Counsel, Immigration

The Corporate Counsel, U.S. Immigration will be a critical individual contributor on Tesla's Global Immigration team within Talent Mobility. This role plays a key part in enabling Tesla to build world-class teams by helping bring the best talent on the planet to the company - quickly and compliantly.
The position is responsible for building strong cross-functional partnerships with Recruiting, HR, and business leaders to execute immigration sponsorship assessments in-house. The attorney will directly advise internal stakeholders on employment-based immigration matters, including non-immigrant visas (NIV) and permanent residency (IV), while also driving high-volume, business-critical programs and providing indirect oversight to immigration specialists.
This position can be based at Gigafactory Texas in Austin or at Tesla's Engineering Headquarters in Palo Alto.

Responsibilities

• Provide legal advice and strategic direction to Tesla employees, managers, HR and other stakeholders regarding immigration cases
• Assess feasibility of new hire immigration sponsorship and advise recruiting partners on critical steps and timelines to start for new hires and employee transfers
• Partner with recruiting technology, applications engineering, and support teams on continuous improvement efforts to immigration databases and processes
• Provide indirect oversight to Immigration Specialists' case management of NIV and IV cases
• Create and run reports and dashboards and contribute to the monitoring and maintenance of employees' immigration statuses, including monitoring expiration dates, filing dates to ensure regulatory compliance
• Identify and implement process improvements to increase efficiency and program health
• Prepare and file immigrant/non-immigrant petitions or applications, as needed

Requirements

• J.D. and license to practice law in any U.S. jurisdiction
• 4+ years of business immigration experience in a high-volume setting
• Deep expertise in both non-immigrant and immigrant visa categories
• Proven ability to successfully guide technical teams - including software and AI engineers - through complex immigration pathways such as O-1 and EB-1
• Demonstrated ability to manage projects, improve processes, and take initiative
• Experience mentoring or indirectly supervising team members is a plus
• Clear communicator with a bias for action and continuous improvement

Compensation and Benefits
Benefits

Along with competitive pay, as a full-time Tesla employee, you are eligible for the following benefits at day 1 of hire:

• Aetna PPO and HSA plans > 2 medical plan options with $0 payroll deduction
• Family-building, fertility, adoption and surrogacy benefits
• Dental (including orthodontic coverage) and vision plans, both have options with a $0 paycheck contribution
• Company Paid (Health Savings Account) HSA Contribution when enrolled in the High Deductible Aetna medical plan with HSA
• Healthcare and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)
• 401(k) with employer match, Employee Stock Purchase Plans, and other financial benefits
• Company paid Basic Life, AD&D, short-term and long-term disability insurance
• Employee Assistance Program
• Sick and Vacation time (Flex time for salary positions), and Paid Holidays
• Back-up childcare and parenting support resources
• Voluntary benefits to include: critical illness, hospital indemnity, accident insurance, theft & legal services, and pet insurance
• Weight Loss and Tobacco Cessation Programs
• Tesla Babies program
• Commuter benefits
• Employee discounts and perks program
Expected Compensation

$172,000 - $282,000/annual salary + cash and stock awards + benefits

Pay offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, including market location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. The total compensation package for this position may also include other elements dependent on the position offered. Details of participation in these benefit plans will be provided if an employee receives an offer of employment.