Senior Counsel, APAC Commercial & Corporate Legal (based in Singapore/ India)

Airbnb’s Legal Department is a global team that will require working with diverse international colleagues around the world. The successful candidate will be someone who is adaptable, collaborative and embodies Airbnb’s Core Values. Candidates will be required to approach complex legal issues with a balance for local and global perspectives, while being adaptable to cultural differences and nuances. A genuine and demonstrated interest in Airbnb and a commitment to ethics, integrity and fostering a workplace that emphasizes diversity and belonging is a must.

The Community You Will Join: 

Airbnb’s Legal team embodies the company’s innovative, forward-thinking spirit. At the frontier of the sharing economy, Airbnb is breaking new ground in matters of policy, law, and government relations. Where some see obstacles, we see the opportunity to find creative, practical solutions, right at the cutting edge. Our adventurous, fast-moving legal team is committed to building a team of talented, collaborative and self-motivated legal professionals across the globe who believe in Airbnb’s mission and leading as a 21st century company.  

The Difference You Will Make:

We are in search of a Senior Counsel to cover Commercial and Corporate Legal work across Asia-Pacific (APAC). This role reports to the Lead Counsel, APAC, and serves as legal partner to many other teams outside Legal. Collaboration will be a key attribute as this role  will work very closely with the other members of the organisation both in the region and globally. This role may be based in India or Singapore and is not eligible for relocation support.  

A Typical Day: 

Commercial Legal

• Draft, review, and negotiate complex technology and service-level agreements 
• Provide strategic advice on commercial transactions, ensuring compliance with applicable laws and alignment with business objectives.
• Manage cross-border commercial matters, particularly within the Asia-Pacific region.
• Effectively collaborate with regional and global colleagues to (i) provide globally aligned legal advice that appropriately balances domestic and global perspectives and needs; and (ii) participate in global workstreams. 
• Help design, implement and iterate legal team processes to keep up a high level of efficiency.

Corporate Governance

• Oversee corporate governance/ company secretarial obligations, including conducting board meetings, in India, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Australia, Philippines and other APAC jurisdictions
• Develop and implement governance frameworks, ensuring compliance with corporate laws and regulations across jurisdictions.
• Provide advice to the board and senior management on governance policies, fiduciary duties, and best practices.
• Deliver clear, effective and practical legal advice to the various business functions.
• Be adept in making sensible legal risk assessments which consider practical solutions to mitigate legal risk whilst keeping business priorities at the forefront. 

Legal Tech Innovation

• Lead the adoption and implementation of Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) tools and AI-driven legal solutions.
• Evaluate, integrate, and optimize legal technology to improve team productivity and contract management.
• Train and mentor legal teams on change management and leveraging technology to streamline operations.
• Develop and execute out-of-the-box strategies to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the legal function.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to align legal operations with broader business goals.
• Active championship of Airbnb’s mission, ethics and integrity.
• Support for Airbnb’s commitment to building and maintaining a diverse and inclusive workplace, free of discrimination and harassment.

Your Expertise:

• Possesses a bachelor of law or its equivalent, and has qualified to practice in a major jurisdiction. 
• At least 12 years’ post-qualification experience, including ideally some corporate commercial experience in practice as well as in-house and prior experience in areas such as commercial contracts and corporate governance. 
• Fluency (reading/writing/speaking) in English is essential.
• Exceptional ability to draft and review commercial agreements.
• Ability to develop and execute innovative strategies to drive operational efficiency.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, multicultural environment.
• Consistently delivers creative, thoughtful and business-oriented results that appropriately balance growth and risk in a fast-paced and high-pressure environment.
• Ability to spot key risks, analyse and practically assess risk, and provide actionable recommendations.
• Intellectually curious, open-minded, adaptable, comfortable with ambiguity and risk, and excited by dynamic change.
• Organised, detail-oriented and methodical, and able to effectively manage projects, deadlines, audits and investigations, and crafting workflows, protocols and processes. 
• Self-starter, driven and able to work autonomously while prioritizing competing tasks in a fast-paced, challenging environment.
• Empathetic, caring and humble.
• Entrepreneurial and business-orientated.
• Adaptable individual possessing high integrity, excellent judgment, a sense of humour and a love for fun and adventure. 
• International travel may be required.

Our Commitment To Inclusion & Belonging:

Airbnb is committed to working with the broadest talent pool possible. We believe diverse ideas foster innovation and engagement, and allow us to attract creatively-led people, and to develop the best products, services and solutions. All qualified individuals are encouraged to apply.

We strive to also provide a disability inclusive application and interview process. If you are a candidate with a disability and require reasonable accommodation in order to submit an application, please contact us at: [email protected]. Please include your full name, the role you’re applying for and the accommodation necessary to assist you with the recruiting process. 

We ask that you only reach out to us if you are a candidate whose disability prevents you from being able to complete our online application.