Acting Executive Director, International Employment Law

Condé Nast is a global media company producing the highest quality content with a footprint of more than 1 billion consumers in 32 territories through print, digital, video and social platforms. The company’s portfolio includes many of the world’s most respected and influential media properties including Vogue, Vanity Fair, Glamour, Self, GQ, The New Yorker, Condé Nast Traveler/Traveller, Allure, AD, Bon Appétit and Wired, among others.Job Description

Location:

London, GB

Condé Nast is a global media company, home to iconic brands including Vogue, The New Yorker, GQ, Glamour, AD, Vanity Fair and Wired, among many others. The company's award-winning content reaches 84 million consumers in print, 367 million in digital and 379 million across social platforms, and generates more than 1 billion video views each month. 

The company is headquartered in New York and London, and operates in 32 markets worldwide, including China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico & Latin America, Spain, Taiwan, the U.K. and the U.S., with local license partners across the globe. 

***Please note this is a fixed-term contract***

The Role

This role will support the General Counsel by leading and overseeing the full range of Employment law (including pensions, incentives and immigration),  in all of our international markets. It will work closely with senior leaders across the business and directly advising C-Suite colleagues on sensitive HR matters, up to and including the CEO. The role involves becoming a close partner of the global HR community and a trusted advisor to the Chief People Officer and the People Leadership team in all international markets. It will also be involved with providing strategic, cross-border employment law advice to enable CN to achieve its business goals.

The Team

The Conde Nast Legal & Policy team is led by the General Counsel and is led from our International HQs in London and New York. Our team also comprises our Legal teams based in our various markets around the world and we are also supported by a network of outside counsel where necessary. 

We value collaboration, and our teams comes together in the office four days a week.

What will this role be doing?

• Partnering with Conde Nast HR colleagues (both in HQ and in our wholly owned international markets) to ensure internal legal best practices for managing employee relations.

• To lead on all non-US employment law work, working closely with HR colleagues to ensure the provision of advice and support as necessary and to partner closely with US legal colleagues on global matters. 

• Advising upon individual and collective consultation processes;

• Overseeing employment contracts and exit paperwork up to MD level; 

• Providing legal advice and support on issues relating to diversity and inclusion;

• Manage the relationship with outside employment and compliance counsel in all international markets; 

• Leading the advice on day to day employment matters including contract templates, disciplinary and grievance processes, redundancy and restructuring.

• Supporting HR to address workforce representation related issues, including workers’ councils and other representative bodies.

• Advising on changes in local law or regulation that may impact policies and procedures.

• Management of employment litigation.

• Handling compliance queries, issues and employee investigations as they arise as well as queries from auditors and regulators.

• Providing guidance and training to colleagues on employment law and compliance matters

• Supporting the management of the company whistleblowing hotline in partnership with HR and the General Counsel.

• Leading on international pension law advice.

• Leading on global mobility legal advice, including immigration and visa management. 

• Supporting the Quarterly Business Standards and Audit, and Quarterly People Risk meetings with ELT members. 

• Contributing ideas for the development and enhancement of the culture, strategy and operations of the global legal department.

• Supporting Advance Legal and the US People Team on cross border or US related employment matters if and when requested and ensuring a joined up approach between US and international matters if necessary.

• Supporting the reporting of People compliance matters, including to ELT, shareholder and the Board.

Who you are:

• Qualified legal professional in the UK and/or EU

• Significant Experience of International Employment Law & Litigation and operating international people compliance programmes

• Relevant in-house experience of providing employment advice to a global business

• Experience of handling international employment law issues, including consultations and labour relations matters

• Experience of working on internal investigations and disciplinary matters 

• Experience of working with company compliance policies 

• UK Pensions experience preferable

What benefits do we offer? 

• 25 days holiday and extra days of annual leave for life events 

• Core hours 

• Competitive pension scheme 

• Bupa Private Healthcare 

• Enhanced maternity leave and family leave 

• Season ticket loans 

• Cycle to work scheme 

• Employee Assistance programme 

• Bring your dog to work 

• A wide variety of wellness benefits including gym discounts 

• Discounts and Magazine Subscriptions

• Employee Resource Groups to provide a platform for employees to identify shared objectives, exchange ideas, and work on community priorities for our global workforce 

• Condé Nast Learning Hub where you’ll find all Condé Nast-developed learning courses and training, and over 16,000+ courses in seven local languages

What happens next?

If you are interested in this opportunity, please apply below, and we will review your application as soon as possible. You can update your resume or upload a cover letter at any time by accessing your candidate profile.

Condé Nast is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, age, familial status and other legally protected characteristics.