Sr Counsel, Product

About EarnIn

As one of the first pioneers of earned wage access, our passion at EarnIn is building products that deliver real-time financial flexibility for those with the unique needs of living paycheck to paycheck. Our community members access their earnings as they earn them, with options to spend, save, and grow their money without mandatory fees, interest rates, or credit checks.

We’re fortunate to have an incredibly experienced leadership team, combined with world-class funding partners like A16Z, Matrix Partners, DST, Ribbit Capital, and a very healthy core business with a tremendous runway. We’re growing fast and are excited to continue bringing world-class talent onboard to help shape the next chapter of our growth journey.

Position Summary

As Senior Counsel, Product (Employee Ecosystem ), you will play a critical role in enabling and scaling our growing suite of employee-centric products by providing strategic, practical legal guidance across product development, operations, and regulatory compliance. You will bring curiosity, creativity, and sound judgment to support the design and launch of payroll, job applicant, and applicant tracking-related products and features within a highly complex and evolving regulatory framework spanning employment law, payroll tax, payments, privacy, and financial services.

You will partner closely with product, engineering, compliance, operations, and senior legal leaders to develop new payroll and job applicant-related offerings, enhance existing features, and manage regulatory risk while supporting business innovation. The legal issues you encounter will be nuanced, fast-moving, and operationally complex, requiring the ability to translate law into scalable product solutions.

The ideal candidate has substantial experience advising payroll service providers, workforce platforms, or fintechs with payroll, wage, or earned wage access components, and is comfortable working at the intersection of employment law, payments, privacy, and financial regulation. You will be a pragmatic advisor who communicates clearly with non-lawyers, separates the theoretical from the operational, and approaches problem-solving with a “yes, and” mindset—helping the business move from 0 to 1 while putting customers first and mitigating regulatory risk. This role requires managing multiple workstreams simultaneously and strong organizational skills, prioritization, and independent judgment.

This position is required to be in our Mountain View, CA headquarters at least two days per week. The US base salary range for this full-time position is $215,000 – $275,000 + equity + benefits. Salary ranges are determined by role, level, and location.

What You’ll Do:

• Serve as a senior member of the Legal team and the lead product lawyer for payroll and job applicant-related products and features
• Advise cross-functional partners on legal and regulatory issues related to payroll servicing, from early product design through launch and ongoing operations, including:
• Wage and hour compliance (federal, state, and local)
• Payroll processing, pay frequency, and final pay requirements
• Employee classification and related risk
• Payroll tax withholding, reporting, and funds flow
• Deductions, garnishments, and employer obligations
• Provide legal guidance on payments and money movement in the payroll context, including ACH, prefunding, settlement timing, and relationships with banks and payment processors
• Develop, share, and operationalize best practices for working with payroll vendors, payment processors, sponsor banks, and other financial partners
• Partner with product teams across the company to proactively identify regulatory risk, “look around corners,” and develop compliant, scalable solutions aligned with the product roadmap
• Support state and federal regulatory examinations, audits, and inquiries, including explaining payroll product design and operational controls to regulators and independent auditors
• Assist with litigation and pre-litigation matters, including inhouse employment matters, regulatory enforcement actions, and vendor or client disputes
• Contribute to the development and delivery of training for business teams on payroll-related laws, regulations, and best practices
• Collaborate with compliance, risk, and operations teams to enhance internal controls and governance frameworks
• Perform other duties as assigned

What We’re Looking For

• 4+ years of relevant legal experience, including significant experience supporting payroll servicing businesses, workforce platforms, or fintech products involving wages or payments
• Juris Doctor degree and active U.S. law license in good standing
• Deep knowledge of employment and wage-and-hour laws, including FLSA and state equivalents
• Strong understanding of payroll tax, withholding, and reporting obligations
• Ability to provide clear, practical, and actionable advice to non-lawyers in fast-paced settings
• Strong judgment and comfort navigating ambiguity and evolving regulatory landscapes
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities with minimal supervision
• Collaborative, solutions-oriented mindset with the confidence to operate independently
• Demonstrated proficiency with AI tools and technologies (including generative AI), or a strong willingness and ability to quickly learn and incorporate AI into legal workflows and product counseling.

Nice to Have:

• Experience advising product and operations teams on SAS-aligned controls to support regulatory exams, customer due diligence, and enterprise sales
• Experience with regulatory examinations, audits, or enforcement matters strongly preferred
• Experience advising on payments regulations and rules, including NACHA and Debit Card network experience
• Familiarity with bank partnership models, funds flow, and operational risk in payroll, fintech or other high velocity sales environments
• Experience in a high-growth or startup environment
• Interest or experience in government relations or policy advocacy
• Experience with bankruptcy or insolvency issues related to payroll or employer clients
• Experience with commercial contracting (sales-side)
• Experience with immigration law

#LI-Hybrid

At EarnIn, we believe that the best way to build a financial system that works for everyday people is by hiring a team that represents our diverse community. Our team is diverse not only in background and experience but also in perspective. We celebrate our diversity and strive to create a culture of belonging. EarnIn does not unlawfully discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, or related medical conditions), gender identity, gender expression, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, age, physical or mental disability, legally protected medical condition, family care status, military or veteran status, marital status, registered domestic partner status, sexual orientation, genetic information, or any other basis protected by local, state, or federal laws. EarnIn is an E-Verify participant. 

EarnIn does not accept unsolicited resumes from individual recruiters or third-party recruiting agencies in response to job postings. No fee will be paid to third parties who submit unsolicited candidates directly to our hiring managers or HR team.