deadlines close within the month.
Experience fit
Your summer at the bank plus your econometrics coursework map directly to the day-one responsibilities on this scheme — client modelling, market briefings, and deal support.
Only hits
No noise. No "maybe this fits." Just roles with a clear explanation of why they're right — and where to focus when applying.
Additional duties and responsibilities as assigned
What you bring
- 8+ years of legal experience advising in the EU, UK and other jurisdictions on employment, labor, and executive compensation issues, including in-house and law firm experience working with companies in both high-growth scaling and mature, large-enterprise environments
- Broad international labor and employment background
- Experience advising on works councils, collective consultation, and employee representative bodies in the EU and/or UK
- Experience advising on employee and candidate data privacy issues under the GDPR and UK GDPR
- Hands-on proficiency using generative AI tools (such as Claude or ChatGPT) in day-to-day legal work, with sound judgment on verifying outputs against local law and protecting confidentiality, privilege, and personal data
- A proactive, entrepreneurial mindset, plus an opportunity-making attitude, using the law to increase the company’s optionality, not decrease it


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Nice to haves
- Interest in the crypto industry / what our company is offering to the world and why
- Experience in fintech, crypto, or other regulated financial services industries
- Experience with MENA and/or APAC employment markets
- Experience with due diligence and advising on labor and employment issues in connection with acquisitions, including transfer-of-undertakings rules and post-closing workforce integration
Application
Unless a specific application deadline is stated in the job posting, applications are accepted on an ongoing basis.
Please note, applicants are permitted to redact or remove information on their resume that identifies age, date of birth, or dates of attendance at or graduation from an educational institution.
We consider qualified applicants with criminal histories for employment on our team, assessing candidates in a manner consistent with the requirements of the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance.
Our commitment
Payward is powered by people from around the world and we celebrate the diverse talents, backgrounds, contributions, and unique perspectives that everyone brings to the table. We hire based on merit, seeking out people with the right abilities, knowledge, and skills for the job. We encourage you to apply for roles where you don't fully meet the listed requirements, especially if you're passionate or knowledgeable about crypto.
We may ask candidates to complete job-related skills or work-style assessments as part of our hiring process. These assessments evaluate competencies relevant to the role and are applied consistently across candidates for similar positions. Results are considered alongside experience and interviews, and are not the sole basis for any employment decision.
As an equal opportunity employer, we don't tolerate discrimination or harassment of any kind, whether based on race, ethnicity, age, gender identity, citizenship, religion, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic as outlined by federal, state, or local laws.
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