Legal Counsel - Employment

Craft:

Job Description:

Job Title:            Employment Counsel

Department:     Legal

Contract Term: Permanent

Location:            Office based (Soho, London) & hybrid work from home

Your Mission

We’re looking for a self-motivated and collaborative employment lawyer to join our EMEA Legal team. This role focuses on employment matters across Activision Blizzard and King’s operations outside of North America, supporting a wide range of international legal work.

This is a high-impact role with a diverse and fast-paced workload, shaped by the evolving needs of the business and the dynamic markets in which we operate. You’ll be a trusted partner to the broader HR team and business leaders, playing a key role in enabling thoughtful, people-centric decisions.

Your core focus will be delivering pragmatic, timely, and solution-oriented legal advice across a wide range of employment matters including hiring, benefits, employment contracts, contingent workforce, employee relations, investigations, performance management, disciplinary actions, and leaves of absence.

Through your advice and guidance, you’ll be expected to demonstrate a strong appreciation for the company’s culture and values, while recognizing the critical role of employee engagement in driving business success.

This is an excellent opportunity to apply your expertise in a collaborative, global environment where your counsel will directly influence how we grow and support our people and business.

Other responsibilities will include working on the following:

• Providing business-oriented and people-focused legal advice and support to our HR, Compensation & Benefits, Talent Development and Talent Acquisition teams on a wide range of employment, compliance and regulatory matters
• Contributing to other initiatives as part of the global Compliance/Ethics team and partnering with other team members on global projects
• Developing, improving, & implementing policies, plans, & practices
• Driving & supporting designated projects & workplace initiatives
• Developing & delivering training programs
• Managing all aspects of any employment litigation and advising on employee investigations
• Support for people-focused global initiatives
• Developing action plans to address corporate compliance obligations and partnering with relevant areas of the business to achieve implementation

Knowledge / Experience / Skills / Abilities

• Strong academic record and honours degree (or equivalent) and qualification in law / practicing certificate from any country in the EU
• You’ll bring a level of legal expertise typically gained through 2 - 4 years’ post qualification experience, ideally gained within a multinational company or a leading international law firm. In-house experience is an advantage.
• Strong background in employment law, investigations and employee relations in any EU country
• Experience in advising across jurisdictions
• Experience in legal project management / operations, or a lead role in managing multijurisdictional projects is an advantage
• Able to identify and balance legal & business interests effectively

Personal Attributes

• Strong initiative, analytical skills, and sound legal, ethical & business judgment
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills (written and verbal) in English (additional European language skills are an advantage)
• Able to build relationships and work collaboratively with personnel at all levels of the organization
• Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously, effectively prioritise tasks, and thrive under pressure, bringing a positive, solutions-focused mindset whilst showing a good sense of humour
• An interest in adopting new technologies, particularly AI-enabled tools
• Collaborative, proactive, commercial, creative
• Willing to travel abroad

We love hearing from anyone who is enthusiastic about changing the games industry. Not sure you meet all qualifications? Let us decide! Research shows that women and members of other under-represented groups tend to not apply to jobs when they think they may not meet every qualification, when, in fact, they often do! At Activision Blizzard, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment and strongly encourage you to apply

Our World

Our mission, to connect and engage the world through epic entertainment has never been more important. Through communities rooted in our video game franchises we enable hundreds of millions of people to experience joy, thrill and achievement. We enable social connections through the lens of fun, and we foster purpose and a sense of accomplishment through healthy competition. Like sport, but with greater accessibility, our players can find purpose and meaning through competitive gaming. Video games, unlike any other social or entertainment media, have the ability to break down the barriers that can inhibit tolerance and understanding. Celebrating differences is at the core of our culture and ensures we can create games for players of diverse backgrounds in the 190 countries our games are played. 

As a member of the Fortune 500 and as a component company of the S&P 500, we have an extraordinary track record of delivering superior shareholder returns for over 30 years. 

Our enduring franchises are some of the world’s most popular, including Call of Duty®, Crash Bandicoot™, World of Warcraft®, Overwatch®, Hearthstone®, Diablo®, StarCraft®, Candy Crush™, Bubble Witch™, Pet Rescue™ and Farm Heroes™. Our sustained success has enabled the company to support corporate social responsibility initiatives that are directly tied to our franchises. As an example, our Call of Duty Endowment has helped find employment for over 80,000 veterans.  

Learn more information about Activision Blizzard and how we connect and engage the world through epic entertainment on the company's website, www.activisionblizzard.com.

The videogame industry and therefore our business is fast-paced and will continue to evolve. As such, the duties and responsibilities of this role may be changed as directed by the Company at any time to promote and support our business and relationships with industry partners.

Activision is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, protected veteran status, or any other basis protected by applicable law and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability.

About King

With a mission of Making the World Playful, King is a leading interactive entertainment company with more than 20 years of history of delivering some of the world’s most iconic games in the mobile gaming industry, including the world-famous Candy Crush franchise, as well as other mobile game hits such as Farm Heroes Saga. King games are played by more than 200 million monthly active users. King, part of Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), has Kingsters in Stockholm, Malmö, London, Barcelona, Berlin, Dublin, San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles and Malta. More information can be found at King.com or by following us on LinkedIn, @lifeatking on Instagram, or @king_games on X.