Senior Counsel, Governance
Job description
Senior Counsel, Governance at oyster.
About the role
Join Oyster's legal team as a Senior Counsel, Governance, focusing on global expansions. You will guide the legal structuring and licensing for new entities, then personally execute the setup and ensure audit readiness. This 12-month fixed-term role offers significant ownership over a high-visibility program, requiring both strategic thinking and hands-on implementation.
Key facts
What you'll do
- Lead governance and structuring decisions for new direct entity launches, including corporate form, ownership, and licensing.
- Drive the practical setup of new entities, managing filings, registered agents, director appointments, and bank accounts.
- Research jurisdiction-specific legal and regulatory requirements for entity and licensing needs.
- Draft and maintain corporate documents like formation papers, board minutes, and governance policies.
- Collaborate with the Global Expansion team (Legal, Finance, Operations, People, Payroll, Treasury) to manage launch timelines and risks.
- Identify and mitigate governance, licensing, and regulatory risks, developing practical solutions.
- Document repeatable processes and playbooks for entity formation and governance for future team handoff.
Requirements
- Qualified lawyer with at least 7 years of experience in corporate governance, entity formation, and multi-jurisdictional entity management.
- Proven experience personally establishing and maintaining corporate entities across various jurisdictions, including hands-on execution of filings and applications.
- Experience interacting directly with external counsel, corporate secretarial providers, regulators, and registered agents globally.
- Comfortable holding a power of attorney to represent company directors or officers when necessary.
- Ability to work autonomously on fast-moving, ambiguous, high-stakes projects with minimal ramp-up time.
- Strong judgment in translating legal requirements into practical execution plans for non-legal teams.
- Experience thriving in fast-paced, high-growth, or startup environments.
- Reliable home internet connection.
- Fluent in written and spoken English.
Nice to have
- Prior experience with an Employer of Record (EOR), Professional Employer Organization (PEO), or global HR platform.
- Experience creating governance playbooks or processes for team handoff.
- Project management experience in setting up entities across multiple jurisdictions.
- Familiarity with corporate governance tools (e.g., Klea), Notion, and Asana.
- Experience with e-signature platforms (DocuSign, HelloSign) and wet signature workflows.
- Experience managing jurisdiction-specific signing formalities (notarization, apostille, witness requirements).
- Familiarity with D&O insurance coverage and director indemnification agreements.
Skills & tools
- Corporate governance
- Entity formation
- Multi-jurisdictional entity management
- Regulatory research
- Corporate documentation
- Risk identification
- Process documentation
- Klea (or similar governance tools)
- Notion
- Asana
- DocuSign
- HelloSign
Practical notes
This is a fully remote position, but candidates must be based within +/- 3 UTC. Oyster offers 40 days of paid time off annually, mental health support via Plumm, a monthly wellbeing allowance, flexible parental leave (minimum three months paid), and a stipend for home office equipment. Oyster is a B Corp-certified global employment platform.