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GRAIL

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Head of Employment Law and Litigation #4939

Sunnyvale, CAHybridFull-time

AI Summary

Lead GRAIL's employment law and litigation departments, advising senior leaders and People teams on complex employment matters and managing non-IP litigation strategy.

About this role

Our mission is to detect cancer early, when it can be cured. We are working to change the trajectory of cancer mortality and bring stakeholders together to adopt innovative, safe, and effective technologies that can transform cancer care.
We are a healthcare company, pioneering new technologies to advance early cancer detection. We have built a multi-disciplinary organization of scientists, engineers, and physicians and we are using the power of next-generation sequencing (NGS), population-scale clinical studies, and state-of-the-art computer science and data science to overcome one of medicine’s greatest challenges.
GRAIL is headquartered in the bay area of California, with locations in Washington, D.C., North Carolina, and the United Kingdom. It is supported by leading global investors and pharmaceutical, technology, and healthcare companies.
For more information, please visit grail.com

GRAIL is seeking a Head of Employment Law and Litigation to lead our employment law and litigation department. Reporting to the Chief Legal Officer, this role will serve as the primary legal partner to our People leadership team and a trusted advisor to senior executives on complex employment and non-IP litigation matters.

You will combine deep employment law expertise with strong litigation judgment to help GRAIL navigate complex issues, proactively manage risk, and build practical, scalable solutions as the company evolves.

You’ll be a trusted advisor who sees around corners—helping leaders make sound decisions, resolving significant disputes effectively, and building employment and litigation practices that scale with GRAIL. You’ll bring excellent legal judgment, strong business acumen, and the ability to balance risk management with the needs of a dynamic organization.

This role is based in Sunnyvale, California. It offers a flexible work arrangement, with the ability to work from GRAIL's office or from home. Our current flexible work arrangement policy requires that a minimum of 40%, or 16 hours, of your total work week be on-site. Your specific schedule, determined in collaboration with your manager, will align with team and business needs and could exceed the 40% requirement for the site. At our Headquarters campus in Sunnyvale, Tuesdays and Thursdays are the key days where we encourage on-site presence to engage in

Responsibilities:

Head of Employment Law
  • Lead GRAIL’s employment law strategy and advise senior leaders, in partnership with the HR Business Partners, on complex employment matters.
  • Serve as the primary legal partner to the Chief People Officer and the People team leadership, translating complex legal issues into practical, business-oriented advice.
  • Lead strategy for employment litigation, administrative proceedings, and pre-litigation disputes.
  • Provide legal guidance to the employee relations function on sensitive workplace investigations.
  • Enhance employment policies, agreements, playbooks, training, and manager guidance that enable consistent and scalable practices.
    • Head of Litigation
  • Lead GRAIL’s Litigation practice, excluding IP litigation.
  • Direct outside counsel, litigation strategy, discovery, settlement decisions, drafting motions, budgets, and resolution of significant matters related to non-IP litigation.
  • Draft pre-litigation correspondence, demand letters, and subpoena responses.
  • Identify emerging litigation risks and recommend proactive strategies, policies, processes, and controls to mitigate them.
  • Partner across Legal, People, Compliance, Finance, Security, Communications, and other teams on matters involving significant legal, employee, business, or reputational risk.
  • Serve as a member of GRAIL’s Legal Leadership Team.
    • These responsibilities summarize the role’s primary responsibilities and are not an exhaustive list. They may change at the company’s discretion.

    Required Qualifications:

  • JD from an accredited law school and active membership in good standing with at least one U.S. state bar.
  • Licensed to practice law in California.
  • 15+ years of legal experience with significant depth in employment law and litigation.
  • 2+ years experience in a senior leadership or management role, including leading attorneys and managing multi-functional legal teams.
  • Strong litigation experience from a nationally or regionally recognized law firm, including direct employment litigation experience.
  • Deep knowledge of federal and state employment laws, with experience advising on complex and high-risk employee matters.
  • Demonstrated experience leading significant litigation, managing outside counsel and legal spend, and evaluating litigation and settlement strategy.
  • Experience overseeing sensitive workplace investigations.
  • Track record of advising senior executives and People leaders with sound judgment, discretion, and a practical business mindset.
  • Trial, arbitration, mediation, and deposition experience.
  • Ability to thrive in a fast-moving environment, navigate ambiguity, and communicate complex issues clearly.
  • Domestic and international travel may be required.

    • Preferred Qualifications:

  • Meaningful in-house experience in public companies within the biotechnology, life sciences, diagnostics, pharmaceutical, medical device, or laboratory industry.
  • Experience with UK and other international employment matters

    • Physical Demands & Working Environment:

  • Standard executive office environment with hybrid flexibility depending on organizational needs.
  • Requires extensive review of governance documents, contracts, and regulatory filings, with significant computer use.
  • Extended hours are common during major transactions, governance cycles, or litigation events.
  • Domestic and international travel may be required.

    • Skills

    ArbitrationCalifornia BarDepositionDiscoveryEmployment LawFederal Employment LawHR PolicyLitigationMediationMotion DraftingOutside Counsel ManagementSettlement StrategyState Employment LawWorkplace Investigations

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