Assistant General Counsel, Employment (Senior Director)

<p>Reports to Equinox’s VP Legal Operations &amp; Compliance&nbsp; |&nbsp; Hudson Yards, Manhattan, NY&nbsp; |&nbsp; Hybrid — 4 days/week in office; 1 day remote</p><p>Equinox isn't just a fitness company — it's shaping the future of wellness, longevity, hospitality, and media. &nbsp;As Assistant General Counsel, Employment, you'll be the legal backbone protecting and empowering the people who make that happen — a workforce as varied as our brands spanning health club personnel, corporate teams, and media talent across the country, and in the UK and Canada.</p><p>We are seeking a business-minded, experienced, employment attorney to serve as a primary legal advisor on all workforce matters across a global portfolio that includes &nbsp;Equinox Health Clubs, SoulCycle, Equinox Hotels, and Equinox Media. You’ll help build and modernize how Equinox manages employment risk across a fast-growing, multi-brand portfolio. No two days look the same.</p><p>Reporting to the VP Legal Operations &amp; Compliance, you will primarily focus on ensuring that the company stays compliant with current and emerging state and federal employment laws.&nbsp; You will also be a trusted and strategic partner to the Chief Legal Officer on high-stakes mediation, arbitration, and litigation, and to People &amp; Culture, Risk Management, Asset Protection and senior leadership on various employment-related matters. This is a high-visibility, high-impact leadership role for someone who thrives in a fast-moving, people-first environment.</p><p><strong>Who You'll Work With</strong></p><p>You'll join a team of 16 people supporting the CLO's office, and will work closely with People &amp; Culture, Risk Management and Asset Protection.</p><p><strong>What You’ll Do</strong></p><ul><li>Track and ensure compliance with evolving federal, state, and local employment law; translate developments into compliant policies, manuals, agreements, and SOPs.</li><li>Identify and advise on legal risk across the employee lifecycle — hiring, performance, discipline, and terminations, and produce and report on employment risk metrics.</li><li>Spot systemic risk trends and recommend proactive legal or policy changes on wage &amp; hour, benefits, and leave-of-absence issues; partner with People &amp; Culture to implement them.</li><li>Partner with Employee Relations on allegations of harassment, hostile work environment, discrimination, and retaliation, as well as disability accommodations and leaves of absence.</li><li>Draft agency (e.g., EEOC) position statements and respond to pre-mediation, pre-arbitration, and pre-litigation demand letters.</li><li>Manage employment-related claims asserted under the company's ADR Program — and help shape how that program evolves.</li><li>Lead an annual audit to ensure job descriptions, offer letters, employment agreements, restrictive covenant agreements, executive arrangements, and separation agreements stay legally current across all brands.</li><li>Partner with People &amp; Culture on building and delivering training for people managers (terminations, performance management, harassment prevention).</li><li>Help leverage &nbsp;AI-assisted analysis, legal research, and drafting tools as part of a broader push toward more efficient legal operations.</li></ul>

<ul><li>JD from an accredited law school; admitted to New York or at least one U.S. state bar.</li><li>10+ years of employment law experience, ideally including 3–5 years at an employment law firm and 2–3 years in-house at a large, multi-state employer.</li><li>Deep knowledge of federal, state, and local employment law: wage &amp; hour, discrimination, leave, accommodations, and workforce restructuring.</li><li>Proven track record managing employment claims and EEOC/agency matters.</li><li>Strong business instincts — you balance legal risk with operational reality and give actionable answers, not just issue-spotting.</li><li>Exceptional written and verbal communication skills; you make complex legal concepts accessible to non-lawyers and can influence at every level.</li><li>Strong interpersonal skills, with experience advising senior executives and P&amp;C leadership.</li><li>Highly organized and detail-oriented, comfortable managing a busy, varied docket with competing priorities.</li><li>Comfort using AI-assisted legal research and drafting tools (e.g., Claude or similar) as part of a modern legal practice.</li></ul><p>Pay Transparency:&nbsp;&nbsp;$245K – $260K + bonus</p>